Nicole Kidman prefers a calm, Sunday-style routine — including church — before presenting at the Oscars, and she joined a glittering Chanel and Charles Finch pre-Oscars dinner packed with nominees and Hollywood figures
The Beverly Hills Hotel patio was alive the night before the Academy Awards as guests gathered for the Chanel and Charles Finch pre-Oscars dinner. At the event on March 14, 2026, Nicole Kidman described a counterintuitive approach to award-night preparation: rather than workouts or spa rituals, she prefers to keep the morning of the ceremony quiet and centered by attending a church service. The atmosphere combined casual family moments and serious industry energy; Kidman attended with her daughters, while many nominees and filmmakers circulated on the Polo Lounge terrace.
The gathering served as both a social warm-up and a smattering of last-minute nerves ahead of the March 15 ceremony at the Dolby Theatre. The Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be televised live on ABC and streamed on Hulu. For many attendees the dinner acted as a prelude to the ceremony, a chance to reconnect, test red-carpet moments, and trade plans for the night to come — some expecting to lead onstage, others preparing to watch milestones unfold.
Nicole Kidman told reporters that spending Oscar morning in a church service helps her focus: it is, she said, what she would normally do on a Sunday. The comment underscored a preference for familiar routines instead of peak-performance rituals; she explained that the quiet, contemplative start centers her in a high-energy environment. Though she is set to present during the show, Kidman’s daughters, Sunday and Faith, who joined her for the dinner, will not attend the awards due to spring break obligations. She described an evening that would likely be low-key for the family — baths, bedtimess and a calm night at home — though she admitted she might still step out to an after-party.
The Polo Lounge event drew a wide array of industry figures and celebrities, reflecting the crossover of fashion, film and music that marks Oscar week. Among those photographed and mingling were Jessie Buckley, Kristen Stewart, Teyana Taylor, Mick Jagger, Sigourney Weaver, Javier Bardem, Olivia Munn, Elle Fanning, Regé-Jean Page, Leslie Mann, Judd Apatow, Harvey Keitel, and filmmakers such as Josh Safdie and Clint Bentley. The mix included industry executives and notable guests like Ted Sarandos and Jeff Bezos with Lauren Sánchez, creating a convivial backdrop to the holiday of cinema.
On the carpet, Jessie Buckley — considered a leading contender in the best actress field — described the dinner as an intimate step before the main event, a small crowd of photographers and friends making it feel less formal than larger parties. Meanwhile, creatives like Maggie Kang, co-director of KPop Demon Hunters, spoke about the emotional rehearsal for the film’s planned Oscar performance of its song “Golden,” calling the staging “epic” and saying it had moved her to tears during run-throughs. Such conversations underscored how the pre-Oscar circuit blends socializing with last-minute preparation for performances and presentations on the big night.
Throughout the evening there were clusters of intense discussion and easy banter: actors and directors reconnected, producers checked in on logistics, and several nominees rehearsed snippets at the Dolby Theatre earlier in the day. Rose Byrne and Maya Rudolph, for example, were reported to have done a short run-through for their moments onstage. Elsewhere, chance meetings ranged from Stellan Skarsgård deep in conversation with Nick Cave to casual photos of Stewart beside Teyana Taylor. The dinner offered both relaxed exchanges and a final opportunity to strategize for Sunday’s televised event.
Chanel’s bond with cinema dates back decades and was a recurring theme of the evening. The house’s historical ties include an invitation from Samuel Goldwyn to Gabrielle Chanel to come to Hollywood in 1931 to design for film figures, and later collaborations with French New Wave talents. More recently, Chanel has supported restorations, film festivals, and emerging filmmakers, signaling a long-term commitment to cinematic culture. Producer and host Charles Finch noted that his Oscar-week gatherings began about 30 years ago as refuge events for international filmmakers; the partnership with Chanel has since turned the night into one of the season’s most sought-after invitations.
As the industry turned its attention to the awards on March 15, the Polo Lounge dinner stood as a reminder that the Oscars are as much a social ritual as a televised ceremony. For some, like Kidman, that means a quiet morning to find balance; for others, it meant last-minute rehearsals and spirited conversations under the hotel’s lights. Either way, the evening reinforced how fashion houses, producers and performers converge in the days leading up to the Academy Awards, blending heritage, spectacle and the human moments behind cinematic achievement.