Oscars 2019: Frances McDormand and Gary Oldman to hand out awards after all

Gary Oldman is among the previous acting award winners who will, after all, take to the stage at this year’s Oscars. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have backtracked and announced that the winners of last year’s acting Oscars will – as has been traditional – return to present awards at the 2019 ceremony.

Reports had emerged that, in its search to improve the Oscar telecast’s falling ratings, the Academy had failed to invite the 2018 winners to present at the forthcoming ceremony as it sought to involve more attention-grabbing names as presenters. Allison Janney, winner of the best supporting actress for I, Tonya, had said “it breaks my heart” in a now-deleted post on social media.

The Academy confirmed in a tweet that Janney, along with Frances McDormand (winner of best actress for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Gary Oldman (best actor for Darkest Hour), and Sam Rockwell (best supporting actor for Three Billboards) will present awards.

Last year, Allison Janney, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell had their names read from an envelope and they took home Oscar gold.

This year, they'll help make more dreams come true.

We're thrilled to announce they'll be presenters at this year's show. #Oscars

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 7, 2019

This marks the latest about-face for the Academy concerning the Oscars telecast, over which it was under pressure from network ABC. It has already lost its first host, Kevin Hart, then was roundly criticised for its attempt to introduce (then abandon) a best popular film category. After the Academy announced a series of high-profile presenters for its “hostless” ceremony, a further twist in the saga emerged when actor Dwayne Johnson tweeted that he had been approached to MC the event before Hart, but “couldn’t make it work” due to filming commitments on a sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

Ah mahalo dude, I was their first choice to host this year, and my goal was to make it the most fun and entertaining Oscars ever. We all tried hard, but couldn’t make it work since I’m shooting Jumanji. Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road 🥃 https://t.co/eiiMuBNOzb

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 6, 2019