It was a fashion lover’s dream week, as awards shows piled up, filled with gorgeous (and sometimes pretty far out) looks that led the red carpet Hollywood scene leading up to Oscar Sunday on March 12. Zendaya keeps proving she’s the coolest, by going green to the NAACP Image Awards wearing recycled gowns (green-and-black Versace from 2002 and white cutout Prada from 1993, and proving that great designs are timeless. Will Smith went on his “Redemption Tour” by appearing at the AAFCA Awards, but will not be at the Oscars; and Pedro Pascal, who’s having a very good spring, took time away from “The Last of Us” to bring back “The Mandalorian” in all its glory.
“Creed III” Los Angeles Premiere
TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood
There was a knockout crowd of talent attending the “Creed III” premiere at the TCL Chinese Theater in the heart of Hollywood this week. The third installment of the “Creed” franchise once again stars Michael B. Jordan as the titular character and also marks his directorial debut.
Jordan chatted with us about the nerves he felt, having to both star and direct the film. “I think the anxiety was the unknown, not knowing exactly how it was going to go or what my style was or overthinking things. But then just stepping up on Day One and actually just going through it and shooting it, it started to feel really natural – and the bogeyman wasn’t as scary!”
Jonathan Majors, Jordan’s co-star and the brawling new addition to the “Creed” franchise, told TheWrap that he loved the choreography that comes with doing boxing scenes. “I was prepared, I worked extremely hard to make it not difficult, so I was probably overly prepared for the choreography,” he explained.
Also making the premiere were co-stars Tessa Thomson and Mila Davis-Kent, along with Chloe Bailey, Vivica A. Fox, Dre. Dre and Ryan Coogler, whose brother Keegan Coogler penned the screenplay. – Elijah Gil
“The Mandalorian” Season 3 Special Launch Event
El Capitan Theater, Hollywood
“The Mandalorian” landed its spaceship on Hollywood Boulevard this week as the cast of the hit Disney+ show descended upon El Capitan Theatre to celebrate the premiere the first two episodes of the third season.
Showrunner and executive producer Jon Favreau, along with executive producer Dave Filoni, introduced the first episode to a packed audience and urged the crowd not to share spoilers, while The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter loomed on stage. As headliner Pedro Pascal and co-star Katee Sackhoff hit the stage, the “Star Wars” fan-filled audience went into the stratosphere with delight.
Pascal complimented his glamorous co-star, who kicks serious ass in the first two episodes, grinning at Sackhoff and teasing, “I can’t wait for you to see what happens, and what she does to me!”
Also seen in the crowd was a stunning Rosario Dawson, whose own “Star Wars” series, “Ashoka,” is currently in post-production. Comedian Bill Burr, who has starred in previous episodes, also made the scene, along with Bob Iger, Aisha Tyler, Carl Weathers and Amy Sedaris. – Umberto Gonzalez
“UnPrisoned” Premiere
Hollywood Legion Theater, Hollywood
Kerry Washington brought her new Hulu series “Unprisoned” to the Hollywood Legion Theater, one of the hottest new venues around Tinseltown, and a big crowd happily joined her to enjoy the first two episodes of the comedy series. It’s based on a true story (written by Tracy McMillan) of a woman’s relationship with her father, an ex-con trying to navigate to his new life as a free man.
Delroy Lindo plays that con dad, and thanked Kerry for creating magic on the set. “I had the best daughter on set and I’m so grateful for what Kerry brought to this role,” he said.
After the screening, fans were privately transported to the Roosevelt Hotel for a chic after party where dancing quickly broke out. Washington grooved to some of the music and gave a brief shoulder dance to the delight of her adoring crowd. The buzz was extremely positive for the show, as we overhead one fan gushing with the observation that many were thinking: “Who knew Kerry could be so naturally funny – and act her butt off at the same time?” Seems Hulu knew!
The 54th Annual NAACP Image Awards
Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena
The 54th Annual NAACP Image Awards faced a deluge of rain in Pasadena, but that foul weather did not stop the talented people of color from coming together to celebrate their outstanding achievements in film and television.
So many stars braved the elements it was tough to keep track, as Zendaya, Viola Davis, Queen Latifah, Angela Bassett, Serena Williams, Wendell Pierce, Terrence Howard and countless other familiar faces filled the warm, dry room.
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade took home the NAACP’s President’s Award and used the moment to support their 15-year-old child, who is transgender. “I am intentional when I use my platform. I recognize what I have been given and it is my job to uplift the voices of others and share my access and resources,” Wade said. Union added her support for all people, not just some, pointing out the new times we’re all living in, what she calls a “new era.”
“A new era that demands our collective answer to one simple question: Will we fight for some or will we fight for all of our people?” Union said. “Even as we demand equality at the top of our lungs, we consistently fail to extend our advocacy to protect some of our most vulnerable among us.”
