NewsNation

Oscars 2023 updates: Show highlights and winners

Workers move an Oscar statue during preparations for Sunday's 95th Academy Awards, Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Follow along for real-time updates on the 2023 Oscars from The Associated Press — on the decidedly not red carpet, inside the Dolby Theatre and behind the scenes. Live updates are brought to you by AP journalists in Los Angeles and around the country.

Oscar winners announced Sunday:


Best picture: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best actor: Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

Best supporting actor: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best supporting actress: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Original song: “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”

Film editing: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best animated feature: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

International feature film: “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)

Documentary feature: “Navalny”

Live action short: “An Irish Goodbye”

Cinematography: James Friend, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Makeup and hairstyling: “The Whale”

Costume design: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Documentary short: “The Elephant Whisperers”

Animated short: “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Production design: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Music (original score): Volker Bertelmann, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Visual Effects: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Original screenplay: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Adapted screenplay: “Women Talking”

Sound: “Top Gun: Maverick”

___

‘EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE’ IS THE NIGHT’S BIG WINNER

With seven awards, the awards season Cinderella was the Oscars’ big winner. Capping a huge haul at Hollywood’s biggest night, the movie won best picture to close the night.

Going into the night with 11 nods, the film helmed by the duo known as the Daniels also picked up awards for best actress (Michelle Yeoh), best supporting actor (Ke Huy Quan), best supporting actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), best director, best original screenplay and best film editing.

___

HARRISON FORD PRESENTS BEST PICTURE OSCAR — AGAIN

Harrison Ford presented the Oscar for best picture solo tonight, after Glenn Close had to drop out because of a COVID-19 diagnosis. Ford previously presented the top award in 1999 to “Shakespeare in Love.”

___

A HISTORIC WIN FOR YEOH

For Michelle Yeoh, it was an Oscar.

For Asian women, it was history.

Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) became the first Asian woman to win best actress.

Like many winners, she let the emotions out when she got on stage. Clutching at her chest, she laughed nervously, took a deep breath and said “thank you” twice.

“For all the little boys and girls who look like me, watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” Yeoh said, as she hoisted the statuette. “And ladies,” the 60-year-old Malaysian-born actor added, “don’t let anybody tell you are ever past your prime.”

___

BRENDAN FRASER WINS FOR ‘THE WHALE’

Brendan Fraser was “The Whale.”

He’s now the winner.

Fraser’s journey is complete. He’s an Oscar winner, after the performance of his lifetime. Fraser won Best Actor for “The Whale” on Sunday at the Oscars, the crowd at the Dolby Theater erupting in what seemed like one of the loudest ovations of the night when he was announced.

“I started in this business 30 years ago. Things didn’t come easily to me but there was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at the time until it stopped,” an emotional Fraser said. “I just wanted to say thank you for this acknowledgment.”

___

THE DANIELS BRING ‘EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE’ TO 5 OSCARS

With the win for best director, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert brings the awards season Cinderella to five Oscars — and best actress and best picture still lie ahead.

The Daniels also picked up a best original screenplay Oscar. The movie has also picked up wins in editing, supporting actor and supporting actress.

In accepting the directing award, Kwan subverted the Asian dad trope by telling his son that winning an Oscar is not normal — and he won’t have to live up to this.

Scheinert used his speech to underscore that drag should not be under attack, as it has been from conservative activists.

“We want to dedicate this to the mommies, all the mommies of the world, to our moms, specifically to my mom and dad, Ken and Becky, thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid — which is a threat to nobody,” Scheinert said.

___

KIMMEL WITH A JAN. 6 ZING

Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t resist a chance to make a Jan. 6 reference after the Oscar for editing was handed out.

“Editors do amazing things,” Kimmel said. “Editors can turn 44,000 hours of violent insurrection footage into a respectful sightseeing tour of The Capitol. Their work is underappreciated.”

It was an obvious reference to how Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was given footage so he could launch a new effort to explain away the deadly Capitol attack, linking the Republican Party ever more closely to pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the 2021 riot.

___

IN MEMORIAM

John Travolta choked up while introducing the In Memoriam segment, which was soundtracked by Lenny Kravitz’s live performance.

Without saying any specific names, he spoke of those “who we will always remain hopelessly devoted to,” Travolta said in a clear reference to his “Grease” co-star Olivia Newton-John. She died last August and was the first name shown.

With perennial complaints about the segment excluding some figures, a website was flashed at the end, encouraging people to check out legends lost. Among the many who were remembered during the telecast: Irene Cara, Ray Liotta, Nichelle Nichols, Angela Lansbury, Louise Fletcher, Burt Bacharach, Mary Alice, Gina Lollobrigida, James Caan and Raquel Welch. Among those who were not: the recently deceased actors Tom Sizemore and Robert Blake.

___

BEST ORIGINAL SONG GOES TO ‘NAATU NAATU’

After five performances, the Oscar for original song is finally announced: “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR.”

The song from the Telugu-language film was performed by playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj and a phalanx of dancers earlier in the night.

“RRR has to win, pride of every Indian … and has put me at the top of the world,” M.M. Keeravani sang to the tune of The Carpenters’ “Top of the World” while accepting the award alongside Chandrabose.

___

SCREENPLAY AWARD WINNERS GIVE MEMORABLE REACTIONS

Daniel Scheinert thanked a long list of his former teachers. Daniel Kwan revealed that he still deals to confidence issues.

They’re Oscar winners now, after taking home the original screenplay award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

“I never thought I was good enough. I have self-esteem problems,” Kwan said.

The adapted screenplay award went to Sarah Polley for “Women Talking.” And she, like Scheinert and Kwan, was memorable in her speech.

“First of all, I just want to thank the academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘Women’ and ‘Talking’ put so close together like that,” Polley said. “Cheers.”

___

A TOAST TO RIHANNA

At the end of Rihanna’s performance of “Lift Me Up,” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” A$AP Rocky could be seen with a champagne toast. The couple has one son and another child on the way — iconically revealed in the wake of Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show last month.

___

MALALA IS NOT WORRYING, DARLING

Jimmy Kimmel asked Nobel laureate and “Stranger at the Gate” producer Malala Yousafzai to weigh in on whether Harry Styles really did spit on Chris Pine during the Venice Film Festival screening of their film, “Don’t Worry Darling.”

“I only talk about peace,” she demurred.

___

COCAINE BEAR’S OSCAR MOMENT

Elizabeth Banks brought the titular creature from her “Cocaine Bear” to present — but unlike the movie, which featured an entirely CGI bear, this was clearly some guy in a suit.

___

LADY GAGA’S STRIPPED DOWN PERFORMANCE

You might think Lady Gaga’s bare-faced, ripped-jeans-and-T-shirt appearance during her performance of “Hold My Hand” was because it was all last minute. After all, producers had said just days before that she wouldn’t perform the best original song nominee from “Top Gun: Maverick” and it was only revealed today that she had been slotted in

But Gaga was dazzling on the champagne carpet before the show, in a Valentino gown and full makeup, presenting a very different aesthetic two hours later.

___

‘ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT’ REPEATS HISTORY

The German film “All Quiet on the Western Front” won best international picture. The movie’s victory reflected the success of the original 1930 American film, which won Oscars for best picture and best director.

The 2022 version is also up for best picture.

___

‘THE LAST OF US’ VS. THE OSCARS

Pedro Pascal is in two places at once. As he presented the Oscar for best documentary short alongside Elizabeth Olsen on ABC, Pascal was also watchable on HBO as “The Last of Us” aired its season finale.

The zombie apocalypse hit was up against the Oscars during the 9-10 p.m. hour. While the show moved its time slot for the Super Bowl, it didn’t back down against the Academy Awards. AP reporter Alicia Rancilio had more on the matchup.

___

SPRING FORWARD, INTO A SHOW-IS-LONG JOKE

It’s a frequent complaint at awards shows like the Oscars: The program is too long.

And host Jimmy Kimmel evidently agrees, with a joke that almost seemed obligatory given today’s time change.

“I know we lost an hour because of daylight saving time but I spoke to the producers and good news: We’ve added that hour into the telecast,” Kimmel said.

___

DEEPIKA PADUKONE INTRODUCES ‘NAATU NAATU’

Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone — who got her start in South Indian cinema with a Kannada-language film — introduced the performance of best original song nominee “Naatu Naatu,” from the Telegu-language “RRR.”

The high-energy performance, featuring playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj and a squadron of dancers, was still relatively tame — there was no dancing in the aisles like there’s been at screenings in Hollywood.

___

RUTH CARTER DEDICATES OSCAR TO HER LATE MOM

“This is for my mother. She was 101,” Ruth E. Carter said while accepting the Oscar for best costume design for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Carter paid tribute to her mother, Mabel Carter, saying she died “this past week.”

“This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of mom,” she said.

The win gave Carter her second Oscar — she won for 2018’s “Black Panther.” and her latest statue is for the sequel.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” grappled with the grief of losing its superhero – and film star Chadwick Boseman.

___

JENNY THE DONKEY IS GUEST OF HONOR

Jenny, who played the donkey in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” graced the Oscars stage wearing a bedazzled emotional support animal vest.

“Not only is Jenny an actor, she’s a certified emotional support donkey,” host Jimmy Kimmel said. “At least that’s what we told the airline to get her on the plane from Ireland.”

As Kimmel pointed out her co-stars seated in the audience, Colin Farrell blew her a kiss.

Farrell thanked Jenny when he won a Golden Globe earlier this year.

___

JAMIE LEE CURTIS TAKES BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

“My mother and father were both nominated for Oscars in different categories — I just won an Oscar!”

