LOS ANGELES – He sings, dances, acts on stage and screen, and he's the "Sexiest Man Alive." Hugh Jackman does everything butstandup comedy — and that's why the first-time Oscars host fulfills the academy's promise to shake up the show in a way that's as tough to predict as the winners.
Jackman was announced Friday as the host of the 81st Academy Awards, a marked departure from the academy's standard of big-name comedians. Jon Stewart, who hosted in 2008 and 2006, and Ellen DeGeneres, the 2007 host, were the latest in a line of funny emcees since 1990. Billy Crystal did it eight times, Whoopi Goldberg took on four, Steve Martin did it twice and David Letterman and Chris Rockeach had a shot.
As the parade of A-list comedians continued, ratings were in steady decline. But with new producers, a new director, new set designer and even a new music director, the academy has been hinting for months at an all-new look and feel for this year's Oscars telecast on Feb. 22.
Having Jackman host certainly fits with that theme.
Producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon called the Australian actor "a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star."
"He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion," Mark and Condon said in a joint statement. "Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year's movies — and to have fun doing it."
Indeed, Jackman can be a mutant superhero (Wolverine from the "X-Men" movie franchise), a flirtatious singing barker (Billy Bigelow inRodgers & Hammerstein's musical "Carousel"), a determined magician ("The Prestige") and a dancing penguin ("Happy Feet").
The 40-year-old actor plays a roughhewn cattle driver opposite Nicole Kidman's English aristocrat in the newBaz Luhrmann romantic adventure "Australia." Jackman was abroad promoting the film Friday when his Oscar role was announced.
"Thirty years ago when I was in Sydney watching Johnny Carson host the Oscars with my family, I never imagined that I'd one day have the chance to be up on that stage myself," he said in a statement. "I am very grateful to the Academy for giving me this opportunity. And, excited to be working with Larry and Bill on what I know will be a fun and memorable celebration."
