The live performance of the high energy “Naatu Naatu”, from the Indian blockbuster “RRR”, received a standing ovation at the Oscars. The song, that went viral worldwide, is the first song from an Indian film to win an Oscar.  Despite all the positivity surrounding the song, the live performance at the award show has been called out as many netizens pointed out that “none of the dancers were of Indian descent”. International media have identified the two men who danced the key roles — played in the film by South Indian actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR — as Billy Mustapha and Jason Glover, who are Canadian and American, respectively, reports NDTV. Several netizens have openly criticized this, stating that using non-South Asian dancers weakens the song's anti-colonial message in the film, set in pre-independence India. Read More: Oscars 2023: Vogue misidentifies Deepika Padukone as Camila Alves Bollywood star Deepika Padukone introduced the thrilling performance of “Naatu Naatu” at the Oscars, which was sung live by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, the singers behind the now worldwide popular number. The authenticity ended there, said many, as none of the dancers appeared to be South Asian, yet were misidentified as such.  Although Indian audiences enthusiastically enjoyed the performance, which was undeniably exciting and a highlight of the Oscars event, the South Asian community in the United States protested the lack of representation. "The Oscars Naatu Naatu performance was meant to have been a tremendous celebration of pride for all of us, and yet we were left feeling empty-handed and rejected," US-based dancer Joya Nandy Kazi wrote on Instagram. Read More: This is how Oscar winners are decided “Two brown passing guys sang a song about colonialism with lyrics that said no dance is as wonderful as a villager's dance. They were fantastic, but why weren't two skilled dancers from our own community selected as leads with a mostly South Asian ensemble?” — Joya asked. “The colonists are the butt of the joke of this song, and trying to replicate the movie scenario even with a bunch of men who should represent the natives as anything other than South Asian leaves me balancing between being stunned and smiling at the absurdity. We need to do better," she said. Shivani Reddy, a Telugu-American film critic, told CBS News, “It just felt very exclusionary that the one race they didn't include was the one that was supposed to be represented because of the film and where it's from…It's unfortunate because there are so many South Asian dancers that I know that are in the industry trying to get into those spaces that just don't get afforded those opportunities. And for the one time that we maybe could have gotten access, we were denied.” Raj Kapoor, Oscars producer, said in an interview that the initial intention was for lead actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR to dance to “Naatu Naatu”, overseen by “RRR” choreographer Prem Rakshith.  Read More: First Indian film song to win Oscar: ‘Natu Natu’ from ‘RRR’ makes history “In late February, we were informed that Ram Charan and NT Rama Rao Jr would be attending the Oscars, but they did not feel comfortable performing the live number on stage. The change was brought on because of their other professional commitments and the limited amount of time to rehearse,” Kapoor stated. “Naatu Naatu”, from SS Rajamouli's mega hit “RRR”, won the Oscar for Best Original Song, beating out Lady Gaga's “Hold My Hand” and Rihanna's “Raise Me Up”, among others.

Deepika Padukone, despite being an internationally recognized Indian actress, was misidentified as Camila Alves by Getty and Vogue in their Oscars 2023 coverage. Deepika, who was one of the Oscar presenters, introduced a rousing performance of RRR’s Oscar-winning viral track “Naatu Naatu”, and has been on the international circuit – Cannes jury and a FIFA World Cup last year, but apparently Western media “can’t tell her apart from Matthew McConaughey’s wife Camila,” reports NDTV. Deepika wore a black Louis Vuitton to the Oscars, and she “did not resemble” Camila, a Brazilian model and designer, it said. Read More: This is how Oscar winners are decided Deepika is making waves, and for good reason. She and Iker Casillas introduced the FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy in Qatar. She has also been on the Cannes Film Festival jury. Deepika Padukone is now enjoying the success of her latest film “Pathaan”, in which she co-stars with Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham. The film is now breaking box office records.Deepika Padukone will next be seen in “Fighter” with Hrithik Roshan. Read More: Jamie Lee Curtis wins Oscar for best supporting actress

The road to an Oscar winds through a long awards season, which finally culminates Sunday at the Academy Awards. We take you through the process of getting that golden statuette into a winner’s hand — this is how Oscar voting works: WHO VOTES ON THE OSCARS? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences boasts some 10,000-plus members, divided among 17 branches. All academy members have to be involved in the movie business in some capacity, but membership isn’t restricted to creatives — there are branches for executives and marketing and public relations professionals, as well. While nominations are mostly decided by members of the relevant branch (directors nominate directors, for instance), all voting members can nominate films for best picture. Once nominees are decided, all voting members are eligible to cast their ballots in any category. In recent years, the academy has taken steps to diversify its membership, especially after receiving criticism for a spate of all-white acting nominees.. It adds new members once a year. WHEN DOES OSCAR VOTING TAKE PLACE? Voting takes place over a few days not too long before the ceremony — in 2023, voting opened March 2 and ended March 7, five days before the big night. HOW ARE VOTES CAST? While the final results can sometimes be controversial, there’s no risk of hanging chads — voting takes place