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Pre-Awards Luncheon Held for Oscar Hopefuls

Aired March 10, 2003 - 15:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Kodak Theater will play host to the 75th Academy Awards on March 23. But, today, Oscar hopefuls have been invited to a special pre-pre-awards luncheon. "A" list kind of thing. For more on that, we turn to your "A" list correspondent, Daryn Kagan in Los Angeles, the woman who gets all the good assignments here at CNN, right?
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, does this look as good as it feels to sit at poolside here?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it does look good. Don't rub it in.

KAGAN: Yes, not too bad. OK. You had a very good explanation of what this is. It's like the pre-pre-pre-party.

You know how they say it's just an honor to be nominated? Well that truly is the case today. You have many of the nominees showing up at this luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. And they all gather together and they take a class picture.

Here are some of the arrivals. There is Martin Scorsese. He is, of course, the director of "Gangs of New York." He's a great story. Been nominated so many times; never won an Oscar.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, she just won last night at Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is very, very pregnant and I think is looking for a dress just to fit.

Rene Zellweger, a big night for her too for "Chicago." She won best actress award last night.

The buzz here in Hollywood, in southern California, is all about the movie "Chicago." It goes in with 13 nominations.

Nicolas Cage, he has won, of course, an Oscar before. He is nominated this time for "Adaptation." where he plays twin brothers, plays both roles.

And there Ed Harris. You see him in "The Hours." He plays an HIV patient. He's nominated for best supporting actor.

And this - now Christopher Walken, you're used to seeing him as the bad guy. He won last night a Screen Actors Guild Award for playing the father of Leo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can."

And Daniel Day Lewis, he also won last night. We've got a bunch of winners here. This is good. He won last night for his role in "Gangs of New York." And Diane Lane in "Unfaithful."

And there you see Adrien Brody. He is nominated for "The Pianist." "The Pianist" is the movie that Roman Polanski directed. He, of course, is also nominated. Not just as director, but that picture is nominated as well. And Queen Latifah, she is the only African-American nominated this year.

So, basically, if you're a big star and you're nominated in Hollywood, this is the place to have lunch. This is how it's going to work. They're inside having lunch. They don't feed us, but we get to sit poolside.

And then when they finish and take their big class photo, many of them are going to come through and sit down with me and do a little one-on-one interview, Miles. So it's a tough assignment, but I'm here to serve the viewers of CNN.

O'BRIEN: So wait a minute. You're not supping with the stars, then? You're not eating with them?

KAGAN: I'm not what?

O'BRIEN: You're not eating with them?

KAGAN: No, they didn't feed us. No snacks.

O'BRIEN: What's on the menu?

KAGAN: That is a good question, what they feed them. But you know they're inside, we're out here waiting for them. But I will get back to you on that.

O'BRIEN: Waiting for the catering truck to blow its horn, right?

KAGAN: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well I feel just a little bit sorry for you, but not that much.

KAGAN: But you know what, Miles? You know you're making a big deal out of my being here, but our beats aren't that different. You cover space, I cover the stars. There you go.

O'BRIEN: There you go. It's segue city. All right. Daran Kagan, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

KAGAN: OK.

O'BRIEN: People log on to chat rooms to debate the prospect of war. We'll chat with our Regina Lewis about what people are saying online about a potential war with Iraq after a few commercials. Stay with us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 10, 2003 - 15:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Kodak Theater will play host to the 75th Academy Awards on March 23. But, today, Oscar hopefuls have been invited to a special pre-pre-awards luncheon. "A" list kind of thing. For more on that, we turn to your "A" list correspondent, Daryn Kagan in Los Angeles, the woman who gets all the good assignments here at CNN, right?
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, does this look as good as it feels to sit at poolside here?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it does look good. Don't rub it in.

KAGAN: Yes, not too bad. OK. You had a very good explanation of what this is. It's like the pre-pre-pre-party.

You know how they say it's just an honor to be nominated? Well that truly is the case today. You have many of the nominees showing up at this luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. And they all gather together and they take a class picture.

Here are some of the arrivals. There is Martin Scorsese. He is, of course, the director of "Gangs of New York." He's a great story. Been nominated so many times; never won an Oscar.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, she just won last night at Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is very, very pregnant and I think is looking for a dress just to fit.

Rene Zellweger, a big night for her too for "Chicago." She won best actress award last night.

The buzz here in Hollywood, in southern California, is all about the movie "Chicago." It goes in with 13 nominations.

Nicolas Cage, he has won, of course, an Oscar before. He is nominated this time for "Adaptation." where he plays twin brothers, plays both roles.

And there Ed Harris. You see him in "The Hours." He plays an HIV patient. He's nominated for best supporting actor.

And this - now Christopher Walken, you're used to seeing him as the bad guy. He won last night a Screen Actors Guild Award for playing the father of Leo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can."

And Daniel Day Lewis, he also won last night. We've got a bunch of winners here. This is good. He won last night for his role in "Gangs of New York." And Diane Lane in "Unfaithful."

And there you see Adrien Brody. He is nominated for "The Pianist." "The Pianist" is the movie that Roman Polanski directed. He, of course, is also nominated. Not just as director, but that picture is nominated as well. And Queen Latifah, she is the only African-American nominated this year.

So, basically, if you're a big star and you're nominated in Hollywood, this is the place to have lunch. This is how it's going to work. They're inside having lunch. They don't feed us, but we get to sit poolside.

And then when they finish and take their big class photo, many of them are going to come through and sit down with me and do a little one-on-one interview, Miles. So it's a tough assignment, but I'm here to serve the viewers of CNN.

O'BRIEN: So wait a minute. You're not supping with the stars, then? You're not eating with them?

KAGAN: I'm not what?

O'BRIEN: You're not eating with them?

KAGAN: No, they didn't feed us. No snacks.

O'BRIEN: What's on the menu?

KAGAN: That is a good question, what they feed them. But you know they're inside, we're out here waiting for them. But I will get back to you on that.

O'BRIEN: Waiting for the catering truck to blow its horn, right?

KAGAN: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well I feel just a little bit sorry for you, but not that much.

KAGAN: But you know what, Miles? You know you're making a big deal out of my being here, but our beats aren't that different. You cover space, I cover the stars. There you go.

O'BRIEN: There you go. It's segue city. All right. Daran Kagan, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

KAGAN: OK.

O'BRIEN: People log on to chat rooms to debate the prospect of war. We'll chat with our Regina Lewis about what people are saying online about a potential war with Iraq after a few commercials. Stay with us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com