Picturesque Newport Beach, California, the perfect destination to host an international film festival.

Newport Beach.

It’s beautiful.

We’re in Newport Beach.

I’ve never been in Newport Beach.

It’s incredible.

There’s boats like over here.

There’s a whole Marina, and it’s a very, very beautiful landscape.

It’s.

It’s cool.

All the boats are my boat, and I invite you.

Marking 25 years of bringing the best of classic and contemporary filmmaking from around the world to Southern California, the Newport Beach Film Festival is considered the leading lifestyle film festival in the United States, and the largest in coastal Southern California.

Very appreciative that I’m included in this fine event.

Incredible people here today.

It’s really, really nice.

I truly respect the Newport Beach Film Festival.

It’s always good feelings here and people who really love cinema.

From the waterfront, Balboa Bay resort.

Welcome to the 25th annual Newport Beach Film Festival HONORS.

Today we honor artistic expression and filmmaking and the power it has to connect us all.

As part of the celebration, Variety’s ten Actors to Watch introduces us to a group of actors worthy of our attention.

I’m so pleased to be back here presenting the ten actors to watch.

This marks our 24th year of this list.

We’ve honored such actors as Mahershala Ali, Timothee Chalamet, Brie Larson, and Octavia Spencer.

All before they were Oscar nominees or winners.

And I have no doubt we’re going to be seeing some great things from this year’s class.

How about that Joan Baez, folks?

She’s pretty.

Sings pretty once, maybe a little too pretty.

Your songs are like an oil painting at the dentist’s office.

You’re kind of all about the moments I’ve become most proud of myself.

Have been those where, in spite of not really feeling that creative spark, pushing forward and continuing to work on the thing.

Luckily, with this movie a complete unknown, I had guitar and singing to go back to every day, so I had like the craft to keep pursuing every day.

That’s a beautiful thing to get to have in in the absence of these, like, really super inspiring moments.

You’re an artist, right?

Well, I used to be.

Oh, Wow.

That feels like a lifetime ago.

Yeah, literally.

Definitely.

We got it.

I used to be a stripper.

The before times, right?

Yes.

I just grew up watching movies.

They sort of translate the world to me.

One way I understand this crazy life is through movies.

Yeah, it’s.

I think, my first great love.

It makes the highs and lows worth it.

Because I do genuinely love, love acting.

First gig was Wendy in Peter Pan.

They decided to make the nightgown out of two layers of flannel.

I was the sweatiest Wendy.

You there ever was.

But I was like, this is really fun.

Yeah.

I’m hooked.

I’m still hooked.

I’m staring for the second gold medal.

I’m gonna need exactly what the men get.

Is it the money?

Is it the recognition?

Money is recognition.

This ain’t just about me.

This is for all the women.

It’s such an inspiring story.

Clarissa is an incredible athlete and incredible woman.

And she made history.

So to be any little bit a part of that was just an honor for me.

I think one of the first questions she asked me was, have I ever been in a fight before?

And I was like, absolutely not.

And that definitely shook her a little bit.

So it was really cool just to see her reaction to the film and being just really impressed.

Refresh.

Are you English?

You know I’m not the English.

Why not?

Because you, You are pretty.

High up.

I am one of those people that is not afraid of controversy and more even when I receive everything, I receive hate in this world even if I receive a lot of negativity In some moments I am one of the biggest fighters in this world And I believe that if I can be an inspiration to the rest of of the actors that work in this field I think we can succeed I believe that if I can be an inspiration to the rest even when they tell us multiple tines that we are not valuable enough to do this by many directors or casting directors or producers that reject us that there will always be an opportunity to fight for what you believe and that overall be yourself do things with all your soul and heart that is what I fight for everyday to do the things I like and for us to be free and all of us to be happy General Casiuss there are victories yet still to come.

Rome has so many subjects.

She must feed them.

They can eat war.

You thought it was real too?

Oh my God, she was very convincing.

She was scared of your mother.

We were all scared.

I wasn’t quite as scared.

Just for the record.

I have memories of watching stuff and wanting to be a part of that feeling.

There are feelings that seem to be felt that are not allowed out.

And I think my experience of being a young person, watching art that moved me, felt like the dam is breaking and like things that people are really feeling can be expressed in these beautiful ways.

And a bunch of people in dark room together can feel a freedom of thought, feeling and try and find understanding for each other, rather than just defense and survival.

Do you ever have nostalgia for a moment while you’re still in it?

I mean, like, you’re in the moment, but you’re also looking back on it.

Like, right now, I’m here, but I’m also thinking about this moment 20 years from now.

We’re walking by this ice rink with Gilda.

It’s her empathy.

Her comedy is coming from a place of trying to put people at ease.

And whether it’s through, like, flirtatious ness or like childlike wonder and naivete, whatever it is, she’s doing it to put people at ease and and that as a person coming into a comedy space feeling the opposite of easeful was very soothing.

Based on the meditation of those bladders and its synchronization to her breathing patterns, I surmise, is feeding her oxygen to keep her alive.

For what purpose?

I do not know.

Sure.

You.

I mean, not 55, but a synthetic originally built for mining and safety tasks.

You guys call me Andy.

I was a very shy kid.

I still am.

Acting was one of those things that came to me later, and it really kind of helped me to find more and more what I wanted to do, what I wanted to find.

So my first point of call was theater.

You know, I really love plays.

I love Shakespeare and poetry.

And that was kind of like my first feeling that there’s something here, there’s something to be done, there’s a lot to have fun with.

And then if you can have fun and then feel you’re winning.

I think I came to acting a bit late, if I’m honest.

I’m around like 16, 17 after I got kicked out of my school and, and then it was just, you know, reading plays and, like, doing it in my bedroom for an audience of one.

That was the one is my dog.

That was.

That was fun.

You don’t know the kind of thoughts I have.

It’s like a demon.

What if God made me this way?

I have to admit, I knew so little about Aaron Hernandez and his tragic story prior to the series.

I mean it as a compliment when I say I didn’t even recognize you at first, you transformed pretty.

You know, something funny is, we took a break during the strike, and then a bunch of the hair and makeup team and me and some of the other actors, we got together to go bowling, like a few people on the hair and makeup team that didn’t know who I was.

They were like, who is this guy?

Like, they thought I was just some random dude who showed up because I at that point, I had grown my hair out and had the beard and everything.

And so yeah.

You’re not the only ones.

I want to talk to you without speaking.

Giving you an opportunity to stand in front of kind of your heroes and these giants and these people you look up to.

Yeah.

My heart was pounding through my chest on the first day.

I was.

I was freaking out.

Yeah.

Even by the end, you’re still terrified.

Yes.

Fred, we’ve been talking about being intimidated by costars, but you have already worked with some of the greatest directors of all time.

What is it you sort of hope for from a director when you get to set?

I think you want unique vision.

And so I guess I, I love working with filmmakers who approach it with that kind of experimentation and abandon and a kind of freedom and respect for everybody.

But also they, they they have personality.

They make films that come from their soul, hopefully, and they need to make them.

There’s no other way around it.

Monica, for you, what was it like to embody a legend like Joan Baez?

Incredibly intimidating.

The goal is to have gotten some of her essence, you know, and not so much an imitation of her, and try to embody the essence of the person.

Ellis.

Sort of the same question.

You’re not only playing a real person, but an icon in Gilda Radner.

Where do you even begin with something like that?

For me, it really began with her voice.

I think as a Brit, I was terrified of getting it wrong, although Gilda’s voice and mine couldn’t be more different.

But we have a very similar resonance, actually.

And then I really love goofing around and she is just the queen of goof.

David, you’ve already had such an incredible career at such a young age, and you’ve done every medium.

You started in theater, but you pretty quickly moved into film and TV.

Do you have a medium that’s your favorite?

Or do you find that they they all are sort of variations on one another?

I’m just really happy to be working.

I want to be real with you.

It’s crazy like this.

This is bizarre.

