Turns out Stanley Tucci is not hosting the James Beard Awards this year, like he said he would. But never fear, he’s got someone to host in his place: Oliver Platt.
A statement from James Beard Foundation president Susan Ungaro broke the news (to everyone who loved Julie and Julia ) that a “work commitment” forced Tucci to pull out of hosting the award ceremony, which is still taking place on May 6th at the Lincoln Center. Since Tucci is such a great guy, he got his friend Oliver Platt to fill in.
So, who is Oliver Platt, and does he have as much food-world cred as Mr. Tucci? We turn to IMDB for the low-down:
- Platt is a seasoned film and TV veteran, with roles on The Big C, Nip/Tuck, The West Wing, and Bored To Death. Food quotient: 2. Nip/Tuck is about people who don’t eat.
- He served as an associate producer to Tucci’s most food-porny movie, Big Night. Food quotient: 6, because he helped birth that movie (and Tucci’s subsequent career) into the world.
- His brother is New York Magazine restaurant critic Adam Platt. Food quotient: 9. Being Adam Platt’s brother is like being the Pippa Middleton to the Duchess of Cambridge: not quite royalty, but close enough for everyone to obsess over your butt.
- He and Tucci did this video together:
- Food quotient: extremely high. Normal celebrities never get that involved in food banks.
So yes, we think that Platt will do a good job with his hosting duties — appropriate for a night paying tribute to the longstanding relationship between food and film (“Lights! Camera! Taste! Spotlight on Food & Film” isn’t very suble of a title. As long as he can ensure that Brian Malarkey doesn’t outshine him (or outglow him), we predict a very good night.