entirely online. Tabulation for most categories is simple — the nominee that gets the most votes wins. Best picture, on the other hand, employs ranked-choice voting (also known as preferential voting). Voters order the nominees by preference; if one movie comes away with more than 50% of the first-place votes in the first round, that’s the winner. But if no movie meets that threshold, then the one with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated — people who had ranked that film first will have their votes transferred to their second choices. And so on it goes until some movie wins a majority. It sounds complicated, we know, but proponents of ranked-choice voting argue that it’s more representative, especially in a large field of nominees. WHO KNOWS THE WINNERS BEFORE THEY’RE ANNOUNCED? According to the academy website, just two PricewaterhouseCoopers partners know the results beforehand. PwC is the accounting firm that tabulates the votes. Each partner is stationed in the Dolby Theatre’s wings during the ceremony with a full set of winners’ envelopes. They’re charged with handing the sealed envelope to the winner. Infamously, in 2017, a PwC accountant handed Warren Beaty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope, resulting in the “La La Land”/“Moonlight” best picture fiasco.

Bollywood star Deepika Padukone was on hand at the Oscars on Sunday to introduce the performance of best original song nominee (and later winner) “Naatu Naatu,” from “RRR.” In presenting the song, she noted its anti-colonialist themes — but it’s also “a total banger,” she said. The “Naatu Naatu” performance featured playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj flanking a squadron of high-energy dancers. The film’s lead actors, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, did not perform. While Padukone is best known for her Hindi-language films, she got her start in South Indian cinema — her first movie was the Kannada-language “Aishwarya.” Already a global celebrity, the 37-year-old has had a major year outside of India. She also served on the jury at the 75th Cannes Film Festival last May and walked out the World Cup trophy alongside former Spain keeper Iker Casillas at the final in Qatar. She most recently starred opposite Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the hit “Pathaan,” which brought in $5.9 million at the North American box office alone in its first weekend.

Ruth E. Carter made history: The costume designer behind the “Black Panther” films became the first Black woman to win two Oscars. Carter took home best costume design Sunday night at the 95th Academy Awards for the Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Carter also won in 2018 for “Black Panther,” which made her the first African American to win in the category. In her acceptance speech, Carter thanked the film's director Ryan Coogler and asked if “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman could look after her mother, Mabel Carter, who she said died “this past week.” Boseman died in 2020 of cancer at 43. “This is for my mother. She was 101,” Carter said. "This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of mom.” Carter then paid tribute to her mother backstage. Also Read: Michelle Yeoh makes history with best actress Oscar win “I had a great relationship with her in her final years. The same relationship I always had with her. I was her ride-or-die. I was her road dog. I was her sidekick," she said. "I know she’s proud of me. I know that she wanted this for me as much as I wanted it for myself.” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” grappled with the grief of losing Boseman, its superhero. In her career, Carter has been behind-the-scenes in some of Hollywood’s biggest films. She’s garnered Oscar nominations for her work in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” and Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” and received praise for her period ensembles in other projects such as Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” and the reboot of “ROOTS.” She’s created costumes for Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy and even Jerry Seinfeld for the “Seinfeld” pilot. Carter played an influential role as lead costume designer in making “Black Panther” a cultural phenomenon as she infused the pride of African diaspora into the character’s stylish and colorful garments to help bring Wakanda to life. She wanted to transform the presence of Queen Ramonda - played by Oscar nominee Angela Bassett - as a queen in the first film to being a ruler in the sequel. "Angela always wanted to play a queen, so to amplify her, we added vibranium … we gave her the royal color of purple, and adorned her in gold as she wore the crown at the UN,” Carter said. “When she sits on the throne, she’s in a gray one shouldered dress. The exposed shoulder shows her strength – Angela, she got those guns, right?” Carter said she was able to pull off the win against a “tough lineup.” She was up against designers from “Elvis,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and “Babylon.” She got her start in 1988 on Lee’s “School Daze,” the director’s second film. They’ve since collaborated on more than 10 films, including “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” She’s also worked with Robert Townsend on “The Five Heartbeats” and Keenen Ivory Wayans on “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” “I pulled myself up from my bootstraps," Carter said. "I started in a single parent household. I wanted to be a costume designer. I studied. I scraped. I struggled with adversity in an industry that sometimes didn’t look like me. And I endured.” Through the Oscar-nominated “Malcolm X," she reached new heights new heights. That film, starring Denzel Washington, propelled her into the “Hollywood makeup,” offering her more opportunities to work with directors who had different points-of-views and scripts. Carter's wish is that her historic win Sunday will offer more opportunities to women of color. “I hope this opens the door for others … that they can win an Oscar, too,” Carter said.

