{"id":2276756,"date":"2026-02-11T03:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2276756"},"modified":"2026-02-11T03:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:12:22","slug":"oscar-nominees-gathered-at-their-customary-luncheon-on-tuesday-to-celebrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/oscar-nominees-gathered-at-their-customary-luncheon-on-tuesday-to-celebrate\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar nominees gathered at their customary luncheon on Tuesday to celebrate"},"content":{"rendered":"

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p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n

\u201cFrankenstein\u201d star Jacob Elordi<\/a>, at 6-foot-5 easy to spot from across the ballroom, leaned down to hug Teyana Taylor, <\/a>a supporting actress Oscar nominee for \u201cOne Battle After Another.\u201d Nearby, her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio caught up with Steven Spielberg, who directed him 24 years ago in \u201cCatch Me If You Can,\u201d while \u201cSentimental Value\u201d filmmaker Joachim Trier huddled with \u201cOne Battle\u2019s\u201d Paul Thomas Anderson, <\/a>a fellow directing nominee. In the middle of it all, songwriter Diane Warren paused to take a selfie, still evidently enjoying the giddy thrill of being in a room full of fellow hopefuls even after 17 times.<\/p>\n

In all, 203 of this year\u2019s 230 Academy Award nominees<\/a> gathered Tuesday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the annual nominees luncheon, a brief moment of campaign-free conviviality amid the churn of awards season. As flashbulbs followed the most famous faces, major stars like Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, Emma Stone and Kate Hudson rubbed elbows and shared champagne toasts with lesser-known nominees from categories like animation, sound and live-action short before lining up for the annual class photo.<\/p>\n

With the Oscars just weeks away on March 15, the long-running gathering \u2014 a ritual dating back to 1982 and returning this year after being canceled in 2025<\/a> because of the Los Angeles wildfires \u2014 offered the nominees a welcome stretch of easygoing mingling, largely free of competition. The reprieve is short-lived: Voting begins on Feb. 26, when the brutal math of awards season will reassert itself, meaning roughly 80% of them will head home on Oscar night empty-handed.<\/p>\n

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<\/picture>\n
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Kate Hudson, a lead actress nominee for \u201cSong Sung Blue,\u201d at the 2026 Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

For first-time contenders, the luncheon carried a particular rush. Christalyn Hampton, a co-director of the documentary short \u201cThe Devil Is Busy,\u201d which follows a day at an abortion clinic in Atlanta, said she was excited to meet \u201cSinners\u201d director Ryan Coogler, whose period vampire thriller leads the field with a record 16 nominations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re two African American directors nominated this year \u2014 I think that\u2019s pretty historic,\u201d said Hampton, a former professional dancer whose first directing credit has landed her an Oscar nod. \u201cFlying back and forth from Atlanta has been a bit exhausting, but to be in this moment with all these incredible filmmakers \u2014 you can\u2019t complain.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jacob Elordi, left, and \u201cSir\u0101t\u201d film director Oliver Laxe \u2014 two extremely tall nominees \u2014 at the 2026 Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Still, even inside the awards-season bubble, the turmoil surrounding the movie business,the country and world beyond it was hard to ignore. As attendees tucked into their chicken, more than a few discussions drifted to whether Netflix or Paramount would prevail in their attempts to acquire Warner Bros. and what either scenario might portend for the future of movies.<\/p>\n

In her remarks, academy president Lynette Howell Taylor acknowledged the questions many nominees have been asking themselves amid industry contraction, political volatility and global conflict. \u201cThe art you create is vital,\u201d Howell Taylor told the crowd. \u201cI know many of us ask ourselves, \u2018Should we be doing something else? Should we be doing something differently? Should we be doing more?\u2019 The answer to that is personal. But what I do know is this: What you are doing is not easy and it is so needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Teyana Taylor, nominated for supporting actress for \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d at the 2026 Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

She praised the resilience of filmmakers who have endured strikes, dangerous political environments and even war zones. \u201cTo not make your films, to not tell your stories, is to give in,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd there is not one of you in this room who has been willing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That tension was felt especially sharply by Sara Khaki, co-director (with Mohammadreza Eyni) of the documentary feature nominee \u201cCutting Through Rocks,\u201d which follows the first Iranian woman elected as a councilwoman in a rural village. The weeks since the nomination, Khaki said, have been both \u201cterrible and wonderful,\u201d as her home country has been rocked by protests against the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n

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\"A <\/picture>\n
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Elle Fanning, nominated for \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d at the 2026 Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s terrible is what we\u2019re experiencing back home \u2014 the internet shut down, worrying about our loved ones,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat\u2019s wonderful is what\u2019s happening here. So it\u2019s a mix of emotions, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Iranian nominee was absent altogether. Mehdi Mahmoudian, nominated as a co-writer of director Jafar Panahi\u2019s drama \u201cIt Was Just an Accident,\u201d was arrested earlier this month in Iran after signing a statement condemning the government\u2019s deadly crackdown on protesters.<\/p>\n

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Actor Wagner Moura, nominated for \u201cThe Secret Agent,\u201d and former AMPAS president Janet Yang at the 2026 Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

At each table, nominees were asked to fill out a card with a simple question: \u201cWhat movie made you want to be part of this world?\u201d After pondering for a moment, \u201cNomadland\u201d Oscar winner Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, nominated in the directing category for the second time for the wrenching drama \u201cHamnet,\u201d wrote down Hirokazu Kore-eda\u2019s 1998 film \u201cAfter Life,\u201d a quietly humane meditation on memory and meaning that felt closely aligned with her own filmmaking sensibility. The answers, Howell explained, would be used for \u201ca special moment\u201d during the Oscar telecast.<\/p>\n

As in years past, the luncheon also came with a bit of gentle coaching about what to do \u2014 and not to do \u2014 should one\u2019s name actually be called on Oscar night, including moving briskly to the stage, keeping remarks to no more than 45 seconds and not leaning into the microphone.<\/p>\n

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\"Two <\/picture>\n
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Directors Steven Spielberg, left, and Paul Thomas Anderson, at the 2026 Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Above all, Howell urged nominees to resist the temptation to thank everyone they\u2019ve ever worked with. \u201cYou\u2019ll forget someone and you\u2019ll feel terrible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Better, she suggested, to focus on what the moment actually means. \u201cYou are<\/i> the show,\u201d Howell reminded them. \u201cIt\u2019s your speeches. This is an entertainment show millions of people will be watching, so let\u2019s make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> \u201cFrankenstein\u201d star Jacob Elordi, at 6-foot-5 easy to spot from across the ballroom, leaned down to hug Teyana Taylor, a supporting actress Oscar nominee for \u201cOne Battle After Another.\u201d Nearby, her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio caught up with Steven Spielberg, who directed him 24 years ago in \u201cCatch Me If You Can,\u201d while \u201cSentimental […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2276757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2276756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Oscar-nominees-gathered-at-their-customary-luncheon-on-Tuesday-to.com2F632Fba2F3cc8f3744432a85fa6a05508.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2276756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2276758,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276756\/revisions\/2276758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2276756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2276756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2276756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}