There was a veritable feast of glamour in Los Angeles on Monday as this year's Oscar nominees gathered for the traditional Oscar luncheon.
Seventeen of the 19 nominated actors were amongst the 100 hopefuls who attended the event. Bosses at the Beverly Hilton hotel hosted the star-studded meal, where Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger joined the likes of Nicolas Cage, Daniel Day-Lewis and Sir Michael Caine.
Director Rob Marshall already had reason to celebrate, after Chicago swept the floor at the Screen Actors Guild awards. The film's stars Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones took the acting gongs at that ceremony, but all eyes are now on the Academy Awards in two weeks' time.
Actress Julianne Moore, who is up for both best actress and best supporting actress, said she was not feeling over-confident despite having two chances for success. "You can be a two-time loser," said the 42-year-old.
And while everyone was clearly looking forward to the prize-giving, the expected war in Iraq did bring a sombre tone to proceedings. Some of the attendees admitted to feeling uneasy after organisers declared the Oscars will go ahead, even if Iraq is invaded.
"You need to continue on," said best actress favourite Nicole Kidman, "but it would feel very strange to show up. As everyone is saying, we wait and we see."
Daniel Day-Lewis, who is widely expected to take the best actor gong for Gangs Of New York said it would be a difficult for Hollywood to celebrate itself while troops were locked in battle. "If we do choose to celebrate, we've got to do that in a way that is respectful," he said. "It would be unseemly for us to dance up the red carpet while people are dying."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