The metaphysical multiverse comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” wrapped its hot dog fingers around Hollywood’s top prize Sunday, winning best picture at the 95th Academy Awards, along with awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Though worlds away from Oscar bait, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s anarchic ballet of everything bagels, googly-eyed rocks and one messy tax audit emerged as an improbable Academy Awards heavyweight. The indie hit, A24’s second best-picture winner following “Moonlight,” won seven Oscars in all. Fifty years after “The Godfather” won at the Oscars, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed with a much different immigrant experience. Its eccentric tale about a Chinese immigrant family – just the second feature by the Daniels, as the filmmaking duo is known – blended science fiction and alternate realities in the story of an ordinary woman and laundromat owner. “Everything Everywhere,” released all the way back in March 2022, helped revive arthouse cinemas after two years of pandemic, racking up more than $100 million in ticket sales. And despite initially scant expectations of Oscar glory, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” toppled both blockbusters (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water”) and critical darlings (“Tar,” “The Banshees of Inisherin”). Yeoh became the first Asian woman to best actress, taking the award for her lauded performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The 60-year-old Malaysian-born Yeoh won her first Oscar for a performance that relied as much on her comic and dramatic chops as it did her kung fu skills. She’s the first best actress win for a non-white actress in 20 years. “Ladies, don't let anyone ever tell you you're past your prime,” said Yeoh, who received a raucous standing ovation. Also Read: Michelle Yeoh wins best actress award, making Oscar history In winning best director, the Daniels — both 35 years old — won for just their second and decidedly un-Oscar bait feature. They're just the third directing pair to win the award, following Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins (“West Side Story”) and Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country for Old Men”). Scheinert dedicated the award “to the moms of the world.” Best actor went to Brendan Fraser, culminating the former action star’s return to center stage for his physical transformation as a 600-lb. reclusive professor in “The Whale.” The best-actor race had been one of the closest contests of the night, but Fraser in the end edged Austin Butler. “So this is what the multiverse looks like,” said a clearly moved Fraser, pointing to the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” crew. The former child star Quan capped his own extraordinary comeback with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in the indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan, beloved for his roles as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “Goonies,” had all but given up acting before being cast in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” His win, among the most expected of the night, was nevertheless one of the ceremony's most moving moments. The audience — including his “Temple of Doom” director, Steven Spielberg — gave Quan a standing ovation as he fought back tears. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” said Quan, 51, whose family fled Vietnam in the war when he was a child. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can't believe it's happening,” said Quan. "This is the American dream." Minutes later, Quan's castmate Jamie Lee Curtis won for best supporting actress. Her win, in one of the most competitive categories this year, denied a victory for comic-book fans. Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) would have been the first performer to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie. It also made history for Curtis, a first-time winner who alluded to herself as “a Nepo baby” during her win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She's the rare Oscar winner whose parents were both Oscar nominees, something she emotionally referenced in her speech. Tony Curtis was nominated for “The Defiant Ones” in 1959 and Janet Leigh was nominated in 1961 for “Psycho.” Curtis thanked “hundreds” of people who put her in that position. The German-language WWI epic “All Quiet on the Western Front” — Netflix’s top contender this year — took four awards as the academy heaped honors on the craft of the harrowing anti-war film. It won for cinematography, production design, score and best international film. Though Bassett missed on supporting actress, Ruth E. Carter won for the costume design of “Wakanda Forever,” four years after becoming the first Black designer to win an Oscar, for “Black