This year’s Academy Awards is set with its star-studded first slate of presenters. Announced by show producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan, the 94th Annual Academy Award will see several previous winners, nominees, and hosts take the stage to hand out the golden statues. Listed in the first slate is Kevin Costner, Zoë Kravitz, Lady Gaga, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock, and Yuh-Jung Youn. More presenters are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Kravitz, star of the upcoming film The Batman, is the only presenter on the list without previous attachments to the ceremony but has received multiple nominations in other award shows for her roles in projects like High Fidelity, X-Men: First Class, and The Road Within. Gaga and Costner each sit at the top with three nominations each, Gaga for her work in A Star is Born and Costner for 1991’s Dance with Wolves. Gaga left with an award for Best Original Song with Costner walked away with Best Picture and Best Director. Fearless actress Perez received a 1993 nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a category that Youn is currently sweeping across various ceremonies, including last year’s Oscars for her role in Minari. While Rock has no nominations relating to the Oscars, he did host the 88th Annual Academy Awards and is considered a fan-favorite.
The slate of presenters will join previously announced hosts Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall at the Dolby Theater in California as they celebrate last year’s greatest cinematic creations. Packer had this to say about the 2022 presenters:
Movies inspire us, entertain us, and unite us across the globe. That’s the precise goal of the show this year, and we’re thrilled to welcome the first of a stellar lineup joining the Oscars stage to help us celebrate the power of film and honor the year’s best in filmmaking.”
The Oscars have been making recent headlines with its divisive nominations list and choice to shake up how it structures its broadcast of the awards ceremony. These categories will instead be filmed prior to the ceremony and edited in during the broadcast. The decision has been met with many concerns across the industry.
With the Oscars making quite a stir this year, it remains to be seen who else will step onto the stage during Hollywood’s most coveted awards. The 94th Oscars are set to air live on March 27th at 8pm ET on ABC.