Chapter 193: Oscars

The 2006 Oscars ceremony started at 5 PM Pacific Time.

Charles initially planned to attend the ceremony with his mother, Evelyn, but Evelyn had other engagements and would attend the Vanity Fair celebration dinner later.

At the awards ceremony, besides the crew of movies produced by Capet Pictures, Charles also ran into Nicole Kidman and Jessica Alba, both of whom he had past associations with.

Keira Knightley and Charlize Theron, who he was more familiar with, were nominated for Best Actress at this Oscars.

Charles sat with the Coen brothers, directors of No Country for Old Men, and occasionally commented on the winning movies.

"Three hours already, now it's time for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture," Charles murmured as he stroked his chin.

"Charles, Capet Pictures is doing great!" Joel Coen laughed.

By this point, the Coen brothers from the No Country for Old Men crew had already won Best Adapted Screenplay, and Javier Bardem had defeated Alan Arkin from Little Miss Sunshine and George Clooney from Syriana to win Best Supporting Actor.

Little Miss Sunshine won the award for Best Original Screenplay.

Although Walk the Line lost in its three previously nominated technical categories, it was soon time to announce the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, for which Walk the Line was also nominated.

Jamie Foxx, last year's Best Actor winner, presented the Best Actress award: Reese Witherspoon, from Walk the Line, defeated Charlize Theron from North Country and Keira Knightley from Pride & Prejudice among others.

A shocked Reese Witherspoon seemed a bit at a loss but started crying in gratitude once she took the stage.

"Oh, God bless, I never thought I would stand here receiving this award. Thank you to the Oscar judges for this honor, thank you, Charles, thank you to Director James, thank you..." Reese Witherspoon thanked many people while overcome with emotion.

Next, Best Actor was awarded to Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote, making Joaquin Phoenix a runner-up.

When the host announced that Tom Hanks would present the Best Director award, the comedic superstar started with some humor as soon as he got on stage: "Everybody loved last year's movies like Munich, Capote, Little Miss Sunshine, Crash, and No Country for Old Men. These five are all up for Best Director and Best Picture.

I'm a bit envious of Charles Capet. A few years ago, his collaboration with me on My Big Fat Greek Wedding was also hugely successful!"

Seated below, Charles flashed a charming smile at the camera and gave a thumbs up.

"Best Director award goes to No Country for Old Men, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen!"

As Tom Hanks announced the winners, the Coen brothers stood up excitedly.

"Congratulations!" The crew members all stood up to congratulate, and Charles hugged the brothers in celebration.

Since their first film Blood Simple won the Jury Prize at Sundance back in the 80s, the Coen brothers had amassed accolades including the Palme d'Or and Best Director at Cannes.

After years of making independent films, the Coen brothers finally won the Oscar for Best Director.

Charles's heart raced a bit; if Best Director was awarded to the Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men, could Best Picture possibly go to Crash?

The Oscars' practice of dividing up the spoils was well-known, and glancing over at the Crash crew, he saw a star-studded group.

Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Thandiwe Newton, and more.

A low-budget indie film had attracted so many big names, clearly all aiming for the big awards.

As the ceremony continued and the Coen brothers thanked everyone, Charles's mind wandered. When Jack Nicholson announced the Best Picture award, Charles was still distracted.

"Best Picture - No Country for Old Men!" Jack Nicholson shouted from the stage.

"Wow," the Coen brothers leapt up, and the entire crew stood applauding.

Snapping back to reality, Charles felt a rush of emotions; the Oscar for Best Picture was finally here!

"Charles, go up there!" urged the Coen brothers, one holding the Best Director trophy and the other holding the Best Adapted Screenplay trophy.

Reminded, Charles nodded and went up on stage with the Coen brothers to accept Capet Pictures' first Best Picture Oscar.

"Charles, you're amazing. The Departed was also incredible. Looking forward to seeing you here again next year," joked Jack Nicholson as he handed the Oscar statuette to Charles.

"Thanks, Jack. I'll make sure not to let you down, ha ha!" Charles accepted the statuette.

Standing at the microphone, with the applause dying down, Charles looked at the Oscar, scanned the crowd, and began, "It's been four years. From the first film I produced to now, it's been four years. Except for missing a nomination in 2003, Capet Pictures had films nominated in 2002 and 2004. Now, we've won the 2005 Best Picture Oscar, and I have many people to thank.

My mother, Evelyn Capet. I have to tell her I love her. It took real vision for her to support a 19-year-old fresh out of high school who was interning in Hollywood to develop films!"

"Hahaha," the crowd laughed as Charles joked and raised the Oscar.

"Alright, thank you to everyone. I won't list names since everyone has been sitting for three or four hours and must be starving!

Thank you to the judges, thank you, everyone!"

Charles left the stage and headed backstage.

Many winners were backstage for interviews and congratulatory moments, and Charles received his share of congratulations and blessings.

"Charles, I'm a reporter from Variety. How do you plan to celebrate now that you've won, especially since your mother couldn't be here tonight? Do you feel any regret?"

"Regret? Maybe a little. My mother wanted to see me on stage to receive an Oscar for Best Picture. Tonight we succeeded, but she missed it," Charles smiled. "Will there be celebrations? Of course. The rest of the crew also had great achievements, so we'll all get to relax and celebrate."

After a few quick words to the reporters, Charles was ready to leave. He needed to attend the Vanity Fair after-party.

*****

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