Panther.” This one makes Carter the first Black woman to win two Oscars. “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman,” said Carter. “She endures, she loves, she overcomes, she is every woman in this film.” Carter dedicated the award to her mother, who she said died last week at 101. The telecast, airing live on ABC, opened traditionally: with a montage of the year's films (with Kimmel edited into a cockpit in “Top Gun: Maverick") and a lengthy monologue. Kimmel, hosting for the third time, didn't dive right into revisiting Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at last year's ceremony. The late-night comedian struggled to find lessons from last year's incident, which was followed by Smith winning best actor. If anyone tried any violence this year, Kimmel said, “you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.” But Kimmel, hosting for the third time, said anyone who wanted to “get jiggy with it” this year will have to come through a fearsome battalion of bodyguards, including Michael B. Jordan, Michelle Yeoh, Steven Spielberg and his show's “security guard” Guillermo Rodriguez. After landmark wins for Chloé Zhao ("Nomadland") and Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), no women were nominated for best director. Sarah Polley, though, won best adapted screenplay for the metaphor-rich Mennonite drama “Women Talking.” "Thank you to the academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘women' and ‘talking,’" said Polley. Daniel Roher's “Navalny,” about the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, took best documentary. The film’s win came with clear overtones to Navalny’s ongoing imprisonment and Vladimir Putin’s continued war in Ukraine. Yulia Navalnaya joined the filmmakers on the stage. “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth,” said Navalnaya. “Stay strong my love.” Some big names weren’t in attendance for other reasons. Neither Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” is up for best picture, nor James Cameron, director of best-picture nominee “Avatar: The Way of Water,” were at the ceremony. Both have been forefront in Hollywood’s efforts to get moviegoers back after years of pandemic. “The two guys who asked us to go back to theater aren’t in the theater,” said Kimmel, who added that Cruise without his shirt on in “Top Gun: Maverick” was “L. Ron Hubba Hubba.” After last year's Oscars, which had stripped some categories from being handed out in the live telecast, the academy restored all awards to the show and leaned on traditional song and and dance numbers. That meant some show-stopping numbers, including the elastic suspenders dance of “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu action-film sensation “RRR," an intimate, impassioned performance by Lady Gaga of “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick," and an Super Bowl follow-up by Rihanna. Best song went to “Naatu Naatu.” It also meant a long show. “This kind of makes you miss the slapping a little bit, right?” Kimmel said mid-show. The night’s first award went to “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” for best animated film. That handed Netflix its first Oscar in the category. After last year's slap, the academy created a crisis management team to better respond to surprises. Neither Rock, who recently made his most forceful statement about the incident in a live special, nor Smith, who was banned by the academy for 10 years, attended. The Academy Awards is attempting to recapture some of its old luster. One thing working in its favor: This year’s best picture field was stacked with blockbusters. Ratings usually go up when the nominees are more popular, which certainly goes for “Top Gun: Maverick" and “Avatar: The Way of Water." Neither won much, though. “The Way of Water,” with more than $2.28 billion in box office, won for best visual effects. The “Top Gun” sequel ($1.49 billion), took best sound. Last year, Apple TV’s “CODA” became the first streaming movie to win best picture. But this year, nine of the 10 best picture nominees were theatrical releases. After the movie business cratered during the pandemic, moviegoing recovered to about 67% of pre-pandemic levels. But it was an up and down year, full of smash hits and anxiety-inducing lulls in theaters. This year, ticket sales have been strong thanks to releases like “Creed III” and “Cocaine Bear" — which made not one but two cameos at Sunday's show. But there remain storm clouds on the horizon. The Writers Guild and the major studios are set to begin contract negotiations March 20, a looming battle that has much of the industry girding for the possibility of a work stoppage throughout film and television. The Oscars, too, are seeking steadiness. Last year's telecast drew 16.6 million viewers, a 58% increase from the scaled-down 2021 edition, watched by a record low 10.5 million.

