A small cruise ship struck a reef near the island where the Tom Hanks’ movie “Cast Away” was filmed — and the operator has now shed light on what led to the incident.

The April 4 collision occurred when one of its vessels hit a finger reef near Monuriki Island in Fiji during worsening weather conditions, according to Blue Lagoon Cruises.

“While the investigation is in its early stages, conditions upon the ship anchoring in the area were calm, and it appears a severe squall caused the ship’s anchor to drag toward a nearby reef whereby the ship became grounded,” Blue Lagoon Cruises said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.

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“The response time available for crew was limited,” the operator added.

Blue Lagoon Cruises said roughly 30 passengers were on board at the time. Citing Fiji Navy sources, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported the vessel was also carrying about 30 crew members.

Around dawn, a large high-speed ferry arrived alongside the vessel to assist with the evacuation.

All guests and non-essential crew disembarked with their luggage and personal belongings, according to Blue Lagoon Cruises.

Passengers were transported back to Port Denarau, where Blue Lagoon Cruises arranged hotel accommodations, along with alternative activities and experiences, the company said.

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No injuries were reported among guests or crew.

In recent years, several reef groundings have led to emergency rescues. 

In 2025, the expedition ship Coral Adventurer struck a reef off Papua New Guinea, leaving about 80 passengers stranded for days, according to reporting by Cruise Passenger and an Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation.

In 2024, a New Zealand naval vessel grounded on a reef near Samoa, caught fire, and sank, requiring evacuation of all crew, according to a New Zealand Defense Force inquiry. 

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Monuriki Island is a small, uninhabited island in Fiji’s Mamanuca archipelago. 

It is known for its white sandy beaches, rocky cliffs and dense tropical vegetation, surrounded by water and coral reefs.

Its remote, untouched landscape made it a perfect filming location for the 2000 movie “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks.

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Since the film’s release, Monuriki has become a popular day-trip destination, often informally called “Castaway Island” (not to be confused with a nearby resort island with that name).

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Despite its fame, it remains undeveloped with no permanent residents. 

Visitors come to hike, snorkel and explore filming spots like the famous “Wilson” beach.

With nearly five decades in the entertainment industry under her belt, Jamie Lee Curtis knows the drill when it comes to navigating Hollywood beauty standards. 

During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson,” the iconic actress, 67, opened up about the “fakery” that is Hollywood, explained why she “succumbed” to the pressures of looking a certain way and revealed how she managed to discover self-love amid aging. 

“S— happens, aging happens. I mean, it’s coming for all of us, by the way,” said Curtis. 

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“But that’s not what Hollywood is all about,” Obama responded. 

“It’s not just Hollywood,” said Curtis. “It’s also the technology, it’s also social media, it’s also filtering. It’s what we used to call airbrushing is now just filtering. It’s all fakery. It’s just the fakery, it’s the cosmeceutical industrial complex, which is as insidious in many ways as the military industrial complex is about money. So it’s just about f—ing money, right?”

“And it’s the idea that you’re going to tell someone that ‘this is going to change you and make you better, and therefore, better means you’ll be more loved, you’ll be more successful.’ So it’s this cycle of bulls—, but it preys on our base insecurities. For many people, it’s what they look like.”

Curtis, who’s been open about her past cosmetic procedures, said that while she’s “never been pretty,” she’s learned that all the plastic surgeries, fillers and more will never address the core issue: self-esteem. 

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“Now, I’ve never been pretty,” she said. “And I’m saying it out loud … I wasn’t pretty like that. I wasn’t pretty the way girls are pretty. I was cute. I can look good. I can fully look good, but that was not my ticket. And that’s very important for me because that was never the thing I relied on.”

“I have succumbed, and have talked about it many times, to trying all the things,” she continued. “I’ve sucked the fat, I’ve cut the fat. I’ve tried to do the things that people do that everybody’s doing, and it doesn’t work. There are many things that happen.”

“It doesn’t work, first of all, because of the self-esteem issue,” she added. “Because you ultimately are looking in the mirror and realizing you’ve used something outside of yourself to change something to make you ‘better.’ But you’re not better because you’re still the same person as you were before.”

“I think it actually makes you feel fraudulent, and I think that it creates self-hatred,” she said. “And for me, accepting that I look the way I look is part of self-love.”

