ActorsJames FrancoandAnne Hathawaywill cohost this season’s Oscar ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced.
Telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer have decided to continue the two-host trend from last year’s show, when Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin shared emceeing duties. But they clearly seem to be courting a different generation: Franco and Hathaway’s combined age (61) is less than Steve Martin’s.
According to Deadline, an offer has been made to James Franco and Anne Hathaway to co-host this years' Oscars. According to the same source, it"looks like"both actors will accept.
Both are highly talented and I'm sure would do a fine job, though this is a pretty radical departure from the Oscar host line-up going all the way back to before I was born. Since the mid-seventies, the overwhelming majority of hosts have been either comedians or comic actors, and only a few times (Hugh Jackman) has this parade been broken.
Now, Franco and Hathaway are both technically comedic actors as well, as both have appeared in a number of very funny films, but they would be a far cry from the Billy Crystal/Whoopi Goldberg/Steve Martin rotation that was going on for fifteen years. Same goes for Jon Stewart, Ellen Degeneres and Chris Rock, who are funny yes, but a different class of actors than Franco or Hathaway who are actively headlining movies.
The 83rd Academy Awards will be broadcast live on ABC on February 27, 2011.