Ke Huy Quan won best supporting actor, “RRR” brought the house down, “Cocaine Bear” tried to maul Malala and Ruth Carter made history at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, as Hollywood looked to move past the infamy of last year’s Oscars. The former child star Quan capped his extraordinary comeback with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in the indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan, beloved for his roles as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “Goonies,” had all but given up acting before being cast in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” His win, among the most expected of the night, was nevertheless one of the ceremony's most moving moments. The audience — including his “Temple of Doom” director, Steven Spielberg — gave Quan a standing ovation as he fought back tears. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” said Quan, 51, whose family fled Vietnam in the war when he was a child. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can't believe it's happening,” said Quan. "This is the American dream." Also Read: Ke Huy Quan wins Oscar in an inspiring Hollywood comeback Minutes later, Quan's castmate Jamie Lee Curtis won for best supporting actress. Her win, in one of the most competitive categories this year, denied a victory for comic-book fans. Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) would have been the first performer to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie. It also made history for Curtis, a first-time winner who alluded to herself as “a Nepo baby” during her win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She's the rare Oscar winner whose parents were both Oscar nominees, something she emotionally referenced in her speech. Tony Curtis was nominated for “The Defiant Ones” in 1959 and Janet Leigh was nominated in 1961 for “Psycho.” Curtis thanked “hundreds” of people who put her in that position. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which came in with a leading 11 nominations, later also won for best original screenplay for the script by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the filmmaking duo known as the Daniels. “My imposter syndrome is at an all-time high,” said Kwan. The German-language WWI epic “All Quiet on the Western Front” — Netflix’s top contender this year — took four awards as the academy heaped honors on the craft of the harrowing anti-war film. It won for cinematography, production design, score and best international film. Also Read: 2023 Oscars: What to know about the best actor nominees Though Bassett missed on supporting actress, Ruth E. Carter won for the costume design of “Wakanda Forever,” four years after becoming the first Black designer to win an Oscar, for “Black Panther.” This one makes Carter the first Black woman to win two Oscars. “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman,” said Carter. “She endures, she loves, she overcomes, she is every woman in this film.” Carter dedicated the award to her mother, who she said died last week at 101. The telecast, airing live on ABC, opened traditionally: with a montage of the year's films (with Kimmel edited into a cockpit in “Top Gun: Maverick") and a lengthy monologue. Kimmel, hosting for the third time, didn't dive right into revisiting Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at last year's ceremony. But after a number of jokes — including one that noted two stars of “Encino Man,” Quan and Brendan Fraser are nominated — Kimmel noted that there are numerous Irish actors up for Oscars, “which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up.” The late-night comedian struggled to find lessons from last year's incident, which was followed by Smith winning best actor. If anyone tried any violence this year, he said, “You will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.” But Kimmel, hosting for the third time, said anyone who wanted to “get jiggy with it” this year will have to come through a fearsome battalion of bodyguards, including Michael B. Jordan, Michelle Yeoh, Steven Spielberg and his show's “security guard” Guillermo Rodriguez. After landmark wins for Chloé Zhao ("Nomadland") and Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), no women were nominated for best director. Sarah Polley, though, won best adapted screenplay to “Women Talking.” "Thank you to the academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘women' and ‘talking,’" said Polley. Daniel Roher's “Navalny,” about the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, took best documentary. The film’s win came with clear overtones to Navalny’s ongoing imprisonment and Vladimir Putin’s continued war in Ukraine. Yulia Navalnaya joined the filmmakers on the stage. “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth,” said Navalnaya. “Stay strong my love.” Some big names weren’t in attendance for other reasons. Neither Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” is up for best picture, nor James Cameron, director of best-picture nominee “Avatar: The Way of Water,” were at the ceremony. Both have been forefront in Hollywood’s efforts to get moviegoers back after years of pandemic. “The two guys who asked us to go back to theater aren’t in the theater,” Kimmel said, who added that Cruise without his shirt on in “Top Gun: Maverick” was “L. Ron Hubba Hubba.” After last year's Oscars, which had stripped some categories from being handed out in the live telecast, the academy restored all awards to the show and leaned on traditional song and and dance numbers. That meant some show-stopping numbers, including the elastic suspenders dance of “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu action-film sensation “RRR," and an intimate, impassioned performance by Lady Gaga of “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick.” Her appearance was also confirmed just before the ceremony began. It also meant a long show. “This kind of makes you miss the slapping a little bit, right?” Kimmel said mid-show. The night’s first award went to “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” for best animated film. That handed Netflix its first Oscar in the category. After last year's slap, the academy created a crisis management team to better respond to surprises. Neither Rock, who recently made his most forceful statement about the incident in a live special, nor Smith, who was banned by the academy for 10 years, attended. The Academy Awards is attempting to recapture some of its old luster. One thing working in its favor: This year’s best picture field was stacked with blockbusters. Ratings usually go up when the nominees are more popular, which certainly goes for “Top Gun: Maverick" and “Avatar: The Way of Water." Neither won much, though. “The Way of Water,” with more than $2.28 billion in box office, won for best visual effects. Last year, Apple TV’s “CODA” became the first streaming movie to win best picture. But this year, nine of the 10 best picture nominees were theatrical releases. After the movie business cratered during the pandemic, moviegoing recovered to about 67% of pre-pandemic levels. But it was an up and down year, full of smash hits and anxiety-inducing lulls in theaters. At the same time, the rush to streaming encountered new setbacks as studios questioned long-term profitability and reexamined their release strategies. This year, ticket sales have been strong thanks to releases like “Creed III” and “Cocaine Bear" — which made not one but two cameos at Sunday's show. But there remain storm clouds on the horizon. The Writers Guild and the major studios are set to begin contract negotiations March 20, a looming battle that has much of the industry girding for the possibility of a work stoppage throughout film and television. The Oscars, meanwhile, are trying to reestablish their position as the premier award show. Last year's telecast drew 16.6 million viewers, a 58% increase from the scaled-down 2021 edition, watched by a record low 10.5 million.

