Oscars Co Host Regina Hall Says Show Will Be A Celebration

On March 27, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall will put their stamp on the hallowed gig. If they’re half as hilarious as usual, the term “dynamic duo” may forever be replaced with “tremendous trio.” To hear Hall tell it, this year’s Oscars show will lean heavy on the comedy. (Something we can all be thankful for.) “Well, Amy punched me and Wanda spit on me, that was in our first rehearsal,” Hall joked during a recent interview with IndieWire. In between promoting her new film “Master,” which debuted at Sundance and is prepping for a release next week, she’s been busy batting around sketches and jokes with Schumer and Sykes in what sounds like a fruitful collaboration.

“We’ve been writing away, having meetings, talking, figuring it out. What I love, too is often it’s like — ‘You know what? You’d be great for this.’ Amy sent me something [recently]. That’s what’s so great. We got the gamut — we got a gay woman, we got a Black woman, we got a white woman, we got a lot going on on the stage. So we’re really excited.” The question remains how, or at least how bitingly, the jokes will lean into this historic first. “Well, we’re not gonna run away!” said Hall. “I think that is what’s celebratory. That’s a part of what we’re celebrating, this moment at this time, specifically these three women.” When drawing from past ceremonies, Hall looked mostly to other women hosts. “I’m over here being sexist,” she joked, though she did shout out Chris Rock as an example of someone who did the gig well. “I loved when Whoopi hosted. I loved when Ellen hosted, I thought she was really funny. Sarah Silverman one year hosted the Independent Spirit awards, she was really funny too,” she said. “I haven’t looked at too many men, but we’ve all talked about things. We loved Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, they’re an incredible duo. We talk about what we like, all of us, and then what would be fun to do. What haven’t we seen? What do we think we can do? So at this point, we’re just throwing a lot of ideas out.” There’s no hard and fast rule on hosts remaining neutral, but Hall has her favorites. She singled out “Being the Ricardos,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” and “CODA” as some of her favorite Oscar-nominated films and performances. The one that took her most by surprise, however, was “Tick Tick Boom.” “I don’t know if I even knew what that was gonna be about, I just decided to watch it because it was Andrew Garfield and I’m a huge fan of his” she said. “I was really moved by that film.”