Backstage at the Spirit Awards: A day at the beach with Michelle Yeoh, Paul Mescal, and Quinta Brunson
The coolest awards show in Hollywood, er, Santa Monica brings out the stars with hot dog finger gloves and free-flowing whiskey
Of all the awards ceremonies that take place this time of year, the Film Independent Spirit Awards are something special. When you put on an awards show in the middle of a Saturday on the beach in Santa Monica—about as far away from Hollywood as you can convince A-list stars to go—the vibe is naturally going to be more fun and laid back. Before the show, celebrities mingle in the sandy parking lot, day drinking promotional cocktails (provided by sponsor Bulleit Frontier Whiskey) until their publicists shuffle them off to join the seated crowd. While the show can sometimes get rowdy inside the tent, where every table is the cool kids’ table, outside it’s pure chill.
Chill was the word of the day at this year’s ceremony, which took place on March 4 following a week of storms that drenched Los Angeles, dusting the local mountains—and even the Hollywood sign itself—with rare caps of snow. Though the skies were clear, more than a few stars threw on coats over their designer dresses as soon as they finished walking the blue carpet (red is too basic for this crowd). Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Michelle Yeoh, dressed in blue to match the carpet, shared some warmth by embracing her biggest rival this awards season, Cate Blanchett. Both were nominated in the category of best lead performance (Yeoh won, for the record), but in the spirit of the Spirit Awards, they expressed nothing but admiration for each other.
A very different kind of awards show
Besides the differences in the actual event, the Spirit Awards distinguishes itself with innovative categories and acknowledgement of projects that may get little recognition elsewhere. This year’s new twist was the elimination of gendered categories for acting. Rather than separating nominees by male and female, all of the performances were combined into single categories for lead and supporting. The move has already started a conversation that may become a trend as other awards shows consider similar adjustments.
There are also special categories at the Spirit Awards like the Robert Altman Award, which recognizes a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. That one went to Women Talking, which got an enthusiastic standing ovation. It’s just the kind of small-scale, issue-oriented project the Spirit Awards love to highlight (and, let’s face it, the Oscars often pass over). In her acceptance speech, director Sarah Polley took a shot at Mark Wahlberg for messing up the title of the film at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards. “I can’t tell you what it means to us to be up here being recognized in this way for this film, Women Are Talking. I mean Women Talking. Sorry Marky Mark, that’s in my head.” The line got a big laugh from the audience, and an even bigger one in the press room, where journalists were watching remotely.
Because it’s such a quirky event, the Spirit Awards doesn’t usually provide as much insight as other awards shows when it comes to predicting the Oscars (which are just a week away). Take The Lost Daughter, for example, the most honored film at last year’s Spirit Awards lost in all three the Academy Award categories where it was nominated. This year might be a different story, though. Everything Everywhere All At Once continues to dominate the awards scene, and could be headed for a very good night at the Oscars.
The indie community loves hot dog fingers, too
As the cast and crew of Everything Everywhere All At Once celebrated their Spirit Awards record seven honors backstage, SAG winner Jamie Lee Curtis donned a pair of hot-dog-finger gloves for pictures. Yeoh joined the group for a brief few minutes before heading to the airport to catch a flight to Paris. Everyone on site seemed to be pulling for this little film that could. Every time it won an award you could hear the cheers erupting from inside the tent, even over the din of the busy press room across the way.
But let’s back up to the beginning of the show, when the film’s first honor of the day went to Ke Huy Quan for best supporting performance. He bounced into the press room full of energy, posed proudly with his award, and explained why he thanked often forgotten crew members like the boom operators and production assistants in his acceptance speech.
“When I stepped away from acting and went to film school I was so fascinated with all the different departments,” Quan told reporters. “So when I graduated and was able to do that it opened my perspective up. Before, you know, when I walked on set, I’d only see my fellow actors. I’d only see the directors and the producers. But now when I walk on, I see everybody. I see the production assistant. That’s why I wanted to thank them today. You know, they’re the unsung heroes of our movies.”
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