The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 693

Hugh Jackman was a multifaceted actor. Matthew had seen him sing opera and host the Tony Awards several times. So, him being invited to host the Academy Awards wasn't particularly surprising. Besides, the choice of Jackman made it clear that the Academy recognized the potential crisis facing the Oscars and wanted to capitalize on the immense appeal of Wolverine.

By now, even the most stubborn and conservative members of the Academy's executive committee couldn't deny that the Oscars' ratings had fallen to a point where they desperately needed saving.

He remembered when Titanic swept the awards, drawing over fifty million viewers—an all-time record for the Oscars.

But in recent years, the average viewership had hovered just above thirty million. The drop was staggering.

The Oscars were the Academy's signature event and its single largest source of revenue.

In Matthew's view, the solution to the ratings problem was actually quite simple and direct: nominate films that were genuinely popular. But getting the conservative Academy to make such a choice was an incredibly difficult task.

Unlike in previous years, when information was often leaked, this year's ceremony was keeping a tight lid on the list of winners, not revealing a single name until the last possible moment. To heighten the element of surprise, even the presenters, like Matthew, weren't brought in for rehearsals.

The first award of the night was for Best Supporting Actress, and a change in format was immediately apparent.

Instead of the traditional presenter—the previous year's winner for Best Supporting Actor—a group of five former winners took the stage: Eva Marie Saint, Goldie Hawn, Anjelica Huston, Whoopi Goldberg, and Tilda Swinton.

That was the extent of the surprises, of course. The rest followed the familiar script: introducing the nominees, presenting the statuette for Best Supporting Actress, and listening to the winner give their acceptance speech...Matthew felt a twinge of boredom as he watched Penélope Cruz accept her award. Anne Hathaway had just gone backstage, and now he was flanked by people he didn't know. There was no one to talk to, no one to help pass the time.

Based on past experience, the ceremony would likely drag on for three and a half, maybe even four hours. He didn't have to worry about bathroom breaks as much as the actresses in their elaborate gowns, but watching films he'd never seen sweep the awards was, frankly, rather dull.

He figured the viewers the Oscars had lost over the years probably felt the same way.

Back when he lived on the other side of the Pacific, he'd tried to follow the trend and watch the Oscars online, but he always gave up after a short while. The nominated films were invariably ones he'd never even heard of.

After Anne Hathaway's performance, the atmosphere in the theater suddenly grew solemn. It was time to present the award for Best Supporting Actor.

As everyone expected, there was little suspense surrounding this award. Heath Ledger, with all the sentiment behind him, was the undeniable choice for Best Supporting Actor.

This was the Oscars, after all. There were many ways to win an award, and this was certainly one of them.

Had he still been alive, Heath Ledger would have found it much harder to win Best Supporting Actor. Anyone who knew anything about Hollywood understood that. Not only had he starred in a big-budget commercial film, but it was a superhero movie based on a comic book...

Most Oscar voters held a deep-seated prejudice against films and characters of that sort. They might be harsh with the living, but like the general public, they were exceedingly charitable to the dead.

Matthew rose to his feet and applauded with the rest of the audience. With Heath Ledger's passing, the Joker would undoubtedly be immortalized as an eternal classic.

This was Hollywood; even without James Cameron, it would function just as it always had.

Just then, a staff member approached to remind Matthew it was time to head backstage and prepare. He left his seat in the audience, made his way down a side aisle, and arrived backstage just in time to see Anne Hathaway walking off.

"Anne," Matthew said, giving her a thumbs-up. "That was a very impressive performance."

Hearing his praise, Anne Hathaway's lips curved into a grateful smile. "Thankfully, it all went smoothly," she said with a nod.

Matthew gave her a light pat on the shoulder. "You were magnificent." He then gestured toward the stage entrance. "I should go."

After Anne nodded, Matthew headed toward the wings. His co-presenter, Paul Walker, was already waiting for him, a rather strange expression on his face.

A stage manager named Mark Lawrence was giving Paul Walker some last-minute instructions. He then handed Matthew a cue card with his lines and led both of them toward the stage entrance.

"What's wrong, Paul?" Matthew asked quietly as they walked. "You've got a strange look on your face."

Paul gestured with the cue card in his hand. "Take a look at this."

As they neared the stage entrance—the award for Best Animated Feature was next—Matthew quickly scanned the presenter's lines. When he finished, his expression mirrored Paul's.

"Who wrote this?" Matthew couldn't help but shake his head. "This is irresponsible."

Paul laughed. "Lucky you, you got the best line."

Matthew was still shaking his head. "The problem is, I have no plans to work on an animated film, and I've never collaborated with DreamWorks Animation."

"I'm just kidding," Paul said. He'd already memorized his relatively simple lines and tucked the card into his pocket. "It's not that big of a deal."

Matthew nodded. "It's not a huge problem, but the feud between Jeffrey Katzenberg and Disney has been going on for over a decade. His company's animated films have always been positioned as rivals to Disney's."

He shot Paul a look. "Maybe Katzenberg will want to have a word with me about this dialogue someday."

Neither Matthew nor Paul Walker were particularly worried. Any fool knew the presenters' lines were written for them by the show's producers.

After all, practically everyone in Hollywood knew about Katzenberg's feud with Disney. The producers were probably hoping to use it to create a stir.

Then again, maybe he was overthinking it. People in Hollywood were generally tolerant of jokes made during the show.

Ten minutes later, Mark Lawrence returned. He handed Matthew the envelope containing the winner for Best Animated Feature and, as host Hugh Jackman began their introduction, prompted the two of them to walk on stage.

As the music swelled, Matthew and Paul Walker crossed the stage and stepped up to the microphone, launching into their awkward, pre-written banter.

"Matthew, I hear you're planning to branch out into animated feature films," Paul Walker began.

"That's right," Matthew answered with a smile. "Over the next few years, I plan to collaborate with DreamWorks Animation, lending my voice to their films."

"And then I'm going to go to Vegas and bet on Pixar to win every Best Animated Feature award."

The line got a huge laugh from the audience, and Matthew saw one of the cameras at the foot of the stage swing around to get a shot of Katzenberg.

Paul continued, "And now, let's take a look at the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film."

Matthew and Paul Walker turned toward the large screen, where a clever montage of the nominated films began to play.

Against a sky choked with debris, the camera zoomed down to the earth, where WALL-E was picking his way through a mountain of trash. He found two items that intrigued him: a videotape and a small Oscar statuette.

Holding the little golden man in one pincer and the videotape in the other, WALL-E hesitated for a moment before choosing the tape, tossing the statuette aside like any other piece of junk.

Back in his shelter, he played the tape, which showed images of a panda and a dog.

The fast-paced montage served as an introduction to the three nominees: WALL-E, Bolt, and Kung Fu Panda.

After the montage finished, Matthew opened the envelope, glanced at the card, and immediately announced, "The winner for Best Animated Feature Film is... WALL-E!"

Paul Walker presented the small golden statuette to Andrew Stanton as he came on stage, and with that, Matthew's job for the night was done.

After that, Slumdog Millionaire began its sweep of the awards, collecting Oscars for Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score, establishing itself as the night's biggest winner.

Of the four major awards, Slumdog Millionaire took home two: Best Director and Best Picture.

The acting awards, of course, went elsewhere.

Best Actor went to Sean Penn. In the Best Actress category, Anne Hathaway was destined for disappointment, as Kate Winslet was the one to take home the award.