Curtis also spoke about the moment she realized that comparing herself to others was going against everything she was preaching. 

“People were comparing themselves to me the same way I would compare myself to someone else,” said Curtis. “I know what it feels like to look at a picture of a beautiful woman and go, ‘I’m never going to look like that.'”

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Curtis decided to pose in her underwear, completely unfiltered, in a photoshoot for More magazine in 2002 while promoting her , “I’m Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem.”

“I realized I was a liar,” she said. “Because if I was paying attention to what I wrote [in my children’s book], I wouldn’t have done plastic surgery. I wouldn’t have done liposuction.”

“So I said, you know what? I’m going to take a picture of me in my undies with no good light, no makeup, no hair,” she continued. “I’m going to stand there au natural, and you’re going to take my picture, and then you’re going to let me get all dolled up, but you’re going to have to print those two pictures side by side, and you’re going to have to say how long it took, how much money it took, how many people were involved.”

“But that was even then me understanding that what we’re selling is fraudulent,” she added. 

Jim Belushi has it all: success in a decades-long career, legions of friends in high and low places, and a sweat lodge on his Oregon ranch.

The host of the A&E series “K9 PD with Jim Belushi” exclusively told Fox News Digital that his “sanctuary” up north is not only an idyllic retreat for him, but also serves as an incredibly “spiritual” haven.

“I love Oregon, it’s a beautiful property,” Belushi explained of his ranch, which is also featured on a reality series about his cannabis farm. “I’ve got a sweat lodge. I built a sweat lodge there. They do all kinds of little ceremonial Native American practices.”

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Belushi, 71, planted roots in the southern part of the state nearly two decades ago.

“There’s 50 cows on my property right now that just had 50 calves, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. These little calves running around chasing each other,” Belushi said. “Actually, last night, I got video of it.

“They broke down the fence and came over to my place. They’re going, ‘Where’s Jim?’ So I had 60, 70 cows in my front yard. They wrangled them up and put them back in the fenced area.”

“I love Oregon, it’s a beautiful property. I’ve got a sweat lodge. I built a sweat lodge there. They do all kinds of little ceremonial Native American practices.”

— Jim Belushi

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He added, “It’s beautiful. Very nice people up there. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place.”

While Belushi faces unique challenges on his farm, working with animals isn’t something he’s afraid of. The comedy giant starred as detective Michael Dooley who was paired with police dog Jerry Lee in the 1989 classic, “K-9.”

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Two years later, he played a homeless con artist who caught a break with a rich lawyer, thanks in part to the antics of his orphaned daughter in the John Hughes classic, “Curly Sue.”

“There’s an old saying that goes don’t work with dogs and don’t work with children,” Belushi chuckled. “And I did ‘K9’ and ‘Curly Sue.’ What’s different about working with dogs is what you hope every other actor has – the ability to be extremely present.”

He added, “When you’re extremely present, spontaneity happens, and that’s when you capture the magic.”

“There was a moment in ‘K9’ where I was on the couch, and I was leaning in for my first kiss of the girl and the dog was there, and he took his paw and pushed my head down. That wasn’t planned, he wasn’t trained to do that.”

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“The cameras were rolling and all I kept thinking as my head went down was, ‘I hope there’s no hair in the film, I hope nobody blew this take,’ because it just was a magic moment.”

Belushi noted that children have a similar presence while working in front of the camera.

“They don’t know the difference between the rolling and cut and action,” he said. “So you gotta be – I’m trained as an improvisational actor, so it helps. You just gotta be in the moment with dogs and react sincerely in that moment.”

He added, “By the way, that’s why they don’t want you to work with children or dogs because the moment that is the most present is the moment that’s the most vulnerable, and vulnerability wins the scene.”

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Belushi’s latest endeavor, hosting “K9 PD with Jim Belushi” – which follows officers and their K-9 counterparts in the field with bodycam, dash and drone footage – only amplified his love for animals and the unsung heroes in law enforcement.

“When I did the ‘K-9’ movies, I did ride-alongs, quite a few, in LA, San Diego,” Belushi said. “I went to the academy and worked with the handlers and the dogs and watched training, participated in the training.

