The 2nd Annual Academy Museum Gala Was a Celebrity Love Fest

Inside Los Angeles’ Academy Museum on Saturday night were some of Hollywood’s biggest and most in-demand talent, gathered together to honor the museum’s one-year anniversary and to raise money for exhibitions to come. George Clooney, Jessica Chastain, and Glenn Close rubbed shoulders with Luca Guadagnino, Ron Howard, and Judd Apatow. But when Tilda Swinton arrived to the red carpet, she was excited to get inside for a completely different reason. “I have no idea who’s going to be there,” she told W. “But I am looking forward to walking over a bridge, which is called the Barbra Streisand Bridge. Can you imagine?”

Swinton wasn’t in attendance just to walk Bab’s eponymous bridge, though, according to the actress, there are some “people at home” who would love to see her on the structure, which connects the two buildings that make up the Renzo Piano-designed museum. She was invited to receive the Visionary Award—one of four honors bestowed throughout the evening—presented to Swinton by her frequent collaborator, Guadagnino. “I think it means there's room for people who like to play,” she said, when asked for her interpretation of the award. “And I've been lucky to be able to play all my working life and to have many playmates.”

Swinton found herself among many of those “playmates” throughout the evening, including Adrien Brody, with whom the actress recently reunited on another Wes Anderson picture. “It was wonderful as ever” Swinton said of working on Asteroid City, which will find many of Anderson’s favorites together again when it hits theaters next year. “I'm really looking forward to seeing that film. It was beautiful. It was kind of wild.”

In fact, the evening allowed for many reunions as actors, directors, and producers caught up on both the red carpet and over cocktails inside. Bones and All star Taylor Russell barely left Guadagnino’s side as he introduced her to many need-to-know industry insiders on the red carpet. Once in the venue, she stayed close to her good friend, Euphoria star, Alexa Demie, posing together for the camera in their matching black looks. There was a Top Gun: Maverick reunion between Jay Ellis and Danny Rodriguez, a long conversation between Swinton and Close, and a sweet familial moment from Laura Dern, who brought along her daughter, Jaya Harper, as a date. The most significant meet-up of the night, however, had to be that between Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez, who posed for a photo together once inside the event.

Meanwhile, the Louis Vuitton crew—led by Nicolas Ghesquière himself—stuck most closely together. Comprised of Emma Stone, Alicia Vikander, two of the three Haim sisters, and HoYeon Jung, among others, the heavy representation turned the red carpet into almost an impromptu encore of Ghesquière’s spring/summer 2023 presentation. The silver, lace, and ruffle-covered attendees especially stood out among the many all-black ensembles that hit the red carpet.

In fact, all four of the honorees at the event seemed to stick to the unspoken dress code. Swinton continued her recent Schiaparelli run with a long-sleeve dress featuring sequin embellishments and golden lock buttons from Daniel Roseberry’s fall 2022 collection. Julia Roberts, recipient of the Icon Award, brought her signature suiting to the red carpet once again, wearing custom Thom Browne in the form of a black corseted dress atop a white, striped button down, a jacket casually draped upon her shoulder. For their part, director Steve McQueen and producer Miky Lee—who were honored with the Vantage and Pillar Award, respectively—also found themselves in all-black ensembles.

On the more colorful end of the spectrum were costars Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne. And while they didn’t received an official honor at the Gala, they most definitely took home the superlative of giddiest pair. The Good Nurse stars couldn’t stop laughing together throughout the red carpet as they reminisced about working on the upcoming Netflix film. Specifically, they were quick to share their tradition of meeting up in Chastain’s trailer for what they dubbed “tequila Fridays,” to unwind after a week of work. “The Good Nurse is a really intense film, but the making of it was joyful,” Redmayne told W. The pair also discussed their weekend playdates with their respective kids, some more wholesome get togethers compared to their alcohol-fueled hang outs. “We would have fights about the Hokey Pokey,” Chastain said, and clearly the issue wasn’t resolved on set. “In England, they call it the Hokey Cokey, which sounds like a weird Scorsese film to me,” the actress continued, with Redmayne butting in, “And the Hokey Pokey doesn't sound strange?” Chastain was forced to agree.

The mingling continued throughout the night until Ava DuVernay took the stage to announce the evening’s surprise performance. The opening bars of “I’m Coming Out” began playing over the speakers as none other than Diana Ross appeared in a silver, sequin-covered set. It wasn’t Barbra Streisand, but I’m willing to bet Swinton was pleased all the same.