Witherspoon to present an Oscar
2006-02-27 11:41
Los Angeles - Best actress Oscar favourite Reese Witherspoon will appear on stage at next week's Academy Awards whether or not she takes home the prized statuette, organisers said on Friday.
The 29-year-old star of the Oscar-nominated Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line will present one of the coveted statuettes to a winner at the glittering March 5 show.
Her nomination this year marks the first time the powerful star has caught Oscar's eye, despite starring in movies that have brought in millions at the box office, including her two super-successful Legally Blonde movies.
The actress, who also had roles in such films as Sweet Home Alabama, Pleasantville and Vanity Fair, won her nomination this year for playing singer June Carter Cash in the musical biopic.
Another just-signed presenter who will be handing out an Oscar at this year's show is veteran United States actress and comedian Lily Tomlin, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said.
Tomlin was nominated for her supporting role in Robert Altman's 1975 country music movie Nashville and co-starred in the 1980 mega-hit Nine to Five with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton.
She will be seen next in A Prairie Home Companion, alongside Meryl Streep, as well as in The Last Guy on Earth. Her other film credits include I Heart Huckabees, Tea with Mussolini, Flirting with Disaster and Short Cuts.
Star-studded line-up
Tomlin and Witherspoon join a long line of celebrities who have already agreed to hand out statuettes next week, including Australian Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and South African winner Charlize Theron.
Also presenting this year will be the 2005 best actress and best actor winners, Hilary Swank and Jamie Foxx, who took home statuettes for Million Dollar Baby and Ray, respectively, and 2006 best actor nominee Terrence Howard.
Two-time Oscar winner Streep - the most nominated actor in Oscars history, with 13 nods under her belt - and multiple Oscar-winning director and actor Clint Eastwood will also present prizes.
King Kong actress Naomi Watts of Australia, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill star Uma Thurman, double Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and Hollywood darling Jennifer Aniston will also present awards.
Other presenters will include Crash, Speed and Miss Congeniality actress Sandra Bullock; Morgan Freeman, winner of the 2005 best supporting actor Oscar; actor Luke Wilson; Bullock's Speed co-star and Matrix actor Keanu Reeves; actress and singer Queen Latifah; and American funnyman Will Ferrell.
Musical acts will include Parton and Kathleen Bird York, who will sing In the Deep from the Oscar-nominated movie Crash.