James Franco and Anne Hathaway to co-host Oscars (2011)
Story by Jack Foley
JAMES Franco and Anne Hathaway will co-host the 2011 Oscar ceremony, it has been announced.
In revealing the identity of next year’s hosts, producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer referred to the actors as a “fresh, exciting and multi-talented” pair who “personify the next generation of Hollywood icons”.
Hathaway was nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for Rachel Getting Married, while Franco is best known for his Harry Osborn role in the Spider-Man films.
Both could land nominations themselves for this year’s ceremony, for the films Love & Other Drugs and 127 Hours.
They follow in the footsteps of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who co-hosted this year’s awards in March.
Commenting further on the appointments, Cohen and Mischer said that they hoped the Oscar broadcast would enable Franco and Hathaway to “showcase their incredible talents and entertain the world”, and added: “We are completely thrilled that James and Anne will be joining forces with our brilliant creative team to do just that.”
In addition to her nomination for Rachel Getting Married, Hathaway has also found blockbuster success with commercial hits including Alice in Wonderland, Becoming Jane and The Devil Wears Prada.
She also has extensive Oscar awareness, having appeared on four previous Oscar telecasts and being plucked from the audience in 2009 by then host Hugh Jackman to perform a musical skit based on the film Frost/Nixon.
Franco, meanwhile, is best known for diverse film roles in the Oscar winnning Milk, as well as the stoner action comedy Pineapple Express and romantic epic Eat, Pray, Love.
He will be making his second appearance on an Oscars show.
The Academy Awards will be held on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Next story: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows dominates US Thanksgiving box office