Oscar hopefuls gather for luncheon and class picture

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Nearly all of the 230 people up for Oscars across 24 categories gathered Tuesday for the Academy Award nominees luncheon, an event that functions as a celebration, group portrait session and orientation for next month’s big ceremony.

Nominees including Jessie Buckley, Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, Ryan Coogler and Emma Stone sat for lunch and stood for a class photo alongside nominees for awards including best animated short and the newly created casting Oscar.

The luncheon is a relatively egalitarian affair where big names mix with small ones and veteran nominees stand for photos with first-timers.

Lynette Howell Taylor, elected in July as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, made her first address to Oscar nominees, and gave them a set of instructions on how to handle their acceptance speeches if they win.

“Be prepared,” she said. “Don’t say you didn’t expect it. You have a one in five chance of winning.”

She urged winners to “make it heartfelt,” not to try to thank everyone they can think of, pick one person to speak for a group of victors and hold speeches to 45 seconds.

The roll call where every nominee in attendance in a ballroom at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, is summoned to the stage, is the centerpiece of the gathering. It feels much like the names being read off at a high school graduation. (Nominees even get a certificate on departure that looks like a diploma. “Woo-hoo!” best supporting actress nominee Elle Fanning said when handed hers on her way out, and asked for a photo with it.)

This year’s roll call, read by actor and Academy Board of Governors member Lou Diamond Phillips, began with Delroy Lindo, up for best supporting actor for the most-nominated film ever “Sinners,” and ended with Teyana Taylor, up for best supporting actress for its biggest competitor, “One Battle After Another.”

The luncheon was a return to tradition after last year’s was called off because it fell amid Southern California’s destructive wildfires. A cocktail reception with the class picture just a few days before the ceremony replaced it.