“The thing that excited me the most about the ability to do this movie was the relationship that this man or woman had with that animal. It was way beyond having a little small dog and so cute and laying on my lap. They protected each other and they both felt it and knew it.”

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He added, “The bond is hard to articulate, but it is really deep. And they take these guys home. And that dog becomes part of their family, and that dog protects that family, and that protects that officer. Not on the street, they’re protecting everybody, including the bad guy. To me, that’s what was the most interesting thing is the relationship between the handler and their animal. It runs really deep.”

“They protected each other and they both felt it and knew it.”

— Jim Belushi

As an avid fan of action and adventure, Belushi was excited to host the A&E reality series.

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“It’s visceral. You’ve got drama, you’ve got a little humor in it, but you really have that warmth between the handler,” Belushi said. “They are in moments of life and death always, and how they care for each other, protect each other — It’s beautiful to watch.”

He added, “This piece of that relationship between the canine and the canine’s officer. I mean, that is what attracted me … And the action. I’m an action guy. I love action.”

Amanda Peet is pulling back the threadbare curtain on life underneath the spotlight.

The 54-year-old actress called out Hollywood as nothing but “smoke and mirrors.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Peet told Fox News Digital when asked about the “biggest misconception” of stars having a “perfect life” in Hollywood. “It’s smoke and mirrors. There’s no there there. I mean you name the aphorism, it applies to us. It’s desperation galore. ‘What are they doing over there? Why don’t I have that? Why don’t I look like that?’ That’s the bad part.”

She continued, “In Hollywood, it’s hard to — I’m gonna just sound corny. It’s competitive, and it’s hard to get out of that really sort of competitive mindset where the piece of cheese on the island is too small and there are too many people going after it.”

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The “Something’s Gotta Give” actress added that aging in the youth-obsessed industry isn’t easy either.

“I’m older, so I have much more peace about it, but it’s really, really hard to find that, and it is hard not to want to chase your own buzz if you are lucky enough to have any, and instead, just be like, ‘What do I really want to do when my alarm goes off in the morning? What do I want to be doing? Is this really what I want to be doing? Is this really helpful or useful to anyone?’”

WATCH: Amanda Peet calls Hollywood glamour ‘ridiculous’ and ‘smoke and mirrors’

Peet is starring in the second season of Apple TV’s “Your Friends & Neighbors,” which premieres on Friday, April 3 with one new episode each week through June 5.

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She said that fans can expect a “lot more” from season two.

“Then also there’s the issue of Coop having this secret life,” Peet said of Jon Hamm’s character who plays her ex-husband on the show.

“It’s smoke and mirrors. There’s no there there. I mean you name the aphorism, it applies to us. It’s desperation galore. ‘What are they doing over there? Why don’t I have that? Why don’t I look like that?’ That’s the bad part.”

— Amanda Peet

“And I think this season, one too many people are starting to get an inkling that something’s going on with Coop,” she continued. “And so it gets more and more dangerous for him to keep doing what he’s doing, which is incredibly exciting. And then [her character] Mel and Coop are still in this kind of like, will they, won’t they? They’re so pissed off at each other, but they still seem to wanna f— each other. So yeah, it’s just really a whole big hot mess.”

WATCH: Amanda Peet reveals fans can expect a ‘lot more’ from season 2 of ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’

Peet said she also appreciated a storyline where her character deals with going into menopause, which she said was cathartic for her.

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“It was very cathartic to be able to put my own menopausal frustrations and rage into an appropriate situation, namely be acting out as a character instead of in my own life,” Peet revealed.

The actress has also been open about her breast cancer diagnosis, which she announced earlier this month.

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She told Fox News Digital that when she first heard the news, her thoughts were filled with “terror.”

“My children and terror,” she admitted.

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Peet said she made the decision to not tell her dying mother “because she wasn’t well for so long that it was, you know, fairly obvious that I, you know, on the off chance that she would have been able to understand, I wouldn’t have wanted to scare her.”

“So, it wasn’t a hard decision, it was just sort of hard in a more global way because I had been so close to her all my life.”

Peet revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in a New Yorker essay last Saturday, saying that she is stage I and doesn’t need chemotherapy, but will go undergo a lumpectomy and radiation.

Sydney Sweeney doesn’t have a fan in Kim Novak.

