GMB viewers cringe as Ross King tries to speak to Oscars stars

ITV’s resident Hollywood correspondent Ross King left viewers of Good Morning Britain cringing on Monday, as they watched him desperately attempt to speak to Oscar winners on the red carpet live on TV.

While Piers Morgan, Susanna Reid, Charlotte Tobin and guest Stephanie Beacham watched awkwardly from the GMB studio in London, Ross was seen live from Los Angeles trying to capture the attention stars such as Daniel Kaluuya and Salma Hayek to no avail.

The most excruciating moment came when he was seen waiting for Best Actor winner Gary Oldman to pass him for a chat – who had won the accolade for his powerful performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.

‘It’s awkward and desperate!’ Viewers cringed as Ross King frantically tried to speak to uninterested Oscar winners live from the red carpet… and was cut off during a painful Gary Oldman chat

Yet the 59-year-old Academy Award winner was too caught up in an in-depth interview with another reporter, with Ross left repeatedly mumbling ‘come on Gary’, as Piers reminded him from the studio that they were running out of time.

He ended up getting to talk to the fellow Brit, having been previously ignored by others that passed him on the red carpet.

While he managed to snatch a word with Mexican actress Salma, she was easily distracted by another reporter.

In the case of Get Out star Daniel, Ross was seen yelling after him as he walked past.

Ross was heard shouting ‘don’t you want to wave hi to your mum’, pointing at his camera, to which a baffled Daniel replied: ‘Um, she’s here with me!’ 

When it came to veteran star Gary, Ross was heard off camera telling the PR person ‘I’m from Good Morning Britain –  we won’t keep him very long.’

In demand: Darkest Hour winner was too caught up in an in-depth chat with another reporter, with Ross left repeatedly mumbling ‘come on Gary’, as Piers reminded him from the studio that they were running out of time

Snubbed: He was heard off camera telling Gary’s PR person ‘I’m from Good Morning Britain – we won’t keep him very long’

Desperate to speak to the man of the night, Ross continued to loiter on sidelines of the red carpet – randomly muttering ‘Could it be an open goal here, is it going to slide in?’ – before catching Gary’s attention.

The actor appeared to recognise Ross, giving him a hug, but the interview that followed seemed to be being shared with another reporter off-camera, who kept butting in and asking questions over Ross.

Viewers were quick to mock the exchange on Twitter.

‘Year on year the #GMB Oscar’s coverage makes me cringe like there’s no tomorrow. Just that poor Ross King fella hanging around the red carpet begging for 5 seconds of time from someone… ANYONE,’ one person remarked.

Over here Gaz! Desperate to speak to the man of the night, Ross continued to loiter on sidelines of the red carpet – randomly muttering ‘Could it be an open goal here, is it going to slide in?’ – before catching Gary’s attention

Notice me, Gaz! Viewers were quick to mock the exchange on live TV

Another posted: ‘This is awkward and desperate!’

‘The tension is unbearable… literally,’ came another comment, followed by someone else who remarked ‘Nobody wants to talk to Ross King!’

‘Who is that blonde women trying to muscle in on Ross King interviewing Gary Oldman on GMB? Does she not know the rules of waiting on the red carpet?’ demanded another viewer.

This was echoed by another who typed: ‘Who is trying to bust in on Ross King’s interview with Gary Oldman? Just rude. Loved the cameraman trying to cut her out the shot and what must have been a bit of shoulder bumping.’

Someone else actually praised the mystery woman: ‘Well that was awkward, but thankfully some woman reporter came forward and asked an intelligent question!’

A few defended Ross for his efforts, with one saying ‘On #Oscars night my first thought is always @TheRossKing. Always pulls a blinder every year, an epic shift and he always delivers’ as another typed ‘@TheRossKing looking great on the red carpet tonight!’ 

Awks! Ross was seen live from Los Angeles trying to capture the attention stars such as Daniel Kaluuya [L] and Salma Hayek [R] to no avail

Of the fact that a political biopic has received such attention, Gary said: ‘The recognition of the work is a glorious thing, culminating in this. It gives me hope for the cinema’

An emotional win: He thanked his mother in his acceptance speech, dedicated the gong to her and telling her to ‘put the kettle on’ because he’s ‘bringing Oscar home’

Gary managed to say to Ross: ‘It went well. I haven’t spoken to my mum yet. I will speak to her in the morning. We will have a natter.’

He thanked his mother Kathleen in his acceptance speech, dedicating the gong to her and telling her to ‘put the kettle on’ because he’s ‘bringing Oscar home’. 

He said: ‘I would like to thank my mother – she is older than the Oscar, she will be 99 years young next birthday. Thank you for your love and support.’

Cringe: Viewers were quick to mock the exchange on Twitter

He elaborated on this to Ross after the ceremony: ‘When I said I wanted to become an actor, Mum said “okay” and I told her I’d have to give up work and she said “okay”.

‘I had to get a grant as she couldn’t afford to help me, so I did, and she’s always supported me. [Winning an Oscar] is her dream.’

Piers asked Ross to ask Gary why he specifically talked about America in his speech, to which he reasoned: ‘America has been a second home for me, I’ve spent more time here than I did actually in Britain.

Poor Ross: A few defended Ross for his efforts on the busy red carpet

Dedication: ‘When I said I wanted to become an actor, Mum said “okay” and I told her I’d have to give up work and she said “okay”,’ he said about his 98-year-old mother

‘It’s been a major part of my life. They’ve been incredibly kind to me. So I wanted to acknowledge that. It’s given me a home and a livelihood.’

Of the fact that a political biopic has received such attention, Gary said: ‘The recognition of the work is a glorious thing, culminating in this. It gives me hope for the cinema.

‘I have seen the numbers that the film has made. People have not been watching it on DVD. They’ve been going to the cinema. It’s extraordinary. The film is old white men in windowless rooms.’

Minutes after winning the first Academy Award of his long and illustrious career (he was previously nominated for the 2011 film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) Gary was in fact spotted denting the gleaming statue on a metal railing.  

Superstitious? Gary, pictured with his wife Gisele Schmidt, said he was taking along some lucky charms to the Oscars on Sunday night

Competition: Gary, who was the favourite going into the awards show at the Dolby Theatre, beat out Timothee Chalamet [R] for Call Me by Your Name and Daniel Kaluuya [L] for Get Out

The occasion must have got to the star when shortly after he departed the stage he was spotted clattering his gleaming new award into a barrier as he went to get it engraved.

Scott Feinberg, Hollywood Reporter’s Awards columnist, filmed the mishap.

The journalist wrote: ‘I think I witnessed Gary Oldman accidentally dent his new Oscar on his way to having it engraved…’ 

Gary, who was the favourite going into the awards show at the Dolby Theatre, beat out Timothee Chalamet for Call Me by Your Name, Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread, Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out and Denzel Washington for Roman J. Israel, Esq. for the big prize after already winning a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA for the performance. 

Pipped to the post: Gary beat Denzel Washington [L] for Roman J. Israel, Esq and Daniel Day-Lewis [R] in Phantom Thread

Finally! Gary finally won an Oscar. It was presented to him by Jane Fonda

Having already won the trio of top of awards for his portrayal of the legendary Prime Minister, the actor wasn’t taking any chances at Sunday’s ceremony and insisted on slipping lucky charms into his pocket.

He confessed that he would be carrying Churchill’s famous ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ speech as well as a commemorative coin issued after the former Prime Minister’s death.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I have some powerful good luck charms in my pocket to help me over the final hurdle.

‘I’ve taken Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches speech” – all of it – and had it turned into a miniature book so that it fits into my pocket.

Winners: [L-R] Actors Sam Rockwell, Frances McDormand, Allison Janney, and Gary Oldman who won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Actor respectively

Well deserved: For his role in Darkest Hour, Gary confessed that he would carry Churchill’s famous ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ speech with him

‘And, as added insurance, I’ve got a Sir Winston Churchill commemorative coin that was issued after his death in 1965,’ he explained before the ceremony.

Sir Winston’s ‘Beaches’ address to Parliament was made on June 4, 1940, and is considered one of the greatest oratorical moments in history.

Churchill had taken over as Prime Minister from Neville Chamberlain in May and the speech helped him win over the hearts and minds of MPs and the public who were concerned about war.

‘There was no going back after he made that speech. I know it off by heart,’ said Gary as he began to recite the most famous passage. ‘Sometimes I privately joke that we shall fight them in the Hollywood Hills. 

Proud moment: ‘It has been some of the finest hours of my career,’ he said of the role

‘I know the speech backwards and I can recite the entire address, but to have it in my pocket gives me comfort and helps remind me of what went into portraying Winston.

