SkimIt
The biggest night in movies is upon us! This Sunday is the Academy Awards, a night of glitz, glamour, movies, and reunions. And most importantly, everyone's a winner -- nominees either go home with a gold statue or a goody bag valuing up to $45,000 worth of vacations, beauty treatments and hot new gadgets. But the show can't go on without people to present these momentous awards, so let's take a look at this year's presenters!
The 85th Annual Academy Awards with host Seth MacFarlane airs live on ABC Sunday Feb. 24th at 5pm PST/8pm EST
For the first time in fifteen years Ben Affleck has been nominated for Oscar® gold. Last time he won, sharing the honor for Best Original Screenplay with his best friend, Matt Damon, for their hit Good Will Hunting. Now Affleck's up for the biggest honor of the night, Best Motion Picture of the Year, for Argo, along with George Clooney and Grant Heslov.
Last year Jessica Chastain was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Help. She didn't win, but this year she has a chance to take home the trophy for the bigger award, Best Actress, for her harrowing turn in the controversial Zero Dark Thirty.
Before she was Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence was nominated in 2010 for her spectacular performance for her leading role in the gritty Winter's Bone. Now the girl on fire is at it again, nominated for her phenomenal job in the leading female role in Silver Linings Playbook.
Halle Berry became the first African American to win the Best Actress Oscar® for her performance in Monster's Ball back in 2001 and her career certainly hasn't slowed down - this year she'll appear in The Call and Shoe Addicts Anonymous.
No one will ever forget the night Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Blind Side. Unfortunately they also remember shortly after she announced she was getting divorced after her then husband Jesse James had an affair. But she's long since moved on and will soon appear in The Heat by the director of Bridesmaids with Melissa McCarthy.
Many were surprised that Nicole Kidman wasn't nominated again for her supporting role in this year's The Paperboy, but at least we'll get to see her on stage. Besides, she won Best Actress for The Hours in 2003, and was also nominated two other times for her leading roles in Moulin Rouge! and Rabbit Hole.
Although Reese Witherspoon is best known for her lovable characters in romantic comedies, this southern gal won an Academy Award in 2006 for her leading role as June Carter in Walk the Line. Mark Wahlberg
Boston bad-boy Mark Wahlberg isn't just muscles and a pretty face. He was nominated in 2007 for an Oscar® for his supporting role in The Departed and was nominated again for his film The Fighter in 2011 (along with David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman).
Marvel's The Avengers
The most fun presenters of the night will be the cast of The Avengers. The movie is nominated for Best Visual Effects, but the stars are what made this classic comic into one of the best and most comedic action movies ever, so I'm sure Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo will make us all laugh.
French celebrity Jean Dujardin surprised us all last year when he won Best Actor for his turn in The Artist. The movie also won Best Picture. It was the first time a silent movie had won an Academy Award since the first Oscars® in 1929, and both Dujardin and the movie were the first French winners in their categories ever.
After an illustrious career, Christopher Plummer was finally nominated for an Oscar® in 2010 for his supporting role in The Last Station, and last year he finally became the oldest winner ever with his gold for his supporting role in The Beginners.
Octavia Spencer
This lovely lady won an Academy Award last year for her supporting role in The Help and is back to present an award this time around.
The most nominated actor in history, Meryl Streep has been nominated for an astounding seventeen acting awards, and has won three, the most recent being last year's win for her leading performance in The Iron Lady.
The presenter with the longest career to have never been nominated for an award goes to the eternally good-looking Richard Gere. Not only has Gere never been nominated, but he was actually banned as a presenter in 1993 after using his speech to denounce the Chinese government. I guess the Academy has forgiven him in the past twenty years.
The multi-talented Queen Latifah was nominated ten years ago for her supporting role in the movie musical Chicago, and is still in high gear. Last year she starred in an all-black remake of Steel Magnolias that set a record for the Lifetime network and this fall she will launch her own daytime talk show on CBS.