Novak, 93, confessed that casting Sweeney, 28, to play the iconic actress in her upcoming biopic, “Scandalous!” was “totally wrong.” 

“I would never have approved,” Novak recently told The Times, before adding that the “Euphoria” star “sticks out so much above the waist.”

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Among the myriad issues with the film, Novak shared concerns that the movie would hyper-focus on the sexual side of her relationship with Sammy Davis, Jr., despite the pair having “so much in common” outside physical attraction. 

“There’s no way it wouldn’t be a sexual relationship because Sydney Sweeney looks sexy all the time,” Novak said. “She was totally wrong to play me.”

Sweeney’s representatives did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Colman Domingo’s directorial debut focuses on Novak’s once controversial relationship with Sammy Davis, Jr., a romance Novak believed was perfectly normal.

“I don’t think the relationship was scandalous,” the 92-year-old actress told The Guardian last year.

“He’s somebody I really cared about,” Novak added. “We had so much in common, including that need to be accepted for who we are and what we do, rather than how we look. But I’m concerned they’re going to make it all sexual reasons.”

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Novak’s longtime manager, Sue Cameron, previously explained the “Vertigo” star never intended to marry at the time she met Davis Jr.

“Kim and I have been aware of at least four unauthorized and unapproved projects in development about the Kim Novak and Sammy Davis affair,” Cameron told People.

“She never wanted to get married back then — to anyone. It was a romance based on love, respect, the things they shared in common,” Cameron added. “Kim and Sammy met at a party and recognized they were both rebels and outsiders. They both had strong ties to their families and spent time with close relatives in both Hollywood and Chicago. In truth, she hoped their relationship could help break down people’s racial bias.”

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Novak also opened up about her “misunderstood” relationship with Davis Jr. in a 2023 interview with Fox News Digital.

“I loved him,” she recalled at the time. “He was a person that had a youthful innocence about him. Now, I know no one ever saw him that way, but I did. He had a boyish quality, and I loved that about him.”

The “Picnic” actress explained she “never saw somebody with color.”

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“When I was a child, my very first boyfriend was Mexican. He was an altar boy at my church. He was my first love. So, I never thought of race,” Novak said. “However, the studio was very much upset by it. I resisted because I didn’t believe that was correct. While people were feeling a certain way, I also felt people needed to change. And I felt that by seeing Sammy and Sammy seeing me, that we could help people understand and accept interracial relationships of any kind.”

She continued, “I was feeling like I was on the edge of being able to help people to be more accepting of all races and relationships of all kinds. I felt I was doing the right thing by doing that. I felt that Sammy and I were at the start of helping people understand that this is not wrong. A man is a man, no matter what skin color he has. A woman is a woman, no matter what skin color she has.”

Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.

In Hollywood, Gina Gershon has always trusted her gut.

Early in her career, the actress was offered a role in “Friday the 13th Part 2,” one she ultimately passed on after discovering she would be topless. Gershon has a new memoir out, “AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs,” chronicling her rise to stardom and the many famous faces she met along the way.

“I was offered a lead in that movie,” Gershon told Fox News Digital. “And, of course, I was so excited to act in movies, but it definitely felt kind of exploitative to me and a little silly that right before she gets killed, her top has to come off.”

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In the book, Gershon wrote, “At the time, those kinds of slasher movies always had girls dying with their breasts exposed. My character would be killed by a stake through the heart, blood dripping down her t–s. That seemed pretty lame to me: exploitation 101.”

Gershon turned to her father for advice.

“Listen, I was really lucky that I had a father who really taught me how to believe in my own decisions,” she told Fox News Digital. “It wasn’t like I had to rebel against my family. I remember asking him about it, thinking he was going to say, ‘No daughter of mine is going to do that!’ And he said, ‘It’s your body. If you’re comfortable with it, I’m comfortable with it.’”

WATCH: GINA GERSHON ON TURNING DOWN ‘FRIDAY THE 13TH’ ROLE

“When I sat and thought about it, I just thought, ‘I don’t really want to do this,’” she shared. “I wasn’t comfortable with it. It seemed silly to me. Not that I had anything against nudity — I grew up on European films — but only if it makes sense for the character and the story. But when it just seems silly, I don’t know. It just felt like it was something that wasn’t for me.”