— Jamie Lee Curtis said, crying. Her parents were actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” nominated for 11 awards tonight is so far two for two.

___

KE HUY QUAN TAKES BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

From the second Ke Huy Quan’s win for best supporting actor was announced, there were tears.

Presenter Ariana DeBose choked up while reading the name of the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” actor, and Quan was emotional throughout while delivering a rousing acceptance speech.

“My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp,” Quan said. “Somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This — THIS — is the American dream.”

___

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“Please help us keep animation in the conversation.”

— Guillermo del Toro, accepting the Oscar for animated feature for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.”

___

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FOR THE SLAP TO COME UP?

Jimmy Kimmel was guaranteed to reference The Slap in his monologue — he needed a little over seven minutes (about 10 1/2 minutes into the telecast) before he made his first veiled reference to Will Smith’s infamous slapping of Chris Rock last year.

“We have nominees from every corner of Dublin,” Kimmel said. “Five Irish actors are nominated tonight, which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up.”

Less than three minutes later, he was a little more direct: “We want you to have fun, we want you to feel safe, and most importantly, we want me to feel safe,” Kimmel said. “So we have strict policies in place. If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point in this show, you will be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech.”

Smith won his best actor Oscar not long after the slap.

___

OSCARS NO SHOWS

“Top Gun” star Tom Cruise and “Avatar: The Way of Water” director James Cameron are not in attendance tonight.

“The two guys who insisted we go to the theater, did not show up at the theater,” host Jimmy Kimmel quipped during the monologue.

___

LOTS OF NEWCOMER NOMINEES

Of the 20 actors up for the biggest individual prizes in their fields Sunday night — best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress — 16 are first-time nominees, which host Jimmy Kimmel called out in his monologue after parachuting in.

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) is the only acting nominee to have won (twice). One of her fellow best actress nominees, Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans,”) is now a five-time Oscar nominee but is still seeking her first win.

The other two non-first-time nominees on the list have waited a long time for today.

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) is now a two-time nominee, after being up for best actress following her portrayal of Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to do With It” at the awards in 1994. And Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”) got his only previous nomination in 1980, for his work in “Ordinary People” — when he lost to one of his co-stars in that film, Timothy Hutton.

___

JIMMY KIMMEL, MAVERICK

The telecast opened with a montage from the nominees, before cutting to Jimmy Kimmel in the cockpit of a fighter jet flown by “Top Gun: Maverick” star Tom Cruise. Cruise demanded Kimmel eject in the video before the camera cut to the exterior of the Dolby, over which two jets flew over. Kimmel then “parachuted” onstage before beginning his monologue.

___

INSIDE THE DOLBY THEATRE, BEFORE THE SHOW

Our roving carpet reporter Lindsey Bahr will be seated in the audience for the ceremony. Now reporting from inside the Dolby, she reports that guests mingled in the lobby, sipping champagne and water as the lights flashed and announcements blared — it was 10 minutes to showtime.

“Everyone please take your seats,” the announcer pleaded.

In the show room, another announcer asked the audience to refrain from hugging winners on their walk up to the stage — it’ll cut into their ticking clock, they said. The voice also advised to save the agent and manager and barista thanks for the press room and not on the live stage.

“Make us laugh, make us feel,” it said.

___

LADY GAGA ARRIVES

Lady Gaga isn’t kidding around — she’s not only added a last-minute performance at the Oscars, but also walked its carpet.

The “Hold My Hand” singer wasn’t expected at the show but was confirmed as a performer Sunday. She was among the late arrivals on the Oscars’ champagne-colored carpet.

Producers had initially cited her schedule on the “Joker” sequel as the reason she couldn’t perform.

The superstar could win her second Academy Award if the “Top Gun: Maverick” track wins best original song Sunday.

___

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH THOM BROWNE ON

Jenny Slate and her date Marcel the Shell were both clad in Thom Browne. Slate wore a black gown, while the tiny mollusk — whom she voices in the animated film nominee “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” — wore an equally tiny suit.

Thom Browne recently won a case in which Adidas had sued him over his use of stripes. But neither outfit featured stripes tonight.

___

SCENES FROM THE CHAMPAGNE CARPET

Jessica Chastain and Nicole Kidman shared an intimate moment, with both stars in glittery sequins. Chastain blew Kidman as a kiss as they separated, roving carpet reporter and AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr reports.

Behind them best actress nominee Michelle Yeoh was whisked down the carpet, with both a publicist and security clearing the way for her.

The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” crew was among the later arrivals to the show that they’re widely expected to sweep.

Supporting actor nominee Ke Huy Quan followed moments later, waving excitedly to cameras and fans.

At 4:30 p.m. Pacific, it’s getting close to showtime and attendees are supposed to be in seats by 4:45. Rooney Mara and best actress nominee Michelle Williams arrived close together, walking slowly down the now somewhat dirty champagne carpet, and Michael B. Jordan waved to photographers.

© Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved