LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The 96th Academy Awards are right around the corner and a famous face with Vegas ties is going to host the ceremony.
Jimmy Kimmel's family moved to Las Vegas when he was nine years old. He graduated from Clark High School and went to UNLV for a year, before transferring to Arizona State University. He received an honorary degree from UNLV in 2013. He also has his own comedy club on the Las Vegas Strip.
On Sunday, he will once again take the stage to host the Oscars. It will be his fourth time and he said it's definitely different from your average comedy gig.
"You have to make the people in the room laugh or it will not seem like the show is funny. You have to look at the people in front of you laugh and hopefully, if they're laughing, the people at home will laugh too," Kimmel said.
WATCH FULL INTERVIEW: Jimmy Kimmel hosting Oscars for fourth time
He added that laughs aren't necessarily guaranteed because actors are "very aware" of cameras being on them.
"It's tricky. Sometimes, you have to catch them in the act of laughing. Sometimes, when they realize the camera's on them, they will stop laughing because no one wants to lose a role based on laughing on a joke I made about Martin Scorsese," Kimmel said. "If you were laughing at him, you don't want to get on his bad list so it's very tricky."
Some of this year's nominees include Barbie and Oppenheimer, two of the most popular films of the year. We asked Kimmel which one was his favorite.
"Choosing between Barbie and Oppenheimer is like choosing between a filet mignon and cotton candy," Kimmel joked. "They're both good. You want them both. Other than the fact they're both movies, they couldn't be more different."
He added that people expected Oppenheimer to be an Oscar-caliber film but not everyone thought the same about Barbie.
"I don't think anybody expected that. I mean that's a pretty spectacular achievement," Kimmel said. "This is a movie about a piece of plastic with fake hair on it and somehow they made a movie that was very inventive and kind of inspiring."
So who will win the top prizes?
You can watch the Oscars on Sunday, right here on Channel 13, starting at 4 p.m. to find out.
