Being nominated for your first Oscar is an exciting milestone, but ask first-time nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is up for Best Original Song for Moana's “How Far I’ll Go," and he'll tell you the best part is picking a date. Especially if it's someone who you've been watching the awards show with since you were a kid. Yep, Miranda is bringing his mom to the Oscars and it's been a long-time coming. In an interview with USA Today, Miranda said that bringing Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda fulfills a childhood agreement: "I’ve promised her she was coming with me to the Oscars since I was 10."
When Miranda appeared on The Rachael Ray Show, he revealed that his mom called the seat next to him at the Oscars really early. Like, unbelievably so. “I remember my mom — as a kid — saying, ‘When you get nominated for an Oscar, I’m your date.’ That’s such a pie-in-the-sky thing to say,” he said. “But she sort of always believed, I think she believed even before I did, so I’m thrilled to get to keep that promise.”
His mom's endless support is also why Miranda asked Rachael Ray to help Luz find a dress for the big night. He wanted to make sure she felt like the real star. As he told USA Today, he's more focused on what she's wearing than what he's going to wear. “Obviously the first priority is getting my mom looking nice," Miranda told the newspaper. "I can wear any old penguin suit.”
With help from Stacey London, Miranda's mom is channeling Audrey Hepburn, or, as Miranda told Ray, fellow Oscar nominee Natalie Portman. When Luz walked out in a black gown with a white sash and elbow-length black gloves, he said, “The only awkward part will be when people come up to you and say ‘Congrats on your nomination for Jackie.’ Because she looks stunning!”
It's fitting that Miranda would want his mom dressed to the nines for his big night. Not only could he win his first Oscar, but he could win an EGOT. At 37 years old, Miranda would be the youngest person to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. To be exact, though, he has actually won two Grammys, an Emmy, and three Tonys. Even better, Miranda could hit this epic career milestone with his mother, a psychologist who is a Planned Parenthood board member, by his side.
By his side is the place Luz has been throughout her son's Oscar journey. Miranda even brought his mom to the Oscars luncheon and live-tweeted the whole thing. She got to meet Viggo Mortenson, who is nominated for Best Actor for Captain Fantastic, and have a nice conversation in Spanish. "He speaks gorgeous fluent Spanish," Miranda tweeted of Mortenson. "My mom almost floated away." She also got a chance to take a photo with director Steven Spielberg, to which Miranda replied: "I mean what even."
What may be even more exciting then his mom meeting Spielberg is that a win for Best Original Song could lead to another historic first for Miranda. If he gets the little gold man, he will be the first person to ever MacPEGOT. That's when someone is awarded a MacArthur Fellowship — Miranda got his in 2015 — and a Pulitzer Prize, which he was awarded in 2016 for Hamilton. It's an acronym honor that Miranda doesn't think much of winning, telling the Huffington Post, “That’s not a thing! That’s crazy.”
Maybe we need to ask Luz about his odds of MacPEGOTing. She seems to know a thing or two about this stuff.
