Chick Chat, Group Post

Chick Chat: Stars in Our Eyes

It’s Oscar season–and you know what that means, readers! Time for us Chicks to spill on the celebs we’d most love to hang out with this year–and maybe a personal award nom or two…

Lisa Q. Mathews

I’d like to nominate–and co-award–Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig in the Most-Gracious-and-Deserving-But-Somehow-Disgracefully-Snubbed category for their fabulous work in Barbie. With 8 Oscar nods, including Best Pic, and the highest-grossing film of 2023, you’d think maybe they both had something to do with that. And with a film about how fabulous and important women are often marginalized, to boot. Not a good look, Oscar. I’d love to hang during commercials with Margot, Greta, America, Kate, and Issa Rae–but they’ll have such a crowd of admirers it’ll be impossible to get near them. Smart comedy is harder than it looks. Oh, and Barbie made people happy. There should be an award for that, too.

 Ellen Byron

I would love to meet, compliment, and hang out with two performers who didn’t earn nominations I thought they deserved: Leslie Uggams and Glenn Howerton. Leslie – I’m going to call them by their first names to manifest our friendships! – delivered such a beautiful, delicate performance as the matriarch of the siblings in AMERICAN FICTION, one of my favorite 2024 films. Glenn is one of the stars of IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA and also one of the stars of another fave 2024 movie, BLACKBERRY. Glenn so transformed himself for the role it took me a half hour to figure out which character he was playing. I was shocked the movie, and he didn’t get the attention both deserved. I’m going to add a third: Charles Melton, who played the young husband in MAY/DECEMBER, giving a beautifully nuanced performance, especially for a young actor with little to no film experience. (Although years on the show RIVERDALE.)

I’d love to meet these actors, introduce myself, and say, “You were robbed!” To paraphrase a line from an Oscar great, I bet it would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship(s).

Leslie Karst

Inspired by the four weeks I spent in Oxford, England, last fall, I’ve been streaming “Endeavour,” the prequel to the “Morse” mysteries, and have been loving all the sights of Oxford: the spires, buildings, streets, and pubs, I got to know so well during my stay. But what truly makes the show for me is its charming lead, Shaun Evans, who plays the young Morse. With his impish face and tousled hair (it’s 1965, and I can’t help but see it as a Beatles haircut, even though Morse is far more interested in opera than pop music), he’s simply adorable. So my pick to hang out with right now is Shaun–in the guise of Morse, of course–at a pub in Oxford.

As far as Oscar nominations, I’d love to see “Anatomy of a Fall” win for best picture (though I’m sure the nod will go to “Oppenheimer”). It’s a terrific film with a brilliant script and amazing acting by Sandra Hüller (who also stars as the wife in “The Zone of Interest”).

Becky Clark

I am so far out of the Oscar loop that I have no idea who or what might be nominated. But if I could have a party and hang out with Paul Rudd (America’s sweetheart), Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, and Greta Gerwig—for starters—I’d give them all the THANKS FOR ENTERTAINING BECKY FOR ALL THESE YEARS trophy.

Jennifer Chow

It’s still my dream to meet Tom Hanks (he seems like such a great person) and Michelle Yeoh (with her amazing acting and action sequences). I also think Jennifer Lawrence is a fabulous actress. Sadly, I haven’t been able to watch many movies recently, but I thought Iman Vellani brought freshness to The Marvels movie. And I do hope American Fiction gets an Oscar win.

Readers, will you watch the Oscars live this year on Sunday, March 10th? What actor would you love to hang out with?

29 thoughts on “Chick Chat: Stars in Our Eyes”

  1. Like Becky, I’m so far out of the Oscar zone I have no idea who’s out there. But I’d love to hang with Patrick Stewart, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, David Tennant, and Judi Dench. We could talk Shakespeare for hours.

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  2. I’ll be watching, more because I love to see the actresses’ dresses than to see who wins. I love movies, but my taste doesn’t usually run to kind that get nominated for Oscars. The only movie up for an Oscar that I’ve seen is Barbie, which I absolutely loved. Would love to hang out with Jamie Lee Curtis.

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    2. I met Jamie Lee Curtis in the mid-eighties when I interviewed Shelley Duvall about the Fairy Tales series she produced. Jamie was a doll. She said, “I’m in makeup, so I can’t shake hands but I can bump elbows.” So that’s what we did.

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  3. The Oscars are must see TV for my wife. She sees as many nominees as possible. I really enjoyed American Fiction. Every writer should see it!

    I would love to hang out with Anson Mount, Nathan Fillion, and Helen Mirren. That would be a fun group!

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        1. It was! The lead-up to noms season, the WGA screenings were awash with auteurs. We heard from the screenwriter of MAY/DECEMBER and Bradley Cooper spoke after MAESTRO. We were supposed to go to a screening of FERRARI where Ridley Scott was speaking but I had to go to NY instead.

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  4. I totally agree with you, Lisa, that “Barbie” deserves a big nod–such a clever, brilliant (and eye-popping) film! But you know they’re gonna go for “Oppenheimer,” which I thought could have done without a large part of the first half….

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  5. I have a perfect streak to maintain. So, once again, I will not be watching the Oscars on Sunday night. I don’t know that I’ve seen any of the nominees this year, which is rarer. Usually I’ve seen something, but I haven’t really gone to the movies much this year.

    At least I’ve heard of most of the nominated movies this year, which is a change from years past.

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