It’s always fun when an Oscars category is filled with first-time nominees at varying stages of their careers. Best actor is another three-way race, between Austin Butler, Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser, with each having scored notable wins from guilds and critics groups. The Associated Press’ film writers predict Fraser to have the edge. Here’s a bit more about the nominees and their roles before the Oscars on March 12, which airs live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. And if you’ve missed a performance, there’s still time to watch this year’s nominees. BRENDAN FRASER Brendan Fraser doesn’t mind that people have called his turn in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” in which he plays a reclusive English teacher named Charlie who is grappling with his past in the midst of a dire prognosis, a “comeback.” But it’s not the word he’d choose. “If anything, this is a reintroduction more than a comeback,” Fraser told The AP. “It’s an opportunity to reintroduce myself to an industry, who I do not believe forgot me as is being perpetrated. I’ve just never been that far away.” The film, an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play, shows a different side of Fraser as an actor than the affable action/comedy roles that made him beloved and famous in the 1990s.“I gave it everything I had every day,” he said. “We lived under existential threat of COVID. An actor’s job is to approach everything like it’s the first time. I did but also as if it might be the last time.” Age: 54 Notable Wins: Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild. COLIN FARRELL In Martin McDonagh’s tragicomic tale of the end of a friendship “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Colin Farrell’s Pádraic is the one being broken up with by Brendan Gleeson’s Colm on their small Irish island in 1923. “He has an innocence where he can’t comprehend why his friend of so many years has cut him out,” Farrell said of his character last year at the Venice Film Festival, where he’d go on to win the best actor prize. “It shakes him to his core ... He lives in a beautiful life and that beauty is taken away.” The film was a reunion for the trio who developed a deep bond on “In Bruges” 14 years ago. “From the start, there was a deep sense of kinship and an understanding of each other,” Farrell told The AP. “In a strange way, I understand myself more through Martin and his mind and his heart and his work. And I understand myself more through my interactions with Brendan.” Age: 46 Notable Wins: Venice Film Festival, New York Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review, Golden Globes (Musical/Comedy) AUSTIN BUTLER Austin Butler spent so much time and mental and emotional energy in preparing to play and playing Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s colorful drama that he finds it difficult to talk about without “sounding incredibly pretentious and self-important,” he told The AP. “There are certain aspects that even I don’t fully understand.” The past few weeks have brought their own emotional highs and lows too, with his Golden Globe win, his Oscar nomination and the tragic death of Lisa Marie Presley in the span of a few days. “The peaks are so high and the valleys have been so low,” Butler said. “I just wish Lisa Marie were here with us to celebrate. At times, in the midst of intense grief and just a shattering loss, it feels sort of bizarre to celebrate. But I also know how much this film meant to Lisa Marie, how much her father’s legacy meant to her. So I feel so proud and humble to be a part of that story.” Age: 31 Notable Wins: Golden Globes (Drama), BAFTA. BILL NIGHY Bill Nighy plays a British civil servant who receives a terminal diagnosis in 1953 London in Oliver Hermanus’s remake of the Kurosawa classic “Ikiru.” “I was very moved by it when we were making it, the fact that we were making it, that we were back and that it was the first thing I’d done since the pandemic,” Nighy told The AP. “The pandemic forced us to look at our priorities in our lives and all that and this film discusses how to make the most of every day. So I suppose in that regard it was timely.” The veteran actor said he thought they were making something special, but he was unprepared for the rapturous reception everywhere. And thematic resonance aside, it hasn’t got him thinking about his own legacy. “I don’t ever think in terms of legacy,” he said. “I find it difficult to get enthusiastic about a world which is not going to include me.” Age: 73 Notable Wins: Los Angeles Film Critics Association. PAUL MESCAL Paul Mescal did not expect to come out of “Aftersun” friends with an 11-year-old. But that’s what happened with his co-star Frankie Corio on the set of Charlotte Wells’ personal and evocative film about a young father and his daughter on vacation in Turkey in the 1990s. “Both of us got out two weeks before filming started. There was kind of a loose plan that we might rehearse. And we did some of that, but ultimately, we just spent the two weeks where I was playing like pretending to be her dad,” Mescal told The AP. “It’s one of the greatest professional experiences that I’ve had. It really surprised me. I fell in love with her and I adore her and she’s just a phenomenal actor.” The Irish actor said he likes working on smaller films with first-time directors. If anything, he hopes that his raised profile following his nomination might help him be able to get another project like that made. “I take great pride in the fact that there’s an appetite for those films still,” he said. Age: 27

