Was the star of Living making a covert protest on behalf of pygmy rabbits with his Sylvanian squeeze? Or referencing the Taiwanese gay community’s new icon? And what was that spattered over its forehead?
Awards season is good at magnifying the public personas of participants. This goes for winners (Ke Huy Quan of Everything Everywhere All at Once becoming a dangerously energetic puppy) and attendees (Hugh Grant as the spectacularly grumpy opposite of Ke Huy Quan), but arguably nobody pulled off this trick with more panache than Bill Nighy at the Oscars.
Nominated for best actor for his still and unshowy role in Living – a performance that was always going to be overshadowed by the grotesqueries of Elvis and The Whale – Nighy nevertheless managed to hone his persona in order to carve out a small but notable moment of virility on the red carpet. This is because, upon posing for the cameras, Nighy pulled a stained Sylvanian Family rabbit out of his pocket and displayed it to the world.
