As a who’s who of Hollywood walked the black carpet at the Getty Center in Los Angeles on Monday, Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway stood before a group of reporters preparing to give an interview about being selected among Elle’s Women in Hollywood honorees.
At precisely the same moment, her fellow honoree, Emmy-nominee Issa Rae scooted behind, calling out, “Hey girl!” to someone and accidentally walking into Hathaway’s shot.
Hearing the sound of Rae’s voice, Hathaway turned away from the reporters’ recorders and cell phone cameras, saying, “I’m so sorry, but heaven is calling.”
-
Issa Rae
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE The two women then shared a lovely interaction — meeting for the first time — as Rae hyped Hathaway up.
“What up, Anne?” Rae said as they hugged. “You have been killing every single look. God dang! You’re gorgeous. Gorgeous. I’m so excited to meet you.”
“I’m so excited to meet you too, Hathaway replied, turning to finish the interview.
-
Anne Hathaway
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE Back on camera, Hathaway took a second to center herself, saying, “That was my goal for tonight.”
When asked by Variety why she’d been so excited to meet Rae in particular, Hathaway replied, “I mean, the goal speaks for itself. I got hugged by Issa Rae.”
“I talk about it a little in my speech because she talked into that mirror and reflected a woman back that the world really needed to hear from,” Hathaway continued. “I love that she took talking to that mirror all the way to mogul status. And I think that what she touches is so interesting, and fresh, and creative. It’s really exciting to watch, and maybe, maybe I’ll work with her one day.”
-
Sigourney Weaver and Charlize Theron
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE Charlize Theron was similarly thrilled to meet fellow action icon, Legends Award honoree Sigourney Weaver. When Theron took the opportunity to express her admiration, Weaver grabbed her hands so the two could chat privately before taking this picture.
On the carpet, Weaver told Variety about the inspiration behind her acceptance speech. “Women across the country are in jeopardy and suffering and I think sisterhood, at this time, politically and in the business is a very powerful thing,” she shared. “I’m grateful we have each other.”
Onstage, Weaver followed a clip reel chronicling some her biggest roles, by humorously reflecting on what it means to be considered a “legend” in the business.
“It’s so encouraging at my age to see a sizzle reel like that and realize I have done all these things,” Weaver said as the crowd cheereed. “I only found out that I was going to be a ‘legend’ a couple of days ago, and since then I’ve been pondering questions like, ‘Can I still wear sweatpants? Can I use this to get out of emptying the dishwasher? Do I tell people that I’m a legend, or do I just hint around?'”
-
Mindy Kaling, Quinta Brunson and Jameela Jamil
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Jameela Jamil was giddy about seeing her longtime friend Quinta Brunson (here with presenter Mindy Kaling) at the celebration.
“Quinta was one of my first friends I made here in Los Angeles,” Jamil told Variety. “We would go out for lunch and we just sort of fell in love with each other really fast.”
While Brunson’s star is on the rise as a newly-minted Emmy winner, Jamil always knew she was “extraordinary.”
“I’ve always thought she was the most special human in the world. And so now to watch her so graciously and gracefully go on to prove that to the entire world has been one of the most exciting and like gratifying experiences,” she added. “You want the good guys to win and there is no better human than Quinta.”
As Brunson walked into the venue, she overheard the conversation and shared her side of the story: “I was on Jamila’s ass from ‘Good Place’ and I was like, ‘Who is this girl?’ And turns out she was following me.'”
“Our love has lasted a long time,” Jamil chimed in.
-
Thuso Mbedu and Ariana DeBose
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Alternately, “The Woman King” star Thuso Mbedu and honoree Ariana DeBose met for the first time at the event after also becoming friends on social media.
“She reached out to me like a couple of months ago, on Instagram, and she was just like, ‘I love you.’ I’m like, ‘I love you too,'” Mbedu told Variety. “I’m so happy to be a part of this, to stand up and vocalize my support of her when she steps up on stage.”
DeBose echoed the same excitement, saying that Mbedu is “an absolute star.”
“I think she is so classy,” she added. “To be so young and walking this path of grace and curiosity and authenticity, it’s just beautiful to see her thrive and I’m really excited for her. She’s got a beautiful spirit and I can’t wait to see what else she does in the world.”
DeBose has had quite the year since becoming an Academy Award-winning actor. Fortunately, she’s gotten some great advice from another woman who knows the ins and outs of such a “transformational” experience well.
“I’ve had a few really wonderful experiences with Lupita Nyong’o,” DeBose shared. “And she reminded me [that] nobody’s going through what you’ve gone through, and that’s gonna be singular. And that’s okay.”
-
Lauren Ridloff, Kerry Washington and Jurnee Smollett
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE DeBose was presented her honor, the inaugural Amyris Impact Award, by her co-star in “The Prom,” Kerry Washington (seen here with Lauren Ridloff and Jurnee Smollett).
Onstage, Washington said, “I fell for Ariana the moment I met her. I felt this kindred spirit with her at once.”
