Nowadays award show hosts have to find unique twists to make their hosting style stand out from the rest. At the 2017 Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel first followed in many other hosts’ footsteps by handing out a treat to the hungry audience—this time it was candy, making the coolest entrance inanimate objects could pull off—and then clued the audience in on his next big plot: luring tourists into the Academy Awards. No big deal, right?
Kimmel arranged for an unaware tour bus group to be led into the Dolby Theatre, telling the celebs, “On the count of three, we’ll turn the lights on and everybody yell ‘Mahershala,’ okay?”
Like classic tourists, the visitors came equipped with their phones and selfie sticks, snapping pics as the Oscar crowd greeted them. We met eager folks like Gary from Chicago, who basically won over the hearts of every actor in the front row. While the rest of their group seemed a little taken aback, Gary and his fiancée Vicki took the surprise by storm, shaking hands with Ryan Gosling and Nicole Kidman and even getting gifted Jennifer Aniston’s sunglasses. Um, where was our invite?
Once Kimmel learned that Gary and Vicki were engaged and that Vicki was a fan of Denzel Washington, there was no denial that this moment was going to be a special one for the couple, with Kimmel asking, “Denzel, will you be the best man at their wedding?”
It may not be too official, but instead of giving a RSVP, Denzel decided to “marry” Gary and Vicki in front of Hollywood’s greatest stars.
#GaryFromChicago is winning the #Oscars. pic.twitter.com/KIi0TujORh
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 27, 2017
I guess Hollywood really is the place where dreams come true, right?