You’re looking at some of my like, this is heroes and this plays.

I love theater, that’s my first love, and it always will be.

But to be able to do things that, push the film, it’s it’s a it’s beyond anything you could hope for.

Yeah.

Well, again, thank you all so much for being here.

Presenting Variety’s 2024 class of ten Actors to Watch.

This year’s honors showcases a range of remarkable artists who have proven the impact of their creative talents.

One of those amazing talents we all need to keep an eye on in the years ahead.

Today’s Maverick Award winner Colman Domingo.

So are you acting at all during this interview?

Absolutely not.

I, I truly hope that you can understand that I’ve been very sincere.

I know how meaningful this is.

I would never.

I actually, that’s not the intention of acting.

I had to take a moment when someone asked me what it means to be deemed a maverick.

I think especially with this film saying saying I was just doing what I thought was right and trying to tell a story of people who whose stories are never told, men who are incarcerated, who are trying to do the work of true healing and rehabilitation when they have latched on to art, that thing that we love so much and we know can be the parachute that saves us all.

I committed to my life being an artist, and then I didn’t expect any of this, this, this new sort of chapter of my career.

I didn’t expect it.

It’s not something I sort of dreamed about.

I just I just wanted to be a respected working artist.

The beautiful thing is, right now, in this moment, people see me the way I’ve always seen myself.

Because I think sometimes people try to limit what you do.

Like, oh, he’s just an actor or a playwright or director but they see that I play in all these lanes, and people want me to bring all of that to the work and whatever opportunity that comes my way.

So I feel great that I have the access that I do.

But I’m also very, very conscious of what I do.

I don’t know if I would have known that when I was younger, although I would say if I looked at 21 year old Coleman, who was starting his own theater company and, you know, writing, directing and acting his own plays, I think that I was already understanding that I needed to have my own power in a way, in this industry, and that was going to be my superpower.

The doctor who first told me my son was autistic would have saved us both a lot of time.

If you just said the truth, autistic kids don’t give them.

This movie means so much to me.

It’s the first movie I’ve ever gotten involved with as a producer, because I really wanted to help tell this story, and I’m proud to be here with you today.

Thank you so much for this honor.

Thank you.

I got scammed, but I have the address where I sent the money.

It’s a P.O.

box in Van Nuys, 1534 San Fernando Road.

I’m on my way there now.

I’m gonna try to figure out who took it and get it back.

June Squibb, everybody.

Oh.

Thank you.

Oh, my.

Thank you.

Oh.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just want to tell you all.

In a few weeks, I’m going to be 95 years old.

And actually, most of those years have been spent either in a theater or on a film or television set.

And so I just want to thank the Newport Beach Film Festival for honoring that career.

Life is good.

I always thought of myself as an actress.

It never occurred to me that I had to become one, even when I was so young, and I don’t know where it came from.

I had a thing of justice that anybody was hurt by something that upset me tremendously.

I think that that gave me a kind of strength that I don’t know why, but it did.

I grew up in the 40s 50s and as a woman, what they expected of us at the time was so ridiculous to me.

So it never meant sense.

It was never something I had to deal with because I thought it was ridiculous.

So as I got older, I really felt there were no boundaries.

What if we just left this place?

There’s nothing out there.

Wonderful gift.

You have given us.

Luck.

Good luck.

You must be very brave.

What you went through tomorrow will guide us together.

Our future is bright.

We did everything to save you.

If you own you.

This is such an honor and just so wonderful to be part of.

This is truly positive day.

Just wonderful to be in the mix here.

So thank you so much for having me.

It’s just it’s wonderful to be involved with the festival and, you know, to get an honor like that, it’s yeah, it’s really special.

This batch is not working.

Would you like to stop?

Would you like to stop?

Do you like to stop?

To stop.

Let’s go.

I’m so happy to be back.

I’m so happy that I’m still doing this job.

And I love you guys so much.

So thank you.

Okay, okay.

You know, I’ve got health issues.

I might spend the day lying in bed.

She makes everything about her.

