If someone had vaporized the Highlands restaurant at the Hollywood & Highland complex on Sunday night, teen flicks in search of stars may have had to wait for the Olsen Twins to get their driver’s licenses. That’s because it seemed like almost every hip actor under 25–and one or two above–showed up at the party for Movieline Magazine’s 4th annual Young Hollywood awards.
The red carpet outside the awards was a sea of fresh-faced stars in the making (such as Chyler Leigh, Emilie de Ravin and Adam Scott), stars on the rise (Rachael Leigh Cook, Colin Hanks, Brittany Murphy, Shane West), stars who have already arrived (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood, Christina Applegate, Thora Birch, Mandy Moore and Selma Blair) and at least one legend in the making, Kevin Spacey, who was named the Young Hollywood role model.
Many of the attendees were relative red-carpet newcomers, cheerily answering questions and stopping for the paparazzi–Murphy in particular worked the photographers with Marilyn Monroe-style gusto, delighting in inventing new sexy poses in her chic evening gown, while Gellar, in a flimsy designer dress that dipped daringly low on her backside, teased shutterbugs with the slightest glimpse of the tattoo above her derriere.
“I’m still trying to figure out how to make it in Young Hollywood–and the music industry,” said Mandy Moore, angelic in pink. Moore and her A Walk to Remember co-star Shane West were named Superstars of Tomorrow.
“I started out, I didn’t have an agent, I didn’t have money, I dropped out of school, but I had a lot of dreams and I had a lot belief and I hadn’t shown a lot of promise to anybody, but that didn’t stop a number of individuals…in believing in me, giving me praise and giving me confidence,” Spacey told me of his own “Young Hollywood” days.
“Time and time again history has shown that the future of this country, the future of this industry is in the minds and the hearts of the young, and we just have to pay attention when they’re gently tapping our shoulders,” Spacey said, explaining how the latest generation of actors, writers and directors has impressed him.
“I’m constantly inspired by work that I see, things that I read, people that I meet, conversations that I have. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. It’s not about what I’m doing, it’s about what the next generation is going to do.”
Legally Blonde director Robert Luketic, recipient of the “Class Act” Hottest Young Filmmaker Award, told me he saw a shared attitude among the up-and-comers of Tinseltown’s latest generation.
“I think there’s an incredible energy for life, and an anything’s possible, we-can-do-anything-we-want kind of attitude…We’re here to create new rules and break rules.”
Inside the party, the crowd loosened up at the bar as they mixed, mingled and even checked out a video game nook provided by Playstation. Gellar huddled cozily with Blair–but not so close that the two shared the Cruel Intentions-style lip-lock featured in the clip that played when Gellar claimed her Hottest, Coolest Young Veteran Award. Introduced as a 23-year-old showbiz “veteran,” the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star took her time taking the stage.
“It’s a long walk for an old person,” she said. “And thanks for lying about my age, but it’s really 25.”
Her male counterpart in the award, Elijah Wood, was pleasantly bemused by the honor: “The hottest and the coolest? I didn’t even know I was cool.”
Second-generation star Colin Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks, claimed a Charriol watch as one of the “Ones to Watch” award recipients and also corrected another gaffe in the presenter’s patter when he was introduced as one of the stars of the upcoming feature Under the Mimosa.
“I’m not affiliated with Under the Mimosa in any way shape or form, so I’d like to thank IMDB [the Internet Movie Database] for getting me work,” Hanks quipped.
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The evening’s host, Jamie Kennedy, enjoyed riffing on some of the recipients, like New Stylemakers award winners Kip Pardue and Monet Mazur, who claimed on the awards questionnaire that her favorite author was Maya Angelou. “I’m like the dumbest piece of s*** in the room,” Kennedy announced.
Mazur, who looked fabulous in a classic black-and-white strapless frock, admitted she’d quoted Angelou, but focused on slightly less brainy aspects of the evening in her speech. “I like clothes a lot, thanks for noticing, and you should open the bar back up again.”
Indeed, her co-recipient Pardue and I were both denied by the bartenders just as the show got underway, and the bar remained closed for the remainder of the ceremony–much to everyone’s chagrin.
The refrain for fresh alcohol was repeated again and again from the stage–that is, until female Breakthrough Performance Award winner Shannyn Sossamon was struck by a fit of the giggles while accepting her trophy and let slip a few choice epithets as she struggled–unsuccessfully–to compose herself.
“On second thought, you might not want to re-open the bar,” suggested Kennedy. “She may be zooted, seriously. Young Hollywood, baby.”
Director Luketic later solved the booze problem when he was presented with a gigantic magnum of Grey Goose vodka as part of his award: “The bar’s been so stingy–Drinks are on me!”
Other highlights included Selma Blair‘s unapologetic lust for male Breakthrough Performance Award winner Jake Gyllenhaal : “This is like a Jerry Springer moment…Jake, I love you and I hope tonight we’ll finally get to make out.”–and the honesty of Christina Applegate, who collected two awards: “God, I am so much older than all of you.”
Thora Birch collected the Talent for Charity award for her work with philanthropic endeavors, but she also unofficially earned the award for least grateful with her sour remarks from the stage. “Bored yet?” she asked the audience.
Later, after cornering Kevin Spacey at the bar, she hugged him, chastised him (“Did you think you could get away without saying hi to me?”) and griped about how embarrassing the entire event had been.
Perhaps Thora had a point, at least where flighty Brittany Murphy was concerned. Murphy mangled her minutes-long reading of a fond letter from Michael Douglas to Dream Director award winner Curtis Hanson before finally bringing Hanson to the stage.
But at the end of the evening Spacey provided a shining example that much of Young Hollywood (many of whom uttered acceptance speeches that typically went thusly: “Gosh, I’ve never won anything before. This is cool.”) would be wise to follow.
In his eloquent remarks after acknowledging the support of his mother (who was in the audience), he recalled the many mentors who had helped him in his career–a list which included Jack Lemmon, Jason Robards, Alan Pakula and Mike Nichols–and waxed philosophical about taking on the mantle himself.
“I do not take lightly the role of mentor,” he said after fond introductions by his The Shipping News co-star Jason Behr and his directing protégée Matthew Ryan Hoge (the upcoming Spacey-starrer The United States of Leland). “It is to me the greatest gift we can give each other, other than love and compassion…Our task in life should be to open doors, advance lives and give it all away.”