After speaking with her father, Gershon turned down the role.

“My dad may have died too soon, but he taught me many valuable lessons in the 19 years I had with him,” Gershon wrote. “Mainly, he taught me to trust myself in making my own decisions.”

“This theme of trusting my gut kept showing up in my life,” she added.

It’s key advice that stayed with Gershon over the years, including when she starred in 1995’s “Showgirls.” The film, directed by Paul Verhoeven, follows the rise and moral unraveling of a young dancer. It also starred “Saved by the Bell” alum Elizabeth Berkley.

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Gershon admitted in the book that she and Verhoeven fought “constantly” over creative differences involving her character, Cristal Connors.

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“I think Paul secretly enjoyed it when we argued about the most mundane things,” she wrote. “Sometimes I suspected he was throwing things out there just to see if he could get a rise out of me. Or maybe not. Maybe it was annoying that I didn’t just roll over and do what he asked. 

“Whatever the case, our battles were becoming exhausting. And let me say this: I liked Paul. A lot! Especially when we weren’t locked in some game of control. He is a very smart, very interesting guy. A mathematician and theologian. I really enjoyed our chats about religion and philosophy.”

Gershon said they were scheduled to shoot a scene that took place in Cristal’s dressing room. That’s when she received a surprise.

“I was in the hair and makeup trailer once again, waiting for my team to transform me, when Paul came in and said without any warning, ‘In today’s scene, I think it would be good if you showed your vagina,’” she wrote. “Whoa, that came out of the f—–g blue. Just that morning, I’d made a deal with myself that, no matter what, I would avoid all arguments that day. Oh boy, this one was going to be a doozy.

“’Why?’ I asked. And in my most sincere, calm-actress voice, without trying to provoke or sound like an a—–e, I continued, ‘I mean, what’s the reason Cristal would do that? I’m open to anything as long as it makes sense. How does it reveal my character? How does it move the story forward?’”

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The filmmaker pointed out that Berkley would be doing so and that Sharon Stone had also taken on an infamous scene in his previous film, “Basic Instinct.” 

Gershon wrote that she kept calm, noting that her contract didn’t require that level of nudity for the role. To avoid a tug-of-war over the scene, she defused the situation by proposing an exaggerated alternative. It prompted the director to drop the idea and proceed with the scene as originally written.

“To my utter relief, Paul slowly backed out of my trailer, looking at me like I was bonkers, and said, ‘No, it’s OK, we will do the scene as written. Forget I said anything,’” she wrote. “He never mentioned my vagina again.”

In response, a spokesperson for Verhoeven told Fox News Digital, “Mr. Verhoeven has not read the memoir, and has no comment.”

“I think the real challenge was that I went into ‘Showgirls’ thinking it was a completely different sort of movie,” Gershon explained to Fox News Digital.

“It was very serious, and I loved the part. It was very operatic in my mind. And then when I got to the set, I realized it was a completely different film from what I had envisioned. So I think the biggest challenge was to adjust to what it was and to figure out a way to play it that made sense in the environment.”

Despite widespread attention over its NC-17 rating and explicit content, the film underperformed at the box office, People magazine reported. According to the outlet, “Showgirls” made less than its $45 million budget and was widely panned by critics.

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But today, it’s widely regarded as a cult classic.

“’Showgirls’ has been such an interesting journey,” Gershon told Fox News Digital. “It’s just funny to me how when it came out, so many journalists jumped on the bandwagon of, ‘This movie is horrible.’ They really ripped it apart.”

“Thankfully, I kind of came out of it fairly unscathed, but still, it’s not a good feeling,” she reflected. “You want the whole movie to do well. And I actually think it could have done well. I just thought the marketing was silly, and it never should have been [rated] NC-17 to begin with. That’s a whole other conversation.”

“Now, some of those journalists, it’s like the first question they want to talk about. ‘Let’s talk about ‘Showgirls.’ It’s such a cult classic!'” she laughed. “All of a sudden, people who hated it love it now. I’m happy it’s brought so many people hours of pleasure. It really taught me not to pay too much attention to reviews. You can’t really listen to critics so much. That was my big lesson out of that.”

Guided by her instincts, Gershon said her goal has always been to tell great stories.

