Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Zegler invited to present at Oscars
“West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler may get her Oscars moment after all. The actor, 20, has been invited to be a presenter at the Sunday ceremony, according to a report Tuesday in The Hollywood Reporter.
The gesture came two days after Zegler, who plays Maria, posted on social media that she had not been invited to the awards and would be rooting for “West Side Story” from her couch.
The Steven Spielberg film is nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director and supporting actress for Ariana DeBose.
The post drew a lot of attention online as many couldn’t fathom why the lead of a best picture nominee wouldn’t have been invited to the ceremony or at least been asked to present an award.
“I hope some last minute miracle occurs, and I can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess,” Zegler wrote on Instagram Sunday. “Thanks for all the shock and outrage — I’m disappointed, too. But that’s OK. So proud of our movie.”
Best picture nominees are allotted a certain number of tickets by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that the film’s studio doles out as it sees fit. Presenters and individual nominees get a pair of tickets.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, arrangements are being made for Zegler — who is in London shooting Disney’s liveaction remake of “Snow White” — to participate in the Hollywood ceremony.
In other Oscar news:
Beyonce, Billie Eilish and other nominees for best original song will perform at the Academy Awards, the show’s producers announced Tuesday.
Beyonce will perform her nominated song “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” and Eilish and her brother and co-writer Finneas will perform “No Time To Die” from the James Bond film of the same name.
Sebastian Yatra will perform “Dos Oruguitas,” the nominated song from “Encanto” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Reba McEntire will sing writer Diane Warren’s “Somehow You Do” from the film “Four Good Days.”
Van Morrison, who wrote and sings the nominated song “Down to Joy” from “Belfast,” will not be able to make the show because of his touring schedule. The song will not be performed.
The original song Academy Award goes to the songwriter, not the artist who performs it.
On Monday, producers revealed that DJ Khaled, Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater and Shaun White would all be presenting awards at the show, airing Sunday on ABC.
Judge ends Bynes conservatorship: Actor Amanda Bynes was released Tuesday from a court conservatorship that put her life and financial decisions in her parents’ control for nearly nine years. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Roger Lund terminated the conservatorship at a hearing in a courtroom in Oxnard, California, her attorney David A. Esquibias said.
Bynes, 35, shot to fame on a pair of Nickelodeon shows as a teenager, but struggles with mental health, substance abuse and the law prompted her parents to establish court control through a conservatorship in 2013.
Lund said this week that Bynes had demonstrated competency to manage her own affairs, including her mental health and other medical treatment.
March 24 birthdays:
Singer Nick Lowe is 73. TV personality Star Jones is 60. Actor Peter Jacobson is 57. Actor Lara Flynn Boyle is 52. Actor Jim Parsons is 49. Actor Alyson Hannigan is 48. Actor Jessica Chastain is 45. Actor Amir Arison is 44. Dancer Val Chmerkovskiy is 36. Actor Keisha CastleHughes is 32.