Awards

Though he plays a man dealing with dementia in the upcoming film “Memory,” Peter Sarsgaard found the experience immensely joyful. “I loved playing him,” the actor reveals on this week’s episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I told my wife when I was playing him – I mean, it sounds arrogant, but it was true

Is this the year of Sandra Hüller? The German actress is currently starring in not one, but two high-profile projects that might have the goods to carry her through awards season. Hüller’s versatility is on display in Neon’s Palme d’Or-winning courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall,” where she plays a woman accused of murdering her

When director Nia DaCosta told composer Laura Karpman she wanted the score for “The Marvels” to be a “space opera,” Karpman, who crafted the music for the Disney+ shows “What If” and “Ms. Marvel,” was up to the task. She knew that vocals — specifically male vocals — would need to be a large part

What do Natalie Portman, Margot Robbie and Emma Stone have in common? Aside from being in contention for this year’s best actress nominations, the three multiple-time nominated A-listers could follow in the footsteps of Frances McDormand in this year’s Oscar race. All three women are producers on each of their films — Portman for “May

Netflix is throwing two winter awards season FYC pop-up events this month in Hollywood. Timed to promote its TV contenders for the upcoming Golden Globes, SAG Awards, WGA Awards and other guild kudos, “The Fall Edit: An FYSee Showcase” will take place at NeueHouse Hollywood on Sunday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 19. Among the

Hey Academy, don’t be scared to invite horror performances to the Oscars. Horror movies embrace humanity’s fear, but what’s truly frightening is the lack of recognition they get from the Academy. Only six horror movies have been nominated for best picture in the history of the Oscars: “The Exorcist” (1973), “Jaws” (1975), “The Sixth Sense”

An Oscar ceremony with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift? What television producer wouldn’t want two of the biggest names in entertainment gracing the red carpet for the 96th Academy Awards? But despite two upcoming concert films from the megastars — “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” — neither are eligible to

The 77th Tony Awards are moving to the Upper West Side and will take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. It’s the fourth location change in four years for Broadway’s biggest night, held in prior years at Washington Height’s United Palace Theater, Radio City Music Hall and the Winter Garden Theatre.

Writer-director Jeff Nichols‘ “The Bikeriders,” with Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy, made a splash with festival-goers at the recent Telluride Film Festival. 20th Century Studios has revealed to Variety exclusively that the film will be campaigned for best original screenplay for the upcoming awards season, despite being inspired by the 1968 photo and

The Oscars love it when a movie sticks it to the man. Films focusing on systemic inequality, or the monied elite’s morally murky ways, arrive as many industry voters have spent the better part of the year on the picket lines, holding out for a better contract from studios. These movies could strike an emotional

The 44th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards kicked off the first of two nights on Wednesday in New York, with CNN, Vice and the New York Times as among the big winners. CNN led the news portion of the Emmys, with ten wins — followed closely by Vice, with nine, and then the NYT

“Poor Things” can win things. That’s a nugget of information we gleaned at the conclusion of Venice, Telluride and Toronto, the three major fall festivals. For starters, Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi dramedy collected the Golden Lion at Venice. Divided into palettes of monochrome and bold color, “Poor Things” is led by a cast of Oscar regulars,

Lights, camera, Oscars. When you chat with someone about filmmakers and mention Steven Spielberg, even the most oblivious Hollywood consumer knows who you’re talking about. Yet the helmers of the year’s most critically acclaimed and top-grossing movies aren’t typically household names. Just ask your neighbor if they know who Michel Hazanavicius is. No, Spielberg doesn’t

It’s back, baby. As summer winds down and fall festivals begin anew, it’s time to get ready for another awards season. Anticipation, hope and uncertainty are in the air as studios, streamers and the army of Oscar strategists they employ gear up for the long slog of getting their movies in front of voters —

The shows have been screened, panels attended, activations experienced, voting secured and the last free shrimp eaten. And now… we wait for January. The most unusual Emmy season in recent memory now breaks for a lengthy pause as the Oscar awards calendar takes over and faces some of the same limitations as the TV Academy