“I just want to do something that I feel proud of or that I would like to go see,” Gershon added.

“KPop Demon Hunters” won two awards during Sunday’s 2026 Oscars in Los Angeles, but the winners were abruptly interrupted during both acceptance speeches.

The Netflix original animated musical fantasy film received the Oscar for Best Original Song for the hit track “Golden” — sung by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — as well as best animated feature.

While Ejae was able to give her emotional thank-yous, the cut-off music began playing before the rest of the cast could contribute.

Despite the singer’s pleas to give them more time, the music continued — followed by the lights getting shut off.

A similar situation unfolded earlier in the ceremony when “KPop Demon Hunters” was named Best Animated Feature; directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, alongside producer Michelle L.M. Wong, accepted the prize.

The cut-off music began playing before the trio was done speaking, but it quickly quieted down so they could finish.

“And for those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here, and that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing,” Kang, who was born in South Korea, said.

Appelhans also noted that movies have the power to “connect us as humans across cultures and borders.”

He added, “I just want to take a moment to say to all the young filmmakers, artists, musicians in all corners of the globe: Tell your story, sing in your voice. I promise you the world is waiting.”

Though fans were elated over the evening’s victories, many were upset the stars were interrupted.

“it was very disrespectful what they did to the producers of kpop demon hunters at the oscars let them give the speech…. having said that i’m glad they won,” one of many critics posted on X.

“That cutoff music during the kpop demon hunters speech was a lil rude #Oscars,” someone else echoed, with a third observing, “them trying to cut the kpop demon hunter speech short while amy madigan was up there forever #Oscars.”

Another dissenter argued, “Got time to make these horrid jokes but not time for Kpop Demon Hunters to say their speech….#oscars.”

“please let the man finish his speech… this can’t be the way to celebrate such big cultural phenomenon,” yet another X user wrote, with someone else adding, “no im sorry im still raging about how they cut off that guys speech over the golden kpop demon hunters win that was just unkind #oscars.”

One netizen went so far as to claim that the “KPop Demon Hunters” victors were “given less time than every other winner,” calling the move “absolutely disrespectful” while demanding the awards showrunners issue “an apology.”

Gone but never forgotten.

Rob Reiner, Catherine O’Hara and Diane Keaton were some of the many celebrities included in Sunday’s SAG Actor Awards 2026 In Memoriam segment.

The tribute kicked off with a photo of “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek — who died on Feb. 11 at the age of 48 following a battle with cancer — appearing on the big screen.

A clip also played of “Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane saying, “Don’t waste one single minute.” Dane tragically passed away on Feb. 19 at 53, less than a year after announcing he was diagnosed with ALS.

As for O’Hara, she was remembered with a series of clips from her long career, which included projects like “Home Alone” and “Schitt’s Creek.”

“When it all comes together, and you make a good movie, it’s good forever,” she said in a clip from “The Studio,” which brought O’Hara the first-ever SAG-AFTRA posthumous award for outstanding female actress in a comedy series earlier in the night.

O’Hara died from a pulmonary embolism in Los Angeles on Jan. 30. She was 71.

Other big names honored Sunday night included Reiner, Keaton, Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer and Robert Redford.

Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were murdered and found dead at their Brentwood home on Dec. 14. The “When Harry Met Sally” director was 78, and his wife was 70.

Keaton died from pneumonia on Oct. 11. The beloved “Annie Hall” star was 79.

Additional notable celebrities remembered during the SAG Actor Awards 2026 included Michelle Trachtenberg, Peter Greene, Graham Greene, Robert Carradine, Brigitte Bardot, James Ransone, Michael Madsen, Loni Anderson, George Wendt, Jonathan Joss, Loretta Swit, Diane Ladd, Julian McMahon and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Sarah Paulson introduced the emotional In Memoriam segment with a touching speech before the montage began.

“Actors make up a family of souls bonded by a challenging pursuit, by valuing our creative spirit and often brought close by our mutual support and affection,” she began.

“I am proud to be in the family of actors in this room and all over the world,” the actress added. “It is a tremendous privilege to work and to share such rich times with so many gifted people.”

Paulson went on to describe the celebrities that Hollywood has lost over the past year as “true giants” who were “teachers,” “co-workers,” “inspirations” and “friends.”

