Are you ready for this: There will be TWO hosts of next year’s Academy Awards – Alec Baldwin…and Steve Martin.
Interesting choices to say the least. Baldwin, thanks to his Emmy-winning role on “30 Rock”, is very hot right now. But I don’t think of him as a movie star or a candidate to host the Oscars (though he’s hosted “Saturday Night Live” several times). He has been in a lot of movies, including 2003’s “The Cat in the Hat”, and he did voices in both “Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa” and in one of my all-time favorites, “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”.
Martin, of course, has been seen recently in the “Pink Panther” and “Cheaper by the Dozen” movies, and he’s got Oscar hosting experience.
Why the need for co-hosts? The last time more than one person hosted the ceremony was back in 1987, when Chevy Chase, Goldie hawn and Paul Hogan handled the duties. The producers of the show have said they want this year’s Oscar’s to be FUN! Well, they’ve picked two funny guys to run things. Let’s hope it works. But they’ve got a tough act to follow. Remember the great job Hugh Jackman did this past February. Jackman turned-down the offer to host again.
Martin hosted the show two previous years: 2001 and 2003. This will be Baldwin’s first time, though he was a presenter in 2004. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in 2003’s “The Cooler”.
At least these two guys should be comfortable with each other. They co-star in “It’s Complicated”, which hits theaters in December.
The 82nd Academy Awards will take place March 2nd, 2010.