As the previous saying goes, everybody could have their quarter-hour of fame—however as a look on the purple carpet for the 2004 Academy Awards proves, some folks take pleasure in 20 years or extra of fame. For instance, Paul Giamatti, who’s a front-runner within the best-actor class on the 2024 Oscars for his performance in The Holdovers, was using excessive after a lauded flip in American Splendor. Sofia Coppola, director of final yr’s Priscilla, was contemporary off Lost in Translation, for which she turned the primary lady to be nominated within the directing, writing, and producing classes in the identical yr. She in the end gained the statue for greatest unique screenplay that yr, carrying a romantic eggplant purple robe. And then there was Oprah Winfrey. Always and ceaselessly, there may be Oprah.
In 2004, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dominated the Oscars, with Peter Jackson and his merry band of hobbits (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd) charming the assembled glitterati and swapping the One Ring for 11 Oscars—the most important clear sweep within the ceremony’s historical past, and the identical variety of statues that Titanic and Ben-Hur garnered at their very own ceremonies.
Of course, within the sea of early-aughts trend (Jamie Lee Curtis’s ombre chiffon column robe and Liv Tyler’s gothy thick black choker, to call just a few appears) and acquainted faces have been some stars who’ve since handed. Notably, Heath Ledger attended the 2004 Oscars with Naomi Watts, and Robin Williams laughed alongside Bobcat Goldthwait, whereas Joan Rivers supplied her signature sharp trend commentary.
Ahead, have a look again in time and luxuriate in a number of the greatest stars and moments of the 2004 Oscars purple carpet.