Meryl Streep
Fresh from her Oscar win, Meryl Streep has written a check for $10,000 to the Rhode Island Upward Bound scholarship fund. The donation has another Oscar connection; the funds were given in honor of fellow Best Actress nominee Viola Davis.Streep’s philanthropic spirit didn’t stop there. The 62-year-old also donated $10,000 to the Segue Institute for Learning in Central Falls, Davis’ hometown. REUTERS

Four actors who were honored with Academy Awards last year, will return again at this year’s Oscars as presenters. In a press release on Tuesday the Academy announced that Meryl Streep, Jean Dujardin, Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer would all be presenting awards in the upcoming telecast.

"We are honored to have Meryl, Octavia, Christopher and Jean, last year's Oscar winners in each of the acting categories, return to the Oscar stage," the show’s producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said.

Streep, one of the industry’s veterans, has been nominated 17 times and won three Academy Awards. Plummer, a two-time nominee, won last year for his performance in the film “Beginners.” Dujardin and Spencer were both first-time nominees, last year. Dujardin won best actor for his role in “The Artist,” and Spencer, best supporting actress for “The Help.”

But Dujardin and Spencer won’t be the newest additions to the Oscars: this year’s ceremony will also mark Zadan and Meron’s first time producing the show. The duo, who have produced hit films like “Harispray,” “Chicago” and “The Bucket List” were named as this year’s producers back in August.

In an effort to streamline the long awards ceremony and also attract a younger audience, Zadan and Meron have said that they intend to trim the fat by getting rid of some of short segments.

"You start adding up those 30 seconds, and you have an accumulation of time that you can use for entertainment. So that's what we're doing. We're learning a lot about the things that we don't need in the show,” Zadan said. “The main goal is to honor the nominees and the winners. And then beside that, there's a lot of pregnant pauses that you get in the show. ... We've scooped out a lot of those pauses and created more time for performance and entertainment."

The 85th Academy Awards will be televised on Feb. 24 on ABC.

RELATED STORIES