AARP Hearing Center
What happens behind the scenes at AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony? Welcome to your front-row seat! After winners accepted their awards and left the stage, they stopped by a special AARP photo booth. The exultant results are below. (You can watch AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony on Great Performances on PBS on Friday, Feb. 17, at 9 p.m. ET.)
Jump to the Winners
“The Whale” stars Hong Chau and Brendan Fraser
Peter Yang
Hong Chau presented the best actor award to Brendan Fraser for his performance in The Whale. Fraser, 54, quoted Herman Melville, appropriate since that’s the author his teacher character in The Whale is an expert on: “To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.”
“She Said” star Jennifer Ehle, presenter Wendie Malick, and “She Said” stars Patricia Clarkson, Sarah Ann Masse and Katherine Kendall
Peter Yang
Accepting the award for best ensemble cast, Patricia Clarkson, 63, joked that she wanted to give a special shout-out to her date. “It’s my godson. ... His name is Nicholas. He’s 17 years old. He’s way, way, way too young to be here, but he looks forward to joining AARP. Thirty-three years from now, we’ll all be dead,” she said.
“Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann
Peter Yang
“What I do like about [AARP] is that it also celebrates and acknowledges experience and age. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve just turned 60,” Baz Luhrmann said as he accepted the best director award.
“Till” stars Jalyn Hall and Frankie Faison
Peter Yang
Accepting the award for best intergenerational movie, Frankie Faison noted the movie’s ability to bring all ages together. “This film is one that brings young people and the elderly together,” he said. “This is the spirit of Till. The Spirit of Till is to show the young people that they have support of the elders, that they’re there for them, they’re pulling for them, and they will defend them at any cost.”
“The Fabelmans” stars Judd Hirsch and Gabriel LaBelle
Peter Yang
Judd Hirsch, 87, who won the best supporting actor award for his exhilarating, brief performance as a wise elder relative in The Fabelmans (as well as his second Oscar nomination, making him the second-oldest nominee in history), observed, “Steven Spielberg said there were no aliens or dinosaurs in this movie. Well, he was wrong — I am one of both of these things.” Clutching his trophy, he urged all young actors to “eat well, exercise, don’t take drugs, wait about 60 years, and you can get one of these.” Gabriel LaBelle presented the award to Hirsch.
Presenter Annette Bening and “Women Talking” star Judith Ivey
Peter Yang
Best supporting actress winner Judith Ivey, 71, said that her dad, 95, and her mom, who just celebrated her 101st birthday, have something in common with her. “We all are members of AARP. We often talk about what we read in the magazine. ... We shared that one of our most informative articles was ‘The Best Way to Get Up After a Fall.’ I never thought I’d be sharing that experience with my parents. But thank you, AARP!”