“All of us have been lifted by them,” she concluded. “We are happier, wiser, made just a bit more expansive by their shared spirit, and we must remember how lucky we are to have been changed by them, and we have been.”

Baz Luhrmann remembers exactly where he was on August 16, 1977 — the day the King of Rock and Roll left the building.

“This kid gets on a bus and hears Elvis Presley died,” Luhrmann, 63, told The Post of his 14-year-old self back in Australia.

Rattled by the tragic news, the teenager then had a spooky premonition.

“I went, ‘Oh, that’s not right. I was meant to meet him and become his friend.’ Weird, huh?”

Forty eight years later, the “Moulin Rouge” and “Great Gatsby” director has, in a way, turned into Presley’s most loyal companion.

Luhrmann has devoted much of the past decade to the iconic musician. In that time, he’s helped shake off the cartoonish, sweaty “fat suit” image that’s shackled Elvis’ cultural memory and dwarfed his stratospheric talent, while introducing the genius singer to younger generations.

The director started with the sexy 2022 biopic “Elvis” starring Austin Butler and has just doubled down with “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” his revelatory half-gig-half-documentary of mostly never-before-seen performance footage that’s now in theaters.

Improbably, one of Hollywood’s most dazzling showmen has made that “Hound Dog” guy in the white jumpsuit who your grandparents liked cool again.

“I feel like it kind of happened by complete accident,” Luhrmann said. “I mean, I’m not Elvis’ friend, but I feel I know him as a person — probably in a quite profound way.”

If the Oscar-nominated Butler movie reminded audiences that Presley was musically vital, effortlessly sexy and human, what’s the director’s lofty goal with “EPiC”?

“We wanted to give him the world tour he never had,” Luhrmann said.

That unlikely journey to fulfill Presley’s unrealized dream began during production of “Elvis,” when Warner Bros. granted Luhrmann access to its Kansas City, MO, underground salt mines where the studio stores valuable, old negatives.

“I accidentally found this footage,” Luhrmann said of the previously rumored film of Presley’s famous International Hotel residency in Las Vegas that lasted from 1969 to 1976 as well as stops on his US tour.

He found a lot of footage — some 65 boxes of 8 mm and 35mm film of the early part of his Nevada stint, other national shows and goings-on behind the scenes that were meant for an unreleased doc.

Yet, a trove though it was, it was soundless and in bad shape. So Luhrmann turned to his friend Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings”) to help restore the buried treasure. Jackson had done similarly remarkable work on 2021’s “The Beatles: Get Back.”

Fans did their part, too. To get the audio, crafty Lurhmann sought help from the passionate community of obsessive King collectors and a somewhat more down-and-dirty element.

“There’s a big black market [for] trading,” he said.

Back in September, Luhrmann got laughs onstage at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere when he described meeting shadowy sellers in parking lots. Now, “someone told me, you better turn that down or you’ll get whacked,” he said.

As he gradually snapped up the right recordings, an assistant editor named Jim Greco spent two years meticulously matching the sound to the video. And it began to work. Lurhmann was blown away by what he saw and heard, and knew there was a movie in it.

“What would Elvis do?,” he remembered thinking. “Could it go on IMAX?”

The last piece of the “EPiC” puzzle was an unearthed Nagra-tape interview in a box the director found of Elvis intimately ruminating on his life for almost an hour.

Screw the scholars and talking heads, Luhrmann decided.

“There are always people telling you about Elvis,” he said. “And I thought, ‘The hell with that. Let’s just have Elvis tell his story.’”

The mix of Elvis singing and dancing in his prime, rehearsing and speaking candidly about himself combines into an eye-opening and exhilarating movie experience that’s arrived on both IMAX and regular screens.

At the premiere, excited women got up and danced.

The project taught Luhrmann even more about his should’ve-been pal. Seeing Elvis revealingly away from the spotlight, especially during chummy backstage glimpses, the director was surprised by how smart and funny his subject was. “Goofy,” he said.

And listening to the rare recordings of Elvis singing, he also could not believe the extent to which the man was truly the consummate artist.

“He is never out of tune,” Luhrmann said incredulously.

“I’ve worked with some of the greatest iconic musical people in the world, and they always sort of slightly hit a bang note. He’s never out of tune.”