Musician Quincy Jones receives posthumous Oscar, and daughter Rashida Jones delivers his speech

LOS ANGELES – Before his death two weeks ago, American musician and producer Quincy Jones wrote a speech he intended to deliver at the Governors Awards, where he was scheduled to receive an honorary Oscar at the ceremony created by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

On Nov 17 night in Hollywood, his actress daughter Rashida Jones delivered that speech on his behalf before a rapt audience.

“As a teenager growing up in Seattle, I would sit for hours in the theatre and dream about composing for films,” she said, while channelling her father, who was a black trailblazer in Hollywood. “When I was a young film composer, you didn’t even see faces of colour working in the studio commissaries.”

Nominated seven times, Quincy Jones was given a different honorary Oscar – the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award – in 1995, back when these awards were still part of the televised Oscar broadcast. To shorten that show, the honorary awards were spun off into their own event in 2009.

Though the Governors Awards are not televised, they still attract an A-list crowd that rivals any major ceremony. An early stop on the awards-season circuit, the event offers plenty of unfettered face time with Oscar voters during its cocktail hour and post-dinner break and serves as the season’s starriest schmoozefest.

Stars Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez staked their seats out early while directors Luca Guadagnino (representing both Challengers and Queer, 2024) and Brady Corbet (The Brutalist, 2024) compared notes on film formats.

Succession (2018 to 2023) stars Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin reconnected on the terrace outside the party. Both men are supporting-actor contenders – Strong for The Apprentice (2024) and Culkin for A Real Pain (2024). And the stars of Emilia Perez (2024), Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascon, proved to be popular presences in every corner of the ballroom.

The first honouree of the night was American casting director Juliet Taylor, who has cast more than 100 films over the course of her career, including The Exorcist (1973), Annie Hall (1977) and Terms Of Endearment (1983).

While accepting her Oscar, she described her job as being “able to appreciate actors when they’re not all that likable and appreciate directors when they’re not easy”.

English actor Daniel Craig came out to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who have served as the stewards of the James Bond franchise for nearly three decades.

After taking the reins of Eon Productions from their father, Albert Broccoli, the half-siblings produced the last nine Bond films, beginning with Goldeneye (1995) – Irish actor Pierce Brosnan’s first foray in the role – all the way to Craig’s final Bond outing, No Time To Die (2021).

“If you want to know who the new James Bond is, don’t look at me,” said Craig, adding playfully, “He might be in the room. Just joking.”

Honouree Richard Curtis, who has written romantic comedies including Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Love Actually (2003), was introduced by English actor Hugh Grant, who recalled his breakthrough audition for the Curtis-scripted Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994).

“The only person who didn’t want me, and in fact took such an instant and violent dislike to me that he did everything in his power to stop me from getting the part, was the writer,” cracked Grant, “who we are meant to honour tonight.”

Curtis, who is one of the founders of charity organisation Comic Relief, used his speech to encourage Hollywood to take more tangible action to better the lives of others.

“Too often, we stop just before the final lap of the race,” he said. “Powerful films and TV shows are made, and everyone just hopes they’ll change things.”

But the most affecting tribute package was the one that honoured Jones, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 91 on Nov 3. He received his first two Oscar nominations in 1968 for the score to In Cold Blood (1967) and the original song The Eyes Of Love from Banning (1967), which made him the first black artiste to be nominated twice in one year.

“He has so many friends in this room,” said Rashida Jones. “Probably in every room, if I’m being honest.”

She was preceded by two of them: American actor Jamie Foxx, who recalled the help Jones gave him when he was starring in the Ray Charles biopic Ray (2004), and American singer-actress Jennifer Hudson, who sang before and after the tribute.

“He had this preternatural gift with people: He knew how to stay present, stay curious and stay loving, and he really, really intended on being here with us tonight,” said Rashida Jones.

In his stead, she referred to his long list of accomplishments, which included producing late singer Michael Jackson’s album Thriller (1982), scoring films like The Color Purple (1985), and writing songs such as Soul Bossa Nova (1962), which became the theme for the Austin Powers franchise (1997 to 2002).

“His music has literally defined an entire century of culture-spanning genres,” she said, flanked onstage by three of her siblings. “But the real thread in his music is that his music is all infused with his love. That was his gift to us. So tonight, on your way home, I invite you to listen.” NYTIMES