Hollywood’s biggest night took place on Sunday, March 10, but some A-listers were noticeably absent from the Oscars this year.
Weeks before the 96th annual Academy Awards, it was announced that Michelle Pfeiffer would be taking the Oscars stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to present, with many fans crossing their fingers for a Scarface reunion with fellow presenter Al Pacino. However, when the time to announce the Best Picture winner came, Pacino, 83, took the stage solo.
Deadline reported Sunday night that Pfeiffer, 65, skipped out on the ceremony due to “personal family reasons” that kept her on the East Coast.
Instead of a 40-year Scarface reunion at the Oscars, Pacino’s appearance was pegged to the 50th anniversary of The Godfather Part II, which was released in 1974. (Pacino’s costar from the film Robert De Niro was in the audience and stood for the actor’s entrance.)
Every other previously announced presenter took the stage on Sunday, but a few other notable names — even those nominated — seemed to skip out on the ceremony. Keep scrolling to see who missed the Oscars, and why:
Eva Mendes
Despite her man, Ryan Gosling, getting nominated— and even performing “I’m Just Ken” — Mendes was missing from the audience. (Gosling was up for Best Supporting Actor and performed the Best Original Song nominee for Barbie.)
Mendes did, however, appear to be backstage, per various social media posts she shared from the show. “You took Ken all the way to the Oscar’s, RG. Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed,” she captioned an Instagram from what appeared to be Gosling’s dressing room.
Warren Beatty
Annette Bening was nominated in the Best Actress category for her role as Diana Nyad in Nyad, but her famous Oscar-winning husband was not there to show his support.
Leonardo DiCaprio
DiCaprio was the literal star of Killers of the Flower Moon, which racked up 10 awards, but didn’t show up for the ceremony to support his director Martin Scorsese or costar Lily Gladstone; DiCaprio did not receive a Best Actor nod for his performance.
Matt Damon
The jury’s still out on whether or not Damon was actually inside the Oscar’s ceremony — but he did make it to the Vanity Fair afterparty. Before the awards show, host Jimmy Kimmel confirmed to CNN that Damon would not be in attendance.
“What really happened? He couldn’t get a ticket,” Kimmel joked at the time. “It’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard. He asked if he could come and they told him, ‘Sorry – nominees only.’”
While Damon did not get nominated for his role as Leslie Groves in Oppenheimer, the film received 13 nominations and took home Best Picture.
Wes Anderson
The director took home his first-ever Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. He was not present at the ceremony to accept the award. Entertainment Weekly confirmed that Anderson’s absence was because production on his forthcoming film officially started on Monday, March 11.
Gigi Hadid
The model decided not to attend the Oscars despite her man, Bradley Cooper, nabbing a Best Actor nomination for his role in Maestro. (Cooper directed and produced the biopic, which won zero of its seven nominations.) Due to the low-key nature of their romance, this is less than surprising. However, Us can wish for a red carpet debut.
Joshua Jackson
Another budding couple lost their opportunity to go public on the Oscars red carpet when Lupita Nyong’o arrived at the event with A Quiet Place: Day One costar Joseph Quinn instead of Jackson. (Nyong’o and Jackson were photographed packing on the PDA on trip to Mexico days before the Academy Awards.)
Michelle Pfeiffer
Deadline reported on Sunday that Pfeiffer missed her presenting gig following “personal family reasons.”
Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
The Boy and the Heron‘s Japaense filmmakers skipped out on the Oscars despite winning for Best Animated Feature. Their absence was due to their age — Miyazaki is 83 years old and Suzuki is 75 years old — per a statement to USA Today.
“I am very appreciative that the work that was created after overcoming these difficulties has been seen by so many people around the world,” Kiyofumi Nakajima, chief operating officer for Studio Ghibli, said. “Both Hayao and I have aged considerably. I am grateful to receive such an honor at my age and taking this as a message to continue my work.