Also on the winners stage was the entire cast of “Abbott Elementary,” which won Outstanding Comedy Series at the event. Star Lisa Anne Walter spoke to TheWrap and opened up about her journey toward self-love that was kickstarted by the advice from her co-star and close friend Sheryl Lee Ralph.
“Sheryl was the one who said to me, ‘You talk too much trash about yourself — I know you think it’s funny. You’re gonna stop that. You are beautiful. Your body is beautiful. I don’t want to hear negative [things],’” she revealed.
Other big winners of the night included Davis, Bassett and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” – Elijah Gil
The Producers Guild Awards
The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” took home the coveted title of the best-produced film of 2022 at the Producers Guild Awards in Los Angeles this week.
The freewheeling indie film won in a category that also included the formidable blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The PGA had been a must-win awards show for “Top Gun,” and the fact that “Everything Everywhere” won is reminiscent of the low-budget “CODA” winning this award last year on its way to an unlikely Oscar Best Picture win.
In other awards, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” won the award for animated feature. Del Toro accepted the award, which was the first of the night, and then immediately left the Beverly Hilton to head for UCLA’s Royce Hall, where the Annie Awards were taking place and his film would win five more awards.
“Navalny” won the award for documentary film.
Also at the ceremony, the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures went to Tom Cruise, who received an effusive tribute from Sherry Lansing and a marathon film package that curiously was filled with scenes from movies that he acted in but didn’t produce. Other honorary awards went to Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy (the Milestone Award), Mindy Kaling (the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television) and the film “Till” (the Stanley Kramer Award). See all the winners and read more here.– Steve Pond
25th Costume Designers Guild Awards
Fairmont Century Plaza, Century City
Celebrating “excellence in film, television and short form costume design,” the 25th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards brought fabulous fashions and the people who create them to the forefront as they handed out their annual “Best of” prizes. Those awards, as voted on by the guild’s membership, ranged from special honorees to the winners of the eight categories in competition for their work in 2022.
Fashion icon Bette Midler (who wore mermaid fins long before anyone else!) received the guild’s Distinguished Collaborator Award, presented by her longtime pal Billy Crystal, while Angela Bassett added to her week filled with trophy collecting with the Spotlight Award. Deborah L. Scott (the Oscar winner for her “Titanic” costumes and “Avatar” designer) took home the Career Achievement Award.
After 25 years, the stylized statuette that winners are awarded has a new name, now dubbed “The Adrian,” for that famed designer who helped found the organization, did costume designs for over 270 movies and whose clothes in the 1939 film “The Women” are still legendary today.
Clothes horses Cate Blanchett , Christina Ricci and Ashley Park joined the incredibly well-dressed crowd, along with sartorial wonder Austin Butler, Elizabeth Debicki, Monica Barbaro and “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” star Nazanin Boniadi, whose Elle Saab Haute Couture black ensemble was a wonder to behold.
And in a fashion-as-art red-carpet statement, costume designers Mandi Line (“Pretty Little Liars”) and B. Åkerlund, (Beyonce, Madonna and Nikki Minaj music videos) along with costumer Dawn Ritz (“Euphoria”) got decked out in “Naked Without Us” creations that created a real sensation.
For a complete list of the winners, click here.
14th Annual AAFCA Awards
The Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills
The night’s big buzz at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards was the presence of Will Smith in the busy ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, there to pick up his African American Film Critics Association’s “Beacon Award” prize along with director Antoine Fuqua for “Emancipation.” Smith hasn’t been seen on the awards circuit this season, despite being the reigning best actor Academy Award winner of 2022, and everyone knows why.
So this was the night Smith began what we’re calling his “Redemption Tour,” by making his first awards season stop in a room chockablock with people who are fond of him, but he didn’t say a word about his troubles with the Academy. Instead, he simply expressed his love for AAFCA president Gil Robertson, the Black critics who voted for him and the world in general.
“I want to thank all of you in this room for doing what you do for keeping our stories alive,” Smith said. “I appreciate all of you. I thank you all.”
Other winners of the night were more introspective, including Angela Bassett, who was awarded her Best Supporting Actress prize by her husband Courtney B. Vance, adding to her shelf full of awards already received this year. She used the moment to point out that “people do not realize that it’s been 29 years since I’ve been a nominee.”
Evoking cheers and applause, Bassett added, “What these moments over the past few months have meant to me is the shaping of what my legacy will be as a Black woman and a Black actress. And to the next generation of young Black and brown women, I hope that the work that I have done and continue to do, that my career will one day be the bright light over someone who needs the confidence and the comfort in knowing that by remaining true to the purpose, you will succeed.”
The ballroom was a swirl of who’s who in Black Hollywood, including other winners like Danielle Deadwyler, Gina Prince-Blythwood and Jordan Peele, as well as Viola Davis, Omarion, Salli Richardson and the very funny host of the night, Roy Wood Jr., who judiciously avoided making any slap jokes as the show rolled on late into the evening.
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