Actor Dwayne Johnson has revealed that he was the first choice of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to host the Oscars 2019 ceremony, however, he has to decline the offer due to his shooting schedule of Jumanji 2.
Responding to a fan, who asked the actor to host the ceremony next year, Johnson revealed that the Academy approached him for the hosting gig this year but things did not materialised due to his commitments to Jumanji 2. "Ah mahalo dude, I was their first choice to host this year, and my goal was to make it the most fun and entertaining Oscars ever. We all tried hard, but couldn’t make it work since I'm shooting Jumanji," the actor wrote.
"Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road," he added.
The Oscars are currently without a host after Kevin Hart stepped down from the job following a controversy over his resurfaced old homophobic tweets. It will be for the first time in 30 years that the Oscars will presumably rely mostly on presenters. The 91st Academy Awards is scheduled to be held on February 24 and will air in India on Star Movies.
(With PTI inputs)