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Here's What to Know about the Oscars on Sunday, from Presenters to Performers 

US comedian and this year's Oscars host Conan O'Brien participates in the rolling out of the carpet for the Oscars arrivals area along Hollywood Boulevard during preparations for the 97th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2025. (AFP)
US comedian and this year's Oscars host Conan O'Brien participates in the rolling out of the carpet for the Oscars arrivals area along Hollywood Boulevard during preparations for the 97th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Here's What to Know about the Oscars on Sunday, from Presenters to Performers 

US comedian and this year's Oscars host Conan O'Brien participates in the rolling out of the carpet for the Oscars arrivals area along Hollywood Boulevard during preparations for the 97th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2025. (AFP)
US comedian and this year's Oscars host Conan O'Brien participates in the rolling out of the carpet for the Oscars arrivals area along Hollywood Boulevard during preparations for the 97th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2025. (AFP)

After devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards are going forward.

Like the Grammys and other awards shows this year, the ceremony will be transformed by the fires and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged to help its members and the broader film community recover.

Here's everything you need to know about this year's show:

When are the Oscars? The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The show, to be broadcast live by ABC, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific.

Are the Oscars streaming? In a first, the Oscars will be streamed live on Hulu. You can also watch via Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. With authentication from your provider, you can watch on ABC.com and the ABC app.

Who's hosting the Oscars? Conan O'Brien is hosting the Academy Awards for the first time.

"I never have been invited to the Oscars," the late night host-turned podcaster and occasional movie star said at a news conference Wednesday. "I only hosted so that I could be invited."

O'Brien said he would not hesitate to talk about the nation's fraught political situation.

"I cannot ignore the moment we're in," he said. "But I also have to remember it's threading a needle. I also have to remember what we're here to celebrate and infuse the show with positivity."

He said compared to all the other things he's done, hosting the Oscars is like "for the first time getting to drive a Ferrari.

"I'd like to keep the tuxedo," he said. "They made me an absolutely beautiful tuxedo. It's the nicest thing I've ever put on in my life."

How have the wildfires altered the show? The wildfires that consumed large parts of Los Angeles in early January led some to call for the cancellation of the Academy Awards. The academy twice postponed the announcement of nominations but never pushed the March 2 date of the ceremony. Academy leaders have argued the show must go ahead, for their economic impact on Los Angeles and as a symbol of resilience.

The fires will be addressed during the show both directly and in its themes, and viewers will be able to make donations.

"There's been so many people that have been touched by this devastation," Raj Kapoor, the show's executive producer and showrunner, said Wednesday. "There's been so much outreach, and we really wanted to create some really beautiful moments on stage that celebrate this amazing city that we live in."

For many involved in the Oscars, the fires have been felt acutely. O'Brien's Pacific Palisades home survived but his family has been unable to go back to it. O'Brien's assistant and podcast co-host Sona Movsesian lost her home.

"I know so many people who lost their homes and I'm just, was ridiculously lucky," O'Brien told The Associated Press. "So we want to make sure that that show reflects what's happening and that we put a light on the right people in the right way."

Who's presenting at the Oscars? The academy on Wednesday added to its extensive lineup of presenters. Dave Bautista, Harrison Ford, Gal Gadot, Andrew Garfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Margaret Qualley, Alba Rohrwacher, Zoe Saldaña and Rachel Zegler will all present.

They join a roster of previously announced presenters including Selena Gomez, Oprah Winfrey, Joe Alwyn, Ana de Armas, Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson, Bowen Yang, Lily-Rose Depp and Sterling K. Brown.

Last year's acting winners — Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, Da'Vine Joy Randolph — will also take part in the ceremony. Though the academy initially said it would bring back the "fab five" style of presenting the acting awards, with five previous winners per category, organizers have reportedly abandoned those plans for Sunday's ceremony. Nick Offerman will serve as the show's announcer.

Will there be any performances? The academy has announced that, unlike previous years, the original song nominees will not be performed this time. That doesn't mean there won't be music, though.

Producers said Wednesday that Queen Latifah will be part of a musical tribute to the late Quincy Jones, who was honored in November with one of the academy's Governor's Awards just weeks after his death.

Doja Cat, LISA of Blackpink, Queen Latifah and RAYE will also perform, as will "Wicked"'s Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. (The songs from "Wicked" weren't eligible for best song since, hailing from the Broadway musical, they aren't original to the movie.) The Los Angeles Master Chorale will also appear.

What's nominated for best picture? The 10 nominees for best picture are: "Anora"; "The Brutalist"; "A Complete Unknown"; "Conclave"; "Dune: Part 2"; "Emilia Pérez"; "I'm Still Here"; "Nickel Boys"; "The Substance"; "Wicked"

How can I watch the Oscar-nominated films? Some of the nominees are still in theaters, but many of this year's Oscar nominees are streaming on various platforms.

