Da'Vine Joy Randolph arrives at the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty Images
Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, the 96th Academy Awards, will have talent descending on Los Angeles, with the event’s much-watched red carpet expecting a swath of star power.
It’s a huge night for stars of the big screen, with the 96th Academy Awards set to celebrate the film industry and its output.
Despite the industry seeing the historic WGA and Sag-Aftra strikes last year — and protests outside this year’s Oscar venue — Hollywood is coming back together again at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to celebrate its best and brightest (and some names who just might be the next big thing) and attendee outfits are under the spotlight.
The red carpet is closely watched every year, and award show style has evolved from past decades to be a high-stakes business now — attention, investment and statements that enjoy expert fashion analysis by New Zealand Herald’s Viva team.
Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone, who is the first Native American nominated for best actress in Academy Awards history.
America Ferrera
Nominated for best supporting actress, Barbie star America Ferrera in a pitch-perfect look — the latest in a comprehensive press tour for the cast.
Dominic Sessa
Breakout star Dominic Sessa, who appears in The Holdovers, is one of the early arrivals. The film is nominated for the best picture Oscar, but now the subject of speculation, revealed on the eve of the Academy Awards.
Dune star Zendaya continues her standout red-carpet style, amidst a night of subdued black dresses.
Riz Ahmed
Actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, one of many stars to wear a distinctive ‘Ceasefire now’ pin on the Oscars red-carpet.
Emma Stone
Best actress nominee Emma Stone, star of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, which is also up for a slew of other awards, including best director and best picture.
Jack Fisk and Sissy Spacek
The Oscar-winning actor — famous for roles in Carrie, Badlands and Castle Rock — arrives with husband Jack Fisk, a production designer and regular collaborator of Badlands director Terrence Malick.
Quannah Chasinghorse
Model and actor Quannah Chasinghorse arrives at the Dolby Theatre.
Ryan Gosling
Barbie star Ryan Gosling — who will perform his hit song from the film, I’m Just Ken, as part of the show — is nominated for best supporting actor.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph
The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph — nominated for best supporting actress — wearing a stage-worthy look, one of several ice blue outfits at this year’s Oscars.
Michelle Yeoh
The winner of last year’s best actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh arrives at the 2024 ceremony.
Melissa McCarthy
Actor, screenwriter and producer Melissa McCarthy, most recently seen in The Little Mermaid, wearing one of the few bold colour choices of the night.
Danielle Brooks
Nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for The Color Purple, Danielle Brooks.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig’s film is nominated for eight awards, including best picture and best adapted screenplay.
Colman Domingo
The Color Purple star Colman Domingo is nominated for the best actor Oscar for his performance in Rustin, a biopic about Martin Luther King Jr adviser Bayard Rustin.
Andrea Riseborough
British actor and producer Andrea Riseborough was nominated for best actress last year for her performance in To Leslie.
Cillian Murphy
The titular star of Christopher Nolan’s Oscar heavy-hitter Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, is nominated for the best actor.
Margot Robbie
Star and producer of Barbie, Margot Robbie, whose Greta Gerwig-directed hit film is up for several awards, including the best picture Oscar.
Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union
Actor Gabrielle Union walks hand in hand with husband Dwayne Wade.
Sandra Huller, star of two of the past year’s most talked about films, Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall, has arrived. The latter has her nominated for the best actress Oscar this year, and the film’s also up for best director, best film editing and best adapted screenplay.
Annette Bening
Hollywood legend Annette Bening, who has been nominated for Academy Awards five times during her career, is up for the best actor Oscar this year for Nyad.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons
Hollywood power couple and The Power of the Dog co-stars Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.
Issa Rae
Issa Rae stars in two of the most prominent Oscar films this year. American Fiction is nominated for best picture, screenplay, score, actor and supporting actor; Barbie is nominated for best supporting actor and actress, adapted screenplay, original song, costume design and production design, and best picture
Another black-and-white outfit on the Oscars carpet tonight on actor Greta Lee, whose film Past Lives is nominated for best picture and best original screenplay.
Florence Pugh — currently promoting Dune: Part Two — attends the Oscars as part of the Oppenheimer cast, with the film nominated for a swathe of awards, including best picture.
Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr
Walking the red carpet side by side, Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr.
Jennifer Lawrence
Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence — she won best actress in 2013 — Jennifer Lawrence arrives at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Cynthia Erivo
Wearing one of the most striking looks of the night — and one that is complementary to Wicked co-star Ariana Grande — is Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for two awards at the 2019 Oscars.
Marcus Mumford and Carey Mulligan
Actor Carey Mulligan, nominated for the best actress Oscar this year for Maestro, arrives with husband, musician Marcus Mumford.
Eva Longoria
Actor and producer Eva Longoria arrives on the red carpet. Her feature-length directorial debut, Flamin Hot, is nominated for best song for The Fire Inside, which will be performed during the award show.
Couple and creative collaborators (A Quiet Place and its sequel) Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. Blunt is nominated for this year’s best supporting actress Oscar for Oppenheimer.
Rita Moreno
Famed actor, singer and dancer — and star of 1961′s West Side Story — Rita Moreno makes an entrance at the Dolby Theatre.
Meegan Hodges and Slash
Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, who performed the Oscar-nominated Barbie hit I’m Just Ken alongside Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson during the ceremony, attended the Academy Awards with partner Meegan Hodges.
Ariana Grande
Wicked star Ariana Grande goes the theatrical route in a voluminous pink dress.
Bradley Cooper and Gloria Campano
Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper — up for best actor for Maestro, which he also directed, and is contending multiple awards — arrives with his mother Gloria Campano, one of many stars to attend with a family member.
Charlize Theron
Actor and producer Charlize Theron, who won the best actress Oscar in 2004, arrives at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Presenter Matthew McConaughey (who won the best actor Oscar in 2014 for Dallas Buyers Club) with wife, designer and model Camila Alves.
Catherine O’Hara
Presenter Catherine O’Hara, who awarded the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling alongside Beetlejuice co-star Michael Keaton.
Sunrise Coigney and Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo, nominated for best supporting actor for his turn in Poor Things, with wife Sunrise Coigney. The actor is one of many stars wearing a ‘ceasfire now’ pin, and has done so during past red carpet appearances.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Dune: Part Two star Anya Taylor-Joy.
Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb
Sam Rockwell (who won the best supporting actor Oscar in 2018) and Leslie Bibb.
Billie Eilish
Singer Billie Eilish was nominated for best original song for Barbie, performed What Was I Made For? during the show.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, who fronted much of the union action last year that had Hollywood at a standstill, and led to a studio deal after 118 days of the actors’ strike.