Renee Zellweger
Although Renee Zellweger has been quiet the last three years, the celebrated actress has been nominated for two Oscars® in the past, and won one for her supporting role in Cold Mountain. Luckily we all have a Bridget Jones sequel coming up to look forward to.
The ethereal Catherine Zeta-Jones, a 2003 Oscar® winner for her supporting role in Chicago, has been busy lately, popping up in movies such as Rock of Ages and Side Effects. I'm sure her next Oscar® nomination is just around the corner.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Although Joseph Gordon-Levitt has yet to be nominated for an Oscar®, the Christopher Nolan prodigy has appeared in so many top movies it's hard to keep track. After his surprise role as Blake/Robin in The Dark Knight Rises last year, it'll be exciting to see where this young actor goes next.
Daniel Radcliffe
The erstwhile Harry Potter will be apparating on stage to present an award to some lucky soul this year. Daniel Radcliffe may no longer be the boy who lived, but that doesn't mean his acting career is over! This year Radcliffe will be seen in Sundance darling Kill Your Darlings as Allen Ginsberg, as well as Horns and The F Word.
Channing Tatum
Better known as a pretty boy than a serious thespian -- he was People's 2012 Sexiest Man Alive -- Channing Tatum began diversifying his portfolio this year with Magic Mike, a movie he co-produced and starred in that is loosely based on his life. He can now be seen in the critically acclaimed Steven Soderbergh film Side Effects with Rooney Mara and Jude Law.
Charlize Theron
One-time Oscar winner Charlize Theron -- she won in 2004 for her leading role in Monster and was nominated in 2006 for North Country -- had a busy 2012, and looks to have an even busier 2013 and 2014 coming up. After starring in hits such as Prometheus and Snow White and the Huntsman, she has six movies lined up to film.
Salma Hayek Pinault
Salma Hayek Pinault must be exhausted. Besides guest starring for four years on 30 Rock before it ended, Hayek has also appeared in numerous films and produced Ugly Betty all at once. Before all that started though the taltented lady was nominated for an Oscar® in 2003 for her leading role in Frida. Catch her next in Grown Ups 2. Melissa McCarthy
I've loved Melissa McCarthy since she was Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls, but now the world is obsessed with this hilarious broad. She earned a nomination in 2011 for her supporting role in Bridesmaids, and has been all over the board lately. Besides starring in her TV series Mike & Molly, McCarthy can currently be seen in Identity Thief.
Liam Neeson
It's shocking that Liam Neeson didn't win the Oscar® when he was nominated for his leading role in Schindler's List in 1993 (the award went to Tom Hanks for his role in Philadelphia), but that hasn't stopped Neeson. He was most recently seen in Taken 2, and has a busy 2013 and 2014 coming up.
John Travolta
Though he is probably most famous for his role as Danny Zuko in Grease, John Travolta has been nominated twice for Best Actor for his performances in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction.
Jennifer Aniston
Rom-com fave Jennifer Aniston might be in the news more often for her love life than her acting career lately, but the lovable Friends alum hasn't given up on her career. Aniston can next be seen this summer in the comedy We're the Millers with Emma Roberts and Jason Sudeikis.
Michael Douglas
Like his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, also a presenter this year, Michael Douglas also won a golden statue -- two in fact. His first in 1976 was for Best Picture for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which he was a producer, and his second in 1988 was for his leading role as the infamous Gordon Gekko in Wall Street.
Jamie Foxx
In one year -- 2005 -- Jamie Foxx was nominated for and won his first Oscar®, for his supporting role in Collateral, and his lead role in Ray respectively. Most recently seen in Best Picture-nominated Django Unchained, Foxx will also appear in the upcoming sequel to The Amazing Spider Man.
Paul Rudd
One of Judd Apatow's brood, Paul Rudd has made a name for himself in the comedy sphere for his roles in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and its recent sequel, This is 40. His next big gigs will be in the sequel to Anchorman, and the comedy This is the End, in which he will star alongside James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, and many others as fictional versions of themselves post-apocalypse.
