Hamptons Talent Seek Oscar Gold

The 85th Academy Awards are finally upon us on Sunday night and a number of Hamptons stars are poised to come home with Oscars in hand.

Since the nominations went public in January, the local talent have been battling it out with their opposition at smaller awards shows and anticipating the big night on Sunday. No wins or losses compare to the most sought after prize in Hollywood. Oscar washes everything else away, and some East End favorites should be glad about that.

Academy Award-winning East Hampton director Steven Spielberg personally earned seven Oscar nominations and had appeared to be the clear favorite for Best Picture with his film Lincoln in January, but his rival this year, Academy Award winner Ben Affleck, beat him for Best Dramatic Film and Best Director with Argo at the 2013 Golden Globes. Lincoln also lost the award for Best Picture to Argo at the Producers Guild of America Awards.

As a small consolation, actor Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his role as the 16th president in Spielberg‘s film, but Day-Lewis is not a Hamptons resident.

Lincoln has 12 total Oscar nominations this year, tying the director’s number of nominations for Schindler’s List back in 1994 (it won seven). If Spielberg wins Best Picture and Best Director on Sunday, they would be his second and third Oscars, respectively, in each category.

Hamptons visitor Bradley Cooper was nominated for Best Actor for Silver Linings Playbook, which is also up for Best Picture. Cooper is up against East End visitor Hugh Jackman, for his work in Les Miserables, and East Hampton visitor Naomi Watts was nominated best actress for her role in The Impossible.

A Hamptons International Film Festival favorite, Disney’s Frankenweenie was nominated for Best Animated Feature, and Mondays at Racine, which was also at HIFF in October, is up for Best Documentary (short subject).

The 85th Academy Awards is at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will air live on ABC at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Make sure to watch and cross your fingers for Team Hamptons!

For more Oscar info, visit oscar.go.com or Download the Official Oscars App.