‘I remember when [production company] Working Title first asked me [to play the role], I thought they were having a laugh. I remember telling them that I looked more like Stan Laurel than Winston Churchill. But they were serious. But I had to be convinced.’

He met with famed make-up artist Kazuhiro Tsuji and, over a period of months, the pair studied Churchill’s looks to see if Oldman could be transformed into the great statesman.

Quite a collection: Having already taken home the Bafta [pictured], Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe for his performance, Gary said ‘The Oscar’s the last one’

Oldman and his wife, the photographic artist Gisele Schmidt, studied hundreds of photographs of Churchill, did extensive research of his speeches, viewed hours of footage and listened to recordings of his orations.

Oldman said that portraying Churchill was like running an Olympic marathon every day.

Applying the transformative make-up took close to four hours every morning and involved make-up artists David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick arriving at the studio in the early hours.

Malinowski, Sibbick and Tsuji were also on the Oscar red carpet as best make-up nominees.

Oldman said that he found the seven-month film award season more ‘nerve-racking’ than all the efforts he put into portraying Churchill in director Joe Wright’s film.

‘I think you’re frightened of revealing too much of the magic, giving too much away about how you do what you do,’ he said. ‘It’s more than just standing in front of a camera and saying your lines. It’s a collaboration with scores of other artists in front of the camera and behind it.

‘It has been some of the finest hours of my career,’ he said.

ACADEMY AWARDS WINNERS 2018

 BEST PICTURE  

Call Me By Your Name

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Post

The Shape of Water – WINNER

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Sally Hawkins in The Shape Of Water; Best Picture winner

BEST ACTOR

Timothee Chalamet – Call Me By Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out

Gary OIdman – Darkest Hour – WINNER

Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 

Mary J Blige – Mudbound

Alison Janney – I, Tonya – WINNER

Lesley Manville – Phanton Thread

Laurie Metcalf – Ladybird

Octavia Spencer – The Shape Of Water 

Alison Janney was named Best Supporting Actress for I, Tonya

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Fantastic Woman – WINNER

The Insult

Loveless

On Body and Soul

The Square

BEST DOCUMENTARY  SHORT

Edith + Eddie

Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 – WINNER

Heroin(e)

Knife Skills

Traffic Stop

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Faces Places

Icarus – WINNER

Last Men in Aleppo

Strong Island

Icarus, named Best Documentary Feature

BEST ORIGINAL SONG 

Mighty River – Mudbound

Mystery Of Love – Call Me by Your Name

Remember Me – Coco – WINNER

Stand Up For Something – Marshall

This Is Me – The Greatest Showman 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco – WINNER

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

Coco; Winner of Best Animated Feature Film

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Call Me By Your Name – James Ivory – WINNER

The Disaster Artist – Scott Neustadter and Michael H Weber

Logan – Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green

Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin

Mudbound – Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick – Emily V Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani

Get Out – Jordan Peele – WINNER

Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig

The Shape of Water – Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor (story by Guillermo del Toro)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Dunkirk

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water – WINNER

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 

BEST DIRECTOR  

Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk 

Jordan Peele – Get Out  

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird  

Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread

Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water – WINNER 

BEST ACTRESS    

Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand – Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER

Margot Robbie – I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird

Meryl Streep – The Post 

Best Actress winner Frances McDormand in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR   

Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project

Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer – All the Money in the World

Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 

Bladerunner 2049 – WINNER

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Mudbound

Shape of Water

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast

Darkest Hour 

Phantom Thread – WINNER

The Shape of Water

Victoria and Abdul

BEST SOUND EDITING

Baby Driver

Blade Runner

Dunkirk – WINNER

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Dunkirk was named the winner for Best Sound Editing

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Dear Basketball – WINNER

Garden Party

Lou

Negative Space

Revolting Rhymes

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

DeKalb Elementary

The Eleven O’Clock

My Nephew Emmet

The Silent Child – WINNER

Watu Wota / All of Us 

Maisie Sly is seen in The Silent Child, which won Best Live Action Short Film

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Blade Runner 2049 – WINNER

Guardian of the Galaxy vol. 2

Kong: Skull Island

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

War for the Planet of the Apes

BEST FILM EDITING

Baby Driver

I,Tonya

Dunkirk – WINNER

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri   

 BEST SOUND MIXING

Baby Driver

Blade Runner

Dunkirk – WINNER

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water – WINNER

BEST MAKE UP AND HAIR STYLING

Darkest Hour – WINNER

Victoria & Abdul

Wonder