Presenting an Oscar is a thankless job. You have to read stiff dialogue from a teleprompter, participate in a corny bit, break the hearts of La La Land fans everywhere, or potentially hand over a trophy after you were either a) not nominated, or b) lost to someone else. The best case scenario is you win early, then spend the rest of the ceremony getting fun-buzzed on free champagne in a dress or suit worth tens of thousands of dollars. The magic of movies!
Margot Robbie, who’s nominated for Best Actress for her transformative performance in I, Tonya, is hoping for the best case scenario. She’s among the stars who were announced as the first batch of Oscar presenters. The list includes previous winners Emma Stone (Best Actress, La La Land), Mahershala Ali (Supporting Actor, Moonlight), and Viola Davis (Supporting Actress, Fences); first-time nominees Kumail Nanjiani (Best Original Screenplay, The Big Sick) and Greta Gerwig (Best Director, Lady Bird); as well as Chadwick Boseman, Laura Dern, Jennifer Garner, and A Fantastic Woman‘s Daniela Vega. Also, Tiffany Haddish, who’s good at talking at award shows.
Notably absent is Casey Affleck. It’s tradition for the previous year’s Best Actor winner to present the award for Best Actress, but the Manchester By the Sea star, who’s been accused of sexual harassment, dropped out because his presence would “become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category.”
The 90th Academy Awards airs on March 4.
