Famous actor Steve Martin recently spoke about his experience hosting the Academy Awards of Merit, commonly referred to as the Oscars. Martin, who has hosted the event by himself twice and once with Alec Baldwin, stated that he has no plans to return to the awards show and host it for a fourth time after he declined a recent invitation.
According to Martin, hosting the Academy Awards by himself in front of a star-studded audience made him “nervous,” but hosting it with a partner was substantially easier. During a recent interview, he revealed that he was asked if he would be willing to host the show again with his friend and fellow actor in the series, “Only Murders in the Building,” Martin Short. However, Martin declined.
“That represents so much work for us. And we love our summers,” Martin said, illustrating the extensive work that goes into preparing to host the Oscars. “When I hosted before, I started working months ahead of time. And now I have a completely different life. I’m not as free. It’s a lot of work, and we’re working,” noting his new outlook on life.
Given the opportunity cost of time for an A-list star like Martin, he stressed that the awards show should pay their hosts. “They don’t pay, either,” the actor said. “The Golden Globes pay, so they get Tina Fey and Amy [Poehler]. And Ricky Gervais. The Oscars should pay. When you consider the amount of work, it’s at least several months of mental churning.”
“I have a joke for the Oscars that I never used. But I always think it’s funny,” he said, recounting a joke he once wrote about hosting the event. “I’ll come out and say, ‘I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, Steve, how did you get to host the Oscars? It was easy. I just called my agent and I said, Get me something thankless.'”
Martin has also declined a recent invitations to appear on “Saturday Night Live.” He said, “I wanted to say no and, by the way, he wanted me to say no.” The actor added, ‘”I said, ‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy.’ I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses,” he continued.
During the last Oscars, there was substantial controversy involving host Jimmy Kimmel and former President Donald Trump, who exchanged blows. “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC “talent,” George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous. Also a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years – Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Watch Trump sound off on Jimmy Kimmel below:
Featured image credit: Davidwbaker, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Martin,_2017-08-11_(cropped).jpg
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