The Oscars haven’t had a host in four years, but Amy Schumer isn’t feeling any pressure.
“A lack of pressure I’d say. It’s like there’s nobody to really compare to because it’s been a minute. I think we’re just ready to have a good time and enjoy it,” Schumer told Variety at the New York City premiere of her Hulu series “Life & Beth” on Wednesday night.
Last month, Variety exclusively reported that Schumer, Regina Hall and and Wanda Sykes will host the 2022 Academy Awards, the first time the show has had a host since Jimmy Kimmel emceed in 2018. Schumer couldn’t give any details away about her jokes, but she’s ready to “take the piss” out of everyone in attendance at this year’s show.
“It’s going to be a night to celebrate everyone and their achievements making a movie during a raging pandemic and also fun to take the piss, as they say,” she told Variety.
Schumer appeared on Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” where she asked former Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg for any advice and joked that her lawyer advised her to cut half her set. When asked what jokes got her lawyer up in arms, Schumer said “Your lawyer is always around.” She also said that she’ll go on “The Howard Stern Show” after hosting the Oscars and possibly share some of her material that didn’t make it on air.
Despite the secrecy, one person revealed that he got to hear some of Schumer’s set. Kevin Kane, one of the stars of “Life & Beth” and an Emmy-winning producer of “Inside Amy Schumer” and more of her stand-up specials, said her jokes are “going to kill.”
“I got to see a little preview of some stuff she’s doing last night, and I think it’s going to kill. I’m always the guy saying ‘Don’t do it’ to her, and then she does it and I’m like cringing like a parent,” he told Variety.
On “Life & Beth,” Schumer plays Beth, a woman who must grapple with a traumatic life event while trying to navigate her career, romance, family life and personal happiness. The TV series is Schumer’s first since “Inside Amy Schumer” ended in 2016, and she drew on many of her own real-life experiences while creating it. The cast includes Kane as Beth’s self-obsessed boyfriend Matt, Michael Cera as her new love interest and farmer John, and Michael Rapaport and Laura Benanti as her parents.
After working closely with Schumer on “Life & Beth,” her castmates are eager to see her on the Oscars stage.
“She’s going to fucking kill it like she kills everything in her life,” Benanti told Variety. “She comes in completely herself, full of love and light and humor and she’s going to make people laugh.”
