Santa Barbara International Film Festival brought the glitz and glamor to its event by honoring eight talented actors for their noteworthy performances last year.

The honorees for the Virtuosos Award included Awkwafina for The Farewell, Taron Egerton for Rocketman, Cynthia Erivo for Harriet, Beanie Feldstein for Booksmart, Aldis Hodge for Clemency, George MacKay for 1917, Florence Pugh for Little Women and Taylor Russell for Waves.

During the tribute, IMDB special correspondent Dave Karger sat-down for one-on-one conversations with each honoree in front of a sold-out festival audience. The discussions looked into the careers of each individual.

After the individual discussions, legendary actor Christopher Lloyd hosted a group panel discussion. During that discussion, a few spontaneous singing moments highlighted the discussion, included Hodge sang a few lines from Jamie Foxx’s Gold Digger and Erivo sang a few lines from Tina Turner’s We Don’t Need Another Hero. To top them all, Egerton sang his favorite karaoke song from George Michael’s Faith.

Awkwafina discussed on whether using her real name, Nora Lum, for on-screen credit for future films.

She said, “I think in the beginning, Awkwafina really was someone to kind of like take the stage fright and the nervousness and the neuroses and the overthinking. But I think more and more as I grew up, I realize they are the same person. And when I see the name Awkwafina on like a chair back or a call sheet, it’s the name I chose for myself. That means something to the 15-year-old girl that was like ‘it’s a great idea to name yourself Awkwafina.’ Which years later—regrettable—but it’s fine. It’s an homage to that, and I don’t think I’m ready to lose it yet.”

LRM Online was on the red carpet to interview some of the Virtuoso Award recipients and the festival indie filmmakers.

Watch the exclusive interviews below.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive