Hugh Jackman , the Australian actor known to film audiences for playing a furry comic-book hero in the X-Men movies , will be host of the 81st incarnation of the Oscars , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Friday .
announced
hugh jackman australian actor know film audience play furry comic-book hero x-men movie host 81st incarnation oscars academy motion picture arts sciences announce friday
Hugh Jackman , the Australian actor known to film audiences for playing a furry comic-book hero in the X-Men movies , will be host of the 81st incarnation of the Oscars , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences <m> announced </m> on Friday .
The producers of the Academy Awards are counting on a mutant wolverine who is People magazine 's reigning Sexiest Man Alive to inject some desperately needed razzle-dazzle into their annual telecast .
Hugh Jackman , the Australian actor known to film audiences for playing a furry comic-book hero in the X-Men movies , will be host of the 81st incarnation of the Oscars , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences <m> announced </m> on Friday .
ABC will broadcast the awards show on Feb. 22 .
Its producers said they hoped to achieve multiple goals with the casting of Mr. Jackman .
First , there is a desire to put more movie in the annual movie business extravaganza .
Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres , recent hosts , are both primarily known as television stars .
Laurence Mark , a co-producer of the Oscars telecast , with Bill Condon , said there was also a desire to steer clear of stand-up comedians .
`` We are trying to get away from this late-night talk show rut , '' Mr. Mark said in a telephone interview .
`` It seemed to us that we needed to turn a corner and get somebody who is , imagine that , a movie star . ''
Mr. Jackman 's selection is also an attempt to play to the audience at home , which has been shrinking in recent years .
Viewers of the ceremony are overwhelmingly female - the Oscars are known in the advertising world as the Super Bowl for women - and producers clearly expect Mr. Jackman to turn out that demographic in droves .
`` It certainly did not escape us that Hugh looks terrific in a tuxedo , '' Mr. Mark said .
With any luck , a host plucked from within the movie industry 's own ranks - and less emphasis on stand-up comedy , which has often been at the expense of people sitting in the audience - will also play well inside the Kodak Theater .
In recent years the crowd of movie insiders has seemed to respond to hosts with notable coldness .
A representative for Mr. Jackman said he was walking a red carpet in Berlin on behalf of his current film , the epic `` Australia , '' and was unavailable for an interview .
Deadlinehollywooddaily.com first reported his selection on the Web .
Mr. Jackman , 40 , has never been nominated for an Oscar but has artistic credibility , an important credential for the M.C. of the film awards show .
He has won positive reviews for turns in films like `` The Prestige '' and `` Kate and Leopold . ''
He won a Tony Award in 2004 for his role in the musical `` The Boy from Oz . ''
He also has experience as an awards show M.C. , winning an Emmy in 2005 for his appearance as host of the Tonys .
He presided over that ceremony three times .
The Oscars are a very different phenomenon from the Tonys .
The film honors are an awkward hybrid - a telecast about the movies set in a theater - that require their host to oscillate between jocular chitchat and solemn introductions , while sprinkling in just the right amount of self-deprecation .
Serving as host of the three-hour live show requires physical stamina and an ability to hold up under the emotional pressure of knowing that the television audience , while diminished in the United States , numbers several hundred million worldwide .
This year Mr. Jackman will have the added pressure of serving as the ringmaster of a lavish self-congratulation-a-thon at a time of global economic crisis .
Preparing for the job may prove difficult , since producers will most likely need to draw up contingency plans in the event of a Screen Actors Guild strike .
The union , at loggerheads with studios over contract issues big and small , said on Wednesday that it would ask its members to authorize a strike .
The union , which will announce the results of the vote in late January , sees its power to wreak havoc with the Oscars as prime leverage .
The telecast has come under harsh criticism in recent years as a lumbering snore that takes itself too seriously and lacks spontaneity .
Star wattage has dimmed , with many members of the A list refusing to attend unless they are nominated or have a coming film to promote .
A trend toward honoring small , independent movies that most people have not seen has dented viewership .
Ratings for last year 's Oscars plunged to a record low , with about 32 million people tuning in , compared with 55.3 million a decade ago .
Mr. Condon and Mr. Mark , who recently served as the creative team behind the movie `` Dreamgirls , '' are trying to energize the telecast partly by making the ceremony more of a party that celebrates movies in general , not just the elite few selected by Academy voters .
`` We are still at the preliminary conversation stage about what Hugh wants to do , but his theatrical talent certainly does give us reason to do at least one musical number , '' Mr. Mark said .