The CrimeCon Clue Awards will return for a second year with a new streaming partner — Law&Crime’s YouTube, Facebook and TikTok accounts — on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET. This year’s event will be hosted by ABC News legal analyst Matt Murphy, while presenters will include Camille Vasquez, Nancy Grace and prosecutor Kelly

This is it! This year’s Emmy voting is over, ending what was a rather muted Phase 2. We’ve noted the limited number of Phase 2 FYC events due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes (as well as the inability of nominated talent to participate in any press that they hadn’t already completed pre-strike). And now,

Variety legend Tim Gray, who first joined Hollywood’s dominant trade publication in 1981, has departed after 42 years to start a new chapter with the Golden Globes organization as executive vice president. Gray, who will also serve on its board, will work closely with Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne to evolve the entity — which

If you had predicted that 2023 would be the summer of “Suits” — the USA Network procedural drama that ran from 2011 to 2019 — well, I know you’d be lying. Or else you were a prescient Netflix exec who knows the algorithm so well that you saw it coming. But probably lying. Because I

Padma Lakshmi wants a man … a gold man, that is. After 16 Primetime Emmy nominations throughout her career, she makes no qualms about wanting to make a trip to the stage to accept a statuette. She’s double nominated this year for outstanding host for a reality or competition program for Bravo’s “Top Chef” and

Mary Lou Belli knows she’s the longshot to win the Emmy for outstanding comedy director, and that’s fine with her. After all, she’s up against some marquee names, including Tim Burton (“Wednesday”), Bill Hader (“Barry”) and Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”). But here’s something only she and Hader have in common among this year’s

CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer and Oscar-winning director/producer Barbara Kopple are this year’s recipients of the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards lifetime achievement honors, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was set to announce on Tuesday. The News & Doc Emmys take place over two days next month in New York:

It’s the artisans’ time to shine. Emmy For Your Consideration campaigning continues to be limited by the simultaneous WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as actors currently aren’t allowed to speak about projects they’ve been involved with (past or present) and showrunners/writers can talk to the press (via personal publicists) but can’t participate in anything underwritten by

Subtle details in costume design, hairstyling and even production design showed the growth and progression of Selena Gomez’s Mabel in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Season 2 begins where the first left off — Mabel is the prime suspect after being found by the side of the dead body of Bunny, who lives in

NBC’s acclaimed and award-winning drama “This is Us” encapsulated a beautiful ensemble of actors from all walks of life. From the raw emotions of Sterling K. Brown and Justin Hartley to the heartbreak and bravery of Mandy Moore and Chrissy Metz, there was talent on display for its 106 episodes. However, at the center of

Sasha Colby is on top of the world. Well, she’s on her balcony looking out at it. Colby hasn’t had a moment to stop since being crowned the winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 15. She’s been traveling the world, performing at Vice President Kamala Harris’ house during Pride month, and being honored for her

When HBO scored four slots on this year’s list of outstanding drama Emmy nominees, it wasn’t quite a huge surprise. The pay cabler is holding a hot hand at the moment — and I said as much in my February Variety magazine cover story of HBO and Max content chairman/CEO Casey Bloys. With “Succession,” “The

Kathryn Hahn excels at playing women without boundaries. From the moment in “Step Brothers” that she mounted John C. Reilly in the men’s room and then proceeded to urinate standing up, Hahn won our hearts playing characters who speak their unfiltered minds — and performed an impressive amount of gymnastic sex scenes in the process.

Mark Mylod is still kicking himself over something in Season 4 of “Succession.” The series’ final installment has been universally lauded, and the general consensus is that the HBO drama stuck the landing. But for Mylod, the executive producer/director who is once again Emmy nominated, he can’t stop thinking about something — and he won’t

As much as we like to try and predict the key Emmy races, some categories are more tough to figure out — and therefore, more interesting — than others. Outstanding drama series? Shhh, I think we have a pretty good hunch what’s going to win. (Apologies, “Andor,” it’s not you.) This year’s acting categories have