Arnold Schwarzenegger says he turned off ‘boring’ Oscars

This year’s ceremony had far fewer guests than usual – and no host – due to coronavirus

Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted he switched off the Oscars ceremony last weekend because he found it “so boring”.

Due to coronavirus, this year’s Academy Awards moved out of their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre, and were based out of Los Angeles’s Union Station instead. The ceremony’s format was overhauled too, with attendees observing social distancing and some joining via video link from other parts of the world. There was no host at the ceremony, and no theatrical or musical performance.

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Terminator actor said: “I basically just turned it off and I just couldn’t watch it anymore because there was so much talent there on the stage that it was so boring – how could you make this, with all this talent, so boring?”

He then offered an amusing suggestion for next year’s awards, saying: “I think next time, they should take it to Muscle Beach.” Located in Santa Monica, California, Muscle Beach is a hotspot for bodybuilding, gymnastics and acrobatics.

Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh was brought in to produce this year’s ceremony, but as The Independent’s Adam White wrote: “The pacing lagged, the speeches went on too long, and the unique glitz of Soderbergh’s involvement seemed to completely dissipate. What happened?”

Road movie Nomadland won the top prize on the night, and director Chloé Zhao made history as the first woman of colour to win the award for directing, and the second woman in history.

The ceremony also saw Sir Anthony Hopkins win the Best Actor Oscar, defeating the late Chadwick Boseman, while Daniel Kaluuya won the Best Supporting Actor prize.

Nomadland, which tells the story of a woman travelling through the American west, also scooped the Best Actress prize for its star Frances McDormand.

McDormand, who has now won three Best Actress Oscars, howled on stage as the film won the Best Picture – a tribute to Nomadland production sound mixer Michael Wolf Snyder, who died at the age of 35 earlier this year.