From then on, Washington had a front row seat to DeBose’s evolution as she eventually worked up the courage to audition for Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” to push past her personal insecurities and concerns about whether the industry and audiences would accept her, and the rest was Oscar history.
“Ari is using her success and her vulnerability and her visibility to normalize her beautiful complexity, and to affirm that there truly is, as she said, in her Oscar speech, ‘A place for all of us,'” Washington added.
-
Olivia Wilde and Kate Berlant
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE “We need more voices like Olivia Wilde in Hollywood,” Kate Berlant said, presenting to her “Don’t Worry Darling” director and co-star. “She’s an artist and a visionary, and the women in her movies actually drive the action. They’re not just window dressing for men’s desires.”
Wilde praised returned the praise, calling Berlant an “absolute genius.”
“You to me are the most exciting artist working today,” she said. “You defy categorization. You are singularly brilliant. You are fearless and bold and you just make me laugh so fucking hard. Directing you was one of the great joys of my career.”
-
Keke Palmer
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE Keke Palmer spoke in support of Issa Rae, reflecting on how the “Insecure” creator and star inspires her (and eventually hired her for a recurring role on the show’s fifth and final season).
“There’s this old saying about how you should never meet your heroes, but let me tell you — in this case — you really, really should,” Palmer said.
The entertainer also shared how Rae inspired her to launch her own production company and network KeyTV. “[She] has been my mentor and my role model in this space. Seeing how she crafted her way into the traditional space, with her own spin—her own creation from digital—knew I no longer had to ask anyone to let me in, I had the keys to unlock the doors myself, just by going for it and doing me.”
When Rae took the stage to accept the award, she shared some wisdom of her own — with a humorous touch — preaching the power in “forgetting,” much like “women who’ve given birth say they’ve forgotten about all the terrible pain they endured shortly after.”
Rae found that idea hard to believe at first, but then realized, “You forget, so that you’ll do it again,” which is also “essential to being a woman in Hollywood.”
She explained: “Forgetting the anxiety, the disrespect, the objectification, the scrutiny, the sexism, the racism, the excessive exclamations, the mansplaining, the double standards, the limitations, the undermining, the doubting, the pitting against, the dumbing down, the gaslighting, and so much of the other fucked up shit we forget about solely to persist, and prosper, and do it all again.”
-
Maude Apatow and Sydney Sweeney
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety On the carpet, Sydney Sweeney opened up about what it meant to be included in the list of honorees. “This is a pinch-me moment becuase I’ve always looked up to the women that are here in this room today with me,” she told Variety, admitting she was a little nervous about her speech, which was addressed to her younger self.
Sweeney was presented her award by on-screen sister, “Euphoria” star, Maude Apatow, but her “Madame Web” co-star Isabela Merced also had glowing things to say about her.
“Sydney does a lot of things behind the scenes that that people don’t really acknowledge,” Merced said. “The fact that she’s so on top of her game business-wise and she’s out here executive producing a lot and making these deals that are so beneficial to, to her and the future of women in this industry, I’m waiting for the day that she gets the credit that she’s due.”
-
Michelle Yeoh
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE Michelle Yeoh delivered the final speech of the night, chronicling her hard-fought journey in showbusiness (and one that might finally lead to her first Oscar nomination for “Everything Everywhere All At Once”).
The Malaysian-born star reflected on the early days of her acting career in Hong Kong, “literally fighting my way into the film industry,” she said. “Even when I shifted my focus to Hollywood, it was still a fight, just not with kicks and punches. Hollywood in those days didn’t have many women who looked like me, or stories that echoed my culture.”
She also emphasized how good it feels to be celebrated now, at 60, beyond what the industry has considered “prime years” for women in the business. “Yet here I am…which is perhaps a sign that things are, in fact, changing,” Yeoh said.
Yeoh saluted the changemakers in the room for their efforts to “[nudge] our world closer to something better and brighter.” She said, “Everyday, just by going to work and, in big ways and small, we announce our arrival. We are here.”
-
2022 Elle Women in Hollywood Honorees
Image Credit: Getty Images for ELLE Honorees Michelle Yeoh, Anne Hathaway, Sigourney Weaver, Sydney Sweeney, Ariana DeBose, Olivia Wilde, and Issa Rae pose with their trophies at the end of the evening.
-
Wanda Sykes and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety The event, presented by Ralph Lauren, Amyris and Lexus, had a star-studded guest list that included Wanda Sykes and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, as well as Madison Bailey, Madison Beer, Monica Barbaro, Hailey Bieber, Trinity Bliss, David Lauren and Lauren Bush Lauren, Christine Chiu, Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup, Olivia Culpo, Ayo Edebiri, Finneas and Claudia Sulewski, Ari Fournier, Tiffany Haddish, Meena Harris, Patti Harrison, Bella Heathcote, Mitra Jouhari, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Tia Mowry, Whitney Peak, Raph, Aida Rodriguez, Alexandra Shipp, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Nafessa Williams, Kenzie Ziegler, Maddie Ziegler and Amelie Zilber.