She’s rude man.

Come on.

Ah.

Thank you so much.

I feel extremely blessed and honored.

I absolutely love what I do, creating a character and seeing that character come alive and really transforming myself.

So to be rewarded for it or awarded for it is just the icing on top of the cake.

Barbara, what are you doing tonight?

I’m going to a screening of Rocky Horror at my church.

They take out all the cursing, all the references to sex and sexuality.

It comes in at just under 26 minutes and it is all, oh.

I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim song.

I am a woman, I am an artist and I know Where my voice belongs.

I am an artist.

And my art means something to me.

I care about it.

I care about the impact it has on people.

Be bold.

Be brave.

Be fearless.

Fight for the right to be an artist.

Thank you, Newport Beach.

Thank you all.

I believe in the power of art to make great change.

When people hear something in a different way that makes them rethink what they think they thought.

That is the power of art.

Right.

It’s the time I don’t want to close my eyes un break my heart.

I’m everything I am.

Because you loved me When I started writing songs at 11 and having my dad, you know, get me a subscription to Billboard, just memorizing every song songwriter like that was so cool to me.

I would have gotten a masters, and I would write all these songs and, you know, think I was great.

And of course I wasn’t, but I thought I was, you know, and I love writing songs for movies.

It’s it’s something that it’s crafting the right song, you know, for that movie and, and, you know, enhancing what’s there.

I think my longevity is because I always stay relevant.

I always stay current.

I don’t sit back and go, yeah, I did that.

Like, I’m hungry for more.

And your songs have to evolve.

Your music has to stay current and evolve.

So.

So I like to be classic yet evolving.

A lifetime achievement award seems weird to me, so I feel like I have like lifetimes of music to write and just, thank you, Newport Beach Film Festival for, for this honor.

Is this what my life has amount to?

I wonder what if I didn’t marry your father if I didn’t have you and Vivian Sometimes I dream.

I’m so happy that there are so many possibilities for Asians in Hollywood today, and I think I have a new beginning.

So thank you so much.

The Icon Award goes to a truly iconic actor, Nicolas Cage.

There is no doubt that there are few actors today who have shown such versatility and breadth in such a wide and creative choice of roles, which makes him not only one of the most adventurous talents today, but, as our award states, one of the most iconic.

For our final award today, we’re presenting our variety, Legend and Groundbreaker Award to the wonderfully talented Amy Poehler.

Oh my super high tech Riley protection system.

Don’t look.

It’s fine.

This is for all those memories that belong in the back of the mind.

Like this penalty one.

It’s weighing on her.

So let’s lighten the load.

A one way expressway to.

We’re not gonna think about that right now.

I’m genuinely moved to be considered an artist in this work.

I feel privileged to get to do something that I love and to get to work with people that I love.

And I think that a movie like Inside Out too, is a great reminder of how we all need each other.

And in the words of the true legend.

June, life is good thanks to you.

I feel like if I can use my currency in any way to elevate new voices, that’s one of the goals, as we always try to figure out what voice we can amplify.

And, and, you know, we always try to make stuff that we would want to turn on and watch or films that we’d want to go see.

And I’m a fan as well as a maker.

Newcomer or legend?

Maverick or icon?

These are the talents we honor at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

See you at the movies, everybody.

The Newport Beach film festival.

It’s a festival that I love.

And I will come back again and again.

So have a seat in front of all my boats.

Yes, all of them.

My chartered yachts.

Yeah.

It’s gorgeous.

Look at this.

This is beautiful.

These boats.

Even though I get seasick, I like looking at them.

Nicholas Cage is just behind me.

So I have no words.

Speechless.

I can’t hold on to it.

I was just trying to give that away, I guess.

My Kia.

I was not included in the one.

You’re being honored today, I know.

How’d that happen?

Someone made a mistake.

Those are big words.

A legend and groundbreaker.

Legend and groundbreaker.

Sure, but the names of my two dogs.

Is that right?

Yeah.

Legend and groundbreaker.

My my two.

Pyrenees.