Ricky Gervais, who took flak for a riske performance some felt crossed a line while hosting the Golden Globes last month, has written a script for this year's Oscar hosts and put it up on his website. Actor James Franco, hosting along with Anne Hathaway, has indicated, rather strongly, that he's not amused.
"He did his award show and he bombed. Why is he trying to get in on ours?" Franco told E! Entertainment. "Horrible. His lines weren't good on the Golden Globes. Why does he want to do our lines?"
With those words the star of 127 Hours, the films is up for a Best Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards while Franco is up for Actor in a Leading Role, sets himself up for a situation whereby the job he does, and the material he uses, can be compared against Gervais' offering.
Gervais Writes Script for Oscar Hosts
"Good luck to James Franco and Anne Hathaway at The Oscars on Sunday. I know how nervous they must be right now," Gervais starts on his website. "They will do an absolutely fantastic job and don't need my help, but I've written a little opening in case they have a few minutes to fill." Whereupon he gives both Franco and Hathaway an opening:
Franco: You probably know me from 127 Hours where I play a man trapped in an enclosed space who decides he would rather cut his own arm off than stay where he was. Now that sounds "way out" but wait till half way through this (expletive) ceremony and you'll start to identify with him."
Hathaway: "And I'm the new Catwoman. The first white woman to play that role since Michelle Pfeiffer. I want it to be an inspiration to all white people everywhere. Your dreams can come true in Hollywood too."
Gervais at Golden Globes
That material, and he has more, is along the lines of the material at the Golden Globes, taking shots at celebrities. "It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking," he began at the Globes. "Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast.”
Some celebs, like Robert Downey Jr., said they felt Gervais had crossed a line, while others, like Bruce Willis, said they didn't mind being the object of Gervais barbs; Willis said that Gervais was a "funny guy". Both of those actors were used in a Gervais joke that night.
Gervais Blog Responds to Reponse to Gervais Blog
It's hard to say if Franco was serious in his remarks, or if he took Gervais' 'script' to be a real attempt to write sketches for the Oscar ceremonies Feb. 27. But some people did take his script as serious and Gervais has responded to that on his blog.
"Amazingly some people thought that I wrote that intro to the Oscars in the hope that it might actually be used. Hilarious. I am still shocked by the existence of such stupidity in the world," Gervais wrote on his blog. "As if I seriously thought if would ever be considered. It's not like I sent it to the academy or even imagined they would read it. I did it for a laugh on my blog."
Surely, Franco and Hathaway will at some point mention Gervais while they host the Oscars. The question is - will it be as funny as the material Gervais himself wrote on his blog?
Join the Conversation