The best actress category at the 95th Oscars is full of great awards season drama, from the surprise nomination of Andrea Riseborough to the potential history to be made if Michelle Yeoh wins, which AP’s film writers predict will happen. All will be celebrated during Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, which airs live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. There’s still time to catch up on their performances before the show.Here’s a bit more about the contenders. ANA DE ARMAS “Blonde” may have been reviled by many critics, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any who didn’t admire Ana de Armas’s portrayal of Marilyn Monroe nonetheless. De Armas prepped for a year and was thrown into the fire on her first day on set: In the actual apartment Norma Jeane lived in with her mother — a nightmare sequence in which she rescues a baby from the dresser drawer that she was kept in as an infant, as the place burns around her. Her second day was her visit to her mother in the mental hospital, where she got to speak as Marilyn for the first time on camera. “I wasn’t in character all the time. But ... I felt that heaviness and that weight in my shoulders. And I felt that sadness,” de Armas said. “She was all I thought about. She was all I dreamed about. She was all I talked about.” Trivia: De Armas is the first Cuban woman to be nominated for best actress. Age: 34 CATE BLANCHETT “Tár” wouldn’t exist without Cate Blanchett “I am still processing the experience, not only because it spoke to a lot of things that I had been thinking about, but I feel so expanded by having been in Todd’s orbit,” Blanchett said. “It was a very, very fluid, dangerous, alive process making the film.” Lifetime Oscar nominations: 8 Wins: 2. Best Supporting Actress for “The Aviator” in 2005 and Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine” in 2014 Age: 53 Notable Wins: Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup, BAFTA, Golden Globes (Drama). ANDREA RISEBOROUGH Riseborough was unexpectedly nominated Riseborough rose into the Oscar ranks thanks largely to the grassroots efforts of “To Leslie” director Michael Morris and his wife, actor Mary McCormack. They urged stars to see the film and either host a screening or praise Riseborough’s performance on social media. And a whole lot of them did: Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Adams and Courteney Cox all hosted screenings for the film. After a review of the campaign, the Academy said that Andrea Riseborough would not be stripped of her nomination. Age: 41 MICHELLE WILLIAMS The pivotal event of “The Fabelmans” comes when Mitzi Fabelman, a fictionalized version of Steven Spielberg’s own mother played by Michelle Williams, reluctantly leaves her husband for his best friend. “I thought she already suffered a near-death experience. When she gave up her dream of being a concert pianist, she experienced what it’s like for part of you to die,” says Williams. “So when she’s faced with another near-death experience — Do I stay in this marriage or do I allow myself to go where my heart is leading? — she knows that she can’t die again. There will be nothing left of her. “What is this thing in her that allows her to make this decision? Is it her artistry? Is it bravery? Is it how big her emotions are? What allowed this woman to stake a claim on her life like this?” says Williams. “I don’t know but I do think it’s what’s allowed her children to do the same thing, to stake a claim on their own lives. That, I think, is one of the greatest gifts that you give to your kids, showing them how they can be a full person.” Lifetime Oscar Nominations: 5 Age: 42 MICHELLE YEOH After decades first as a star in Hong Kong cinema and then more mainstream hits like “Tomorrow Never Dies” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the Malayasian-born Yeoh has grown into a movie queen. She’s had integral roles in what have been the first large U.S. studio movies in years with Asian-led casts—Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” As much as those films mean to her, she was a polished supporting player in them — then came “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The Daniels originally named the multiverse hopping matriarch Michelle, as a “love letter” to Yeoh. But then she asked to change that and Evelyn was born. “I’m like ‘No, no, no’ because I believe this person, this character that you’ve written so rich, deserves a voice of her own. She is the voice of those mothers, aunties, grandmothers that you pass by in Chinatown or in the supermarket that you don’t even give a second glance to. Then you just take her for granted,” Yeoh said. “She’s never had a voice.” Trivia: If Yeoh were to win, she would become the first Asian woman awarded in that category. Age: 60 Notable Wins: Golden Globes (Musical/Comedy), Screen Actors Guild, Film Independent Spirit Award.