Who are the favorites? More than most years, that's a tricky question, but a front-runner had emerged after "Anora" took the top awards at the Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Independent Spirit Awards. The best picture race had been seen as unusually wide open, with "Anora,Conclave,The Brutalist,A Complete Unknown" and "Emilia Pérez" all having legitimate hopes of winning — the hopes of "Conclave" further boosted by its Screen Actors Guild ensemble win.

In the acting categories, Demi Moore ("The Substance") is favored for best actress, although Mikey Madison's BAFTA and Independent Spirit wins for "Anora" makes it more of a race. Adrien Brody ("The Brutalist") is most likely in best actor — though SAG winner Timothée Chalamet could threaten — while Zoe Saldaña ("Emilia Pérez") is the supporting actress front-runner and Kieran Culkin ("A Real Pain") is the favorite for best supporting actor.

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‘Happy Face’ Looks at Ripple Effects of True Crime

Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
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‘Happy Face’ Looks at Ripple Effects of True Crime

Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

The new Paramount+ series "Happy Face" has all the elements of a gripping true-crime yarn: A serial killer, his estranged daughter, a race to get an innocent man off death row. But perhaps the most intriguing part? How it examines the warping nature of true crime itself.

"I was less interested in the specific psychology of a serial killer or glorifying the murders or seeing violence against women on screen," says Jennifer Cacicio, executive producer and showrunner. "I just feel like we’ve seen that. I was very interested in making a true crime show told through a different lens."

"Happy Face," which begins airing Thursday, is inspired by the true story of Melissa Moore, whose father was a prolific serial killer infamous for drawing smiley faces on letters to the media and prosecutors. She was just 15 when he was captured.

Decades later, as an adult with her own children, she finds herself drawn back into his orbit as she sets out to save an innocent man for a crime her father committed. She also has to tell her daughter the truth about her grandfather.

Starring Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid, "Happy Face" is told from a female point of view and looks at how a shameful secret can echo through generations. It's also about the push and pull of infamy, with horrendous crimes somehow remaining an alluring draw.

"There’s a lot of crime dramas out there that I think are very male-centric. It’s either about the cops are the cool guys or the criminals are the cool guys, and it’s all about kicking in doors. I’ve written on those shows and they’re fun and they serve a purpose. And I think that I really wanted to try something different," Cacicio says.

"What is it like for the rest of the family when there’s this shameful secret and this series of crimes and these acts of violence and what are the ripple effects on everybody involved?"

Ashford, who earned a Tony Award nomination playing a serial killer on Broadway in "Sweeney Todd," plays Moore with tenderness and anger, saying she was interested in exploring generational trauma.

"It’s one of the worst nightmares," she says. "The worst nightmare of all is having a family member be a victim. And then the second worst nightmare is having a family member be the perpetrator. So what would you do if you’re a parent or your sibling or your spouse or your child committed an atrocity?"

Moore previously shared her story in the bestselling memoir, "Shattered Silence" and the 2018 "Happy Face" podcast, reaching out to her father's victims and advocating for other family members of killers. Cacicio was one of a number of writers interested in telling her story for TV.

Cacicio approached Moore with this pitch: "If you want someone who’s a straight-up journalist, who’s just going to tell exactly the story of the podcast, you should let someone else do it," she told her. "There’s also an opportunity for it to be a bigger story that’s asking some questions about true crime."

Cacicio and Moore, it turned out had plenty in common. They were the same age, and both the oldest of three kids. Both had close relationships with their fathers, who hid other lives — Moore's was a killer and Cacicio served time in prison for drug dealing.

"Obviously, the crimes are different, the circumstances are different. But I think, in my family, it was something we didn’t talk about and it was something I didn’t want my friends to know," says Cacicio.

"A lot of it was really personal to me. And I think that’s what made her trust me — that I really understood the feelings, even if I didn’t necessarily understand the specific circumstances."

Quaid plays Moore's father, but unlike other roles he's taken that involve a living person, he had no intention of meeting the prisoner. He didn't want to glorify the killer but also "Happy Face" isn't that kind of show.

"This is told from Melissa’s point of view, and I think it’s actually truer than his point of view, because I think she knows him much better than he knows himself," he says. "I think he shows emotions like a little boy who’s trying to talk himself out of a whipping."

Cacicio says it's time we took a look at the explosion in popularity of true crime, in which women are often the victims but women are also the chief consumers.

"Are we obsessed with these stories because we’re trying to protect ourselves in case the worst happens?" she asks. "I read somewhere that it’s an act of normalizing your own experiences, because usually it’s whatever you’re watching is worse than what’s happened to you. So it kind of like makes you feel better about your own traumas."