Whether he's been given four months to prepare or 40 seconds, Jimmy Kimmel has proved he can handle pretty much anything while hosting the Oscars.
Which, of course, is why the unflappable emcee was invited back for a fourth time. (See all the stars lighting up Hollywood's Dolby Theatre at the 2024 Oscars.)
Given his marching orders, he deftly handled the mission he chose to accept, which included figuring out something new to say about Barbie, Robert Downey Jr.'s career, er, highs (and rectangular-shaped penis, er, speech) and 80-year-old Robert De Niro's much younger girlfriend.
And as he made his way through the roster of A-list nominees, he arrived at Bradley Cooper, who, once again, brought his mom Gloria Campano as his date. Which made Kimmel wonder if it was more than a son's love for his mother that has made Gloria a regular at the Academy Awards (and the Golden Globes, etc.).
"Bradley, you brought your mom to the show tonight," Kimmel observed, turning his attention to the Maestro star. "Hi, Mrs. Cooper, how are you? You're doing good?"
Noting that Gloria was also at the Tonys with Cooper "and the Soul Train Awards, etcetera," Kimmel called the scenario very sweet.
"But I guess the question is," he added, "how many times can one bring his mom as his date before he is actually dating his mom?"
Luckily, mother and son also have a great sense of humor, because the T-Mobile commercial costars both seemed to find that hilarious.
"Are you working on a movie about Freud right now and not telling us?" Kimmel cracked, referring to Cooper's all-immersive technique that's also on display in his years-in-the-making biopic about conductor Leonard Bernstein, which has seven nominations.
So while this wasn't like last year, when Kimmel and his writing team had to figure out how to appropriately work The Slap into his schtick, there's always a controversy to tackle or a hot-button must-mention, such as last year's dual strikes and Greta Gerwig being snubbed in the Best Director category.
As if the task itself—moving the show along at an efficient pace while making LOL-worthy jokes about celebrities and the movie business palatable for millions of viewers and the people he's poking good-natured fun at—wasn't daunting enough.
"I did not think I would ever do it again," Kimmel told the Los Angeles Times last month about signing up to host the Oscars for a fourth time. "I did two of them, and they went well—something crazy happened at one of them with a story I'll have for the rest of my life. I know how much work goes into them, so I thought, 'Yeah, I don't necessarily want to do this ever again.'"
But, he explained, watching Top Gun: Maverick pack theaters once again post-pandemic got him jazzed about the idea of presiding over the 2023 show, and then seeing the billion-dollar reaction to Barbie last summer convinced him that movies can still connect people in this day and age.
Watching Barbie—which has eight nominations, including Best Picture—Kimmel said he thought to himself, "Well, maybe I'll do this again, because at least I have a point of reference with everyone."
His latest go-round ties him with four-time Oscars hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon. The only stars ahead of them are Bob Hope, who's seemingly in the forever-lead with 19 times, nine-timer Billy Crystal and Johnny Carson, who emceed five times.
Fast-forward to a few days before he once again took the stage for one of the toughest gigs in show business, and Kimmel—who for the second year in a row has wife and Jimmy Kimmel Live! head writer Molly McNearny in his corner as an executive producer—noted that he's never been accused of playing it safe and admitted he doesn't worry too much about ruffling feathers.
"I'm not interested in hurting anyone's feelings," he told The Hollywood Reporter, "but sometimes some people are more sensitive than others and you just have to accept that. You can't build your monologue around that. And I'm not looking to say anything mean, but not everybody's going to love all the jokes."
Alas, Matt Damon has made for a good foil in the past, but the actor is shooting a film and isn't in attendance despite Oppenheimer's 11 nominations and Best Picture frontrunner status.
Asked if Damon's presence in one of the biggest movies of the year was a plus, Kimmel came prepared. "I was unaware he was in one," he said. "Which one is he in?"
And while the 2024 Oscars are just getting underway, see all the winning looks from the red carpet:
Zendaya
In Armani Privé and Bulgari jewelry.
Florence Pugh
Del Core SS24 RTW and Bulgari jewelry.
DaVine Joy Randolph
In custom Louis Vuitton.
Jennifer Lawrence
In custom Christian Dior Haute Couture with Swarovski jewelry.
Carey Mulligan
In custom Balenciaga Couture and Fred Leighton.
Lily Gladstone
In Gucci x Joe Big Mountain.
Greta Lee
In Loewe.
Kate McKinnon
In Bucherer Fine Jewellery.
Greta Gerwig
In Gucci.
Robert Downey Jr.
In Saint Laurent and Tiffany & Co.
Margot Robbie
In Versace FW24 RTW and Fred Leighton.
Ariana Grande
In custom Giambattista Valli Haute Couture with Tiffany & Co. jewelry.
Dwayne Johnson
In Dolce & Gabbana.
Charlize Theron
Christian Dior Haute Couture.
Ryan Gosling & Mandi Gosling
Ryan Gosling in custom Gucci.
Mark Consuelos & Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa in archive Donna Karan New York.
Becky G
In custom Vera Wang and custom Zales jewelry.
Emma Stone
In custom Louis Vuitton.
Lupita Nyong'o
In custom Armani Privé.
America Ferrera
In custom Atelier Versace.
Hailee Steinfeld
In Elie Saab SS24 Couture and Chopard jewelry.
Kirsten Dunst & Jesse Plemons
Kirsten Dunst in Gucci with Fred Leighton jewelry.
Jodie Foster
In Loewe, Kwiat and Fred Leighton.
Billie Eilish
In Chanel.
Ke Huy Quan
In Giorgio Armani.
Gabrielle Union & Dwyane Wade
Gabrielle Union in Carolina Herrera PF24 with Tiffany & Co. jewelry and Dwyane Wade in custom Ateliee Versace.
Matt Bomer
In custom Brunello Cucinelli.
Roger Federer
Jessica Lange
Tamsin Egerton & Josh Hartnet