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” continued its awards sweep at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on its path to the Oscars next weekend. The multiverse-hopping adventure collected awards for best picture, directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, screenplay and editing.“Thank you to everyone who makes crazy, weird independent movies,” Scheinert said. Awards were handed out Saturday afternoon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., and the show was streamed live on YouTube and Twitter. First-time Spirit Awards host Hasan Minhaj opened the show saying, “Of all the awards shows, this is by far, one of them.” Minhaj went hard on everything, from the entertainment trade website Deadline (“At this point, Deadline is half gossip, half Ezra Miller crime tracker,” he said) to the show’s lack of a broadcast partner. “The Independent Film Channel did not want the Independent Film Awards,” he said, noting that the channel chose to show the poorly reviewed Will Ferrell movie “Semi-Pro” instead.“Awards shows are dead,” he added. “My 2-year-old watches slime videos with more viewers than the Oscars.” The first prize of the afternoon went to Quan for best supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which his co-star Jamie Lee Curtis was also nominated for. This is the first year the Spirit Awards embraced gender neutral acting awards – both lead and supporting performance categories had 10 nominees. Quan, who is expected to win the supporting actor Oscar next week, chose to devote his speech to many of the crew who worked on the film, from the stunt coordinators to the production assistants.Hsu later collected the prize for best breakthrough performance for the film. “This is my first ever individual award and it feels incredibly appropriate that it’s in this room. I feel so honored” she said. “I really want to thank the Daniels so much. Thank you so much for finding me and believing in my art and seeing me and championing me.” Hsu said she hoped the award would act as a talisman to “protect that freak flag” and desire to tell stories. “I kinda like the gender neutral thing, it’s kind of tight,” said “Abbott Elementary’s” Quinta Brunson who won for leading performance in a new scripted series.Brunson said she felt like the least independent person there, as her show is supported by Warner Bros. and Disney, but that the spirit of it felt right. Laura Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” won best documentary. The film looks at the life of photographer and activist Nan Goldin. “It would take me the entire day to fully express my gratitude to Nan for her collaboration and for her trust,” Poitras said. “She’s taught me so many things in making this film, most importantly the role of art and artists to change not only society but how we understand the world we live in.” “Women Talking” was previously announced as winner of the Robert Altman Award, celebrating director Sarah Polley, casting directors John Buchan and Jason Knight, and the ensemble cast including Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand.“It’s so fitting the way that you’re being recognized for the beautiful, supportive, loving ensemble that you are,” Polley said. She also called her film “Women Are Talking” in a nod to Mark Wahlberg’s slip-up at the Screen Actors Guild Award s last week. “Sorry, Marky Mark just gets in my head,” she said. Apple TV+’s “Pachinko” got the corresponding award on the television side. Nathan Fielder had the crowd laughing accepting his award for non-scripted series for his HBO show “The Rehearsal” and detailing the contents of the lunch boxes at everyone’s seats. “The bean salad was great,” he said. “There were a few grapes also. Delicious. They weren’t rotten. None were rotten.” Looking down at his award, he said, “I guess they’ll add the name to it later?” “Nanny” director Nikyatu Jusu won the Someone to Watch award. “Thank god Charlotte Wells was not in this category because all year ‘Aftersun’ has been whooping my ass,” Jusu said.“Aftersun” did win best first feature later in the afternoon. “Here’s to the second feature,” Wells said. Other winners included “Joyland” (best international film), “The Bear” (new scripted series and supporting actor Ayo Edebiri), “The Cathedral” (The John Cassavetes Award), John Patton Ford (first screenplay for “Emily the Criminal”) and “Tár” cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister. Winners are voted on by members of the non-profit organization Film Independent. The budget cap for eligible films was recently raised from $22.5 million to $30 million. Kwan closed the show with some words of inspiration to dream big. “We are in the middle of an identity crisis, the industry at large is confused as to what’s happening next and it’s really scary especially for the independent world, but I want to offer up a reframe: This is an opportunity,” Kwan said. “When things are shaking and it gets turbulent and cracks form in the foundation, that’s the best time to plant seeds. It is our job not just to adapt to the future but also to actively dream up what kind of future we want to rewrite and what kind of future we want to be working and living in,” Kwan continued. I urge us all to dream really big. What we do here is going to flow upstream to the rest of the industry.”