There are now multiple reasons to get excited about the upcoming Academy Awards. Sure, there will be genuine tension as the Best Actress winner is a true pick ’em between Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone. And yes, Ryan Gosling is reportedly set to perform Best Original Song nominee “I’m Just Ken” live for the first time. But, no, the real reason to get excited is the news that an ingenious presentation from the 2009 ceremony is finally making its way back to the Dolby Theater stage.
READ MORE: Report: Ryan Gosling performing “I’m Just Ken” during 2024 Oscars ceremony
According to The Hollywood Reporter, each acting category will feature five previous winners to salute the individual nominees and welcome the winner into their elite club. The idea was first held during the 81st Oscars and then modified slightly the following year to feature longtime colleagues or friends of the nominees (which was less impactful). For unknown reasons, it was completely discarded by the 83rd Oscars (although granted, getting a ton of former winners to show up is no easy feat).
The brainchild of Oscar producers Bill Condon and Laurence Frank, the surprise presentation began with Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Anjelica Huston, Eva Marie Saint, and Tilda Swinton presenting Best Supporting Actress to eventual winner Penelope Cruz. Alan Arkin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Joel Grey, Kevin Kline, and Christopher Walken then gave the Supporting Actor, posthumously, to Heath Ledger. By the time Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, and Shirley MacLaine arrived on stage for Best Actress, the audience was almost euphoric. And their awarding of multi-nominee Kate Winslet was seen as a historic moment in the history of the ceremony.
Adrien Brody, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Anthony Hopkins, and Ben Kingsley also presented Best Actor to Sean Penn.
The Academy already revealed an early set of presenters including last year’s acting winners Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ke Huy Quan. But also on that list were former winners Nicholas Cage, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Al Pacino, and Sam Rockwell. Condon and Frank kept many of the 2009 presenters a secret, which helped generate growing enthusiasm in the audience as the ceremony went on. It’s unclear if that’s part of the plan this year for executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor and executive producers, Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan. It should also be noted the 81st Oscars managed to work these actor introductions into a presentation that was just 3 hours and 30 minutes (and had two musical numbers not tied to the Original Song nominees). That’s seven minutes less than the 95th Oscars were last year.
The 96th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the new time of 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT.