The 21st Annual Critics Choice Awards brought together the best in Movies and TV for the first time for a live, highly entertaining, three-hour show. The Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport was packed with celebs whose work over the past year on screens big and small and now, even smaller, rose to the top.
The TV Vets
James Lipton, CC winner for “Inside the Actors Studio”, told me he just filmed a commercial that will air during the Super Bowl. Wendi McLendon-Covey of “The Goldbergs” appreciated the fact that “smothers” still exist. David Alan Grier and “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson were both in a fun mood.
As a longtime fan of “The Middle”, I was thrilled to meet Eden Sher, who plays Sue Heck, and Neil Flynn (Mike Heck). Krysten Ritter (“Jessica Jones”) and America Ferrera (“Superstore”) were excited that their new shows were gaining popularity. Rami Malek and Christian Slater both won for USA’s “Mr. Robot” and both said they’re amazed by the show’s success. Hamish Linklater reminisced with me a bit about working with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on “The New Adventures of Old Christine”.
“Shark Tank” producer Mark Burnett appreciated my loyalty to the ABC show. Will Forte sported a half-shaved, half-bearded look for “The Last Man on Earth”. Samantha Harris loved co-hosting the live pre-show with Kevin Frazier. “Survivor” host Jeff Probst was one of nicest and talkative nominees I met all night, as was Judith Light (“Who’s the Boss?”, “Transparent”).
But the most unexpected TV moment had to be bumping into John Stamos at the after party. He was barely visable, standing in a dark corner, in a black suit, chatting with forner “ER” co-star Maura Tierney. The “Full House” theme song “Everywhere You Look” really applied.
At the Movies
Jason Statham told me he was hesitant about being in “Spy”, wondering if he really wanted to make a fool of himself. But he said he finally realized, “I guess that was the point”. As for co-star Melissa McCarthy (who I’ve been lucky to catch-up with the last three years), with action comedies “The Boss” and “Ghostbusters” on the way, she said “I’ll keep doing them until they kick me out.” “Inside Out” director Pete Docter and I discussed the Pixar tour and live Q&A shown at a special nationwide screening of the film that I attended last Summer. Wes Bentley says he’s enjoying his lasting “Hunger Games” fame, and Orlando Bloom is looking forward to “another one of these” – aka “Pirates of the Caribbean 5”.
And I was very ready to finally be able to tell Rachel McAdams how much I loved her 2010 TV news comedy “Morning Glory”. She said, “Really? You wonder if people ever see these things.” Her “Spotlight” co-star Brian D’Arcy James and I flashed back to the first time we met – following his performance as Shrek on Broadway many years ago. I also ran into “Star Wars” director J.J. Abrams, “Joy” director David O. Russell, “The Danish Girl”‘s lovely Alicia Vikander, “Carol”‘s gracious Rooney Mara, and “99 Homes” star Michael Shannon.
But my favorite movie star moment of the evening had to be with the
calm, cool and collected Matt Damon. I asked him, “Are you and Jimmy
Kimmel really friends?” He laughed and paused for a moment, then saying,
“Publicly – definitely not.”
A Little Bit of Both
I had to ask Keeghan Michael-Key of “Key & Peele” about working with Snoop Dogg on “Pitch Perfect 2”. He proudly stated, “Snoop Dogg is the Elvis of our time.” I told Jeffrey Tambor that I’m the biggest SpongeBob fan (he was the voice of King Neptune in “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”). His reply – “Me too!” Margo Martindale, as you’d expect, was quite kind and friendly. I also met-up with Walton Goggins (“The Hateful Eight”), Critics Choice winner Kirstin Dunst, Ken Jeong (who enjoyed making “Ride Along 2”) and Critics Choice MVP and Best Actress in a Comedy winner Amy Schumer.
I also was fortunate enough to have one of the best seats in the house – next to “Room” star and Young Actor winner Jacob Tremblay and his parents. He had a wonderful time at the show, delivered the best speech of the night and got to meet presenter BB-8 from “The Force Awakens”. I also was able to get a crazy photo with show host T.J. Miller in his astronaut outfit just after the telecast ended.
And there was one celebrity I actually bumped into twice during my time on the West Coast: At the “Kung Fu Panda 3” junket on Sat., as I was posing for a photo with the film’s directors, Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alassandro Carloni, suddenly, the film’s poster, positioned between us, started moving. And out from behind it came Bryan Cranston, who was trying to photobomb our picture. I congratulated him on his Oscar nomination, and then we laughed about it the again next day just prior to the show.