“Please, God, give it to Harrison!”
That’s what one decades-long Academy member exclaimed to Variety, regarding industry speculation that Hollywood legend Harrison Ford is a top candidate to receive an Honorary Award at this year’s Governors Awards. This member’s passion reflects the groundswell of support for the 83-year-old movie icon.
Ford isn’t the only prominent name being discussed. By mid-June, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will settle on its honorary Oscar awardees. For weeks, studios, agents, publicists and any other Hollywood stakeholder have been lobbying Academy leaders and board members. Often a case is made over lunch or drinks at Chateau Marmont or through pointed phone calls.
The presumptive honorees are mostly in the dark about what may be transpiring on their behalf.
A maximum of four recipients can be chosen for the ceremony that Jennifer Fox has produced for the past seven editions. Meanwhile, newly revised guidelines require that at least three individual disciplines, from acting and directing to editing, cinematography or other below-the-line jobs, be represented in any given year.
