Vanity Fair toasts to the award season – with a little help from Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy, Renée Zellweger and more in their 26th annual Hollywood Issue.

With the highs and lows of the Oscar nominations still a hot topic, the feature is notable in its timing – for it spotlights many of the ceremony’s favorites. Some of who were nominated and others who…weren’t.

Peep pics and quotes from stars from films such as ‘Hustlers,’ ‘Dolemite Is My Name,’ ‘Queen & Slim,’ and more below…

Jennifer Lopez On Her Inspirations:

“Growing up, I was really taken by the Barbra Streisands of the world, the Tina Turners. And I would say Diana Ross, I would say James Brown, I would say Janet Jackson. I loved my mom, who introduced me to musicals and movies and fairy tales and the stories of all these different lives. People who are multifaceted or have an explosive energy onstage or on the screen…. I think that’s what I’ve always emulated as a performer.”

Eddie Murphy On His Hiatus:

“Maybe about eight years ago, I said it’s time to take a break and not really be pushing at movies like I used to. Getting it right, and getting it right with the director, and getting it right with the writers, and having everything work together—that takes a lot of effort, you know, and it’s strenuous. I had gotten to where I was just so burnt out on the process of making a movie that if I was a little boy I would start crying.”

Eddie Murphy On A Side Of Him We’ve Not Seen:

“I’ve played everything from an old lady to a donkey and everything in between. Middle-aged women and old Asian people and an old Jewish guy. I even played a spaceship—it was in that movie Meet Dave. The movie wasn’t sh*t, but I did play a spaceship. I’ve been the professor, I’ve been the cops and I’ve been a robber, and I’ve been a doctor talking to the animals. To be an actor and to get to play so many different types of things…but when I’m on television, when I’m in a movie, that’s a persona. No actor is who you think that person is.”

Jennifer Hudson On A Perfect Moment In Her Career:

“Last night, I had a moment. I said, “Jennifer, do you realize you’re in the film. You’re singing that iconic song. Do you realize you’re playing Aretha Franklin in a movie in the middle of that? Do you realize you have all these photo shoots?” My friend Walter is my partner…. He was always determined for the world to hear me sing. When we were kids, we would sit in his car and we would use his grandmother’s credit card to buy me clothes to perform in. We had this whole idea of how this industry would work for us one day. And now I’ll be like, “Do you realize we made it? We really made it.”

Daniel Kaluuya On A Low Moment In His Career:

“It was a year before Sicario I looked at giving up. I didn’t know how healthy this was for my psychological well-being. Rejection is fine. I thought the reasons were bankrupt—it was racism, essentially. It was like they were saying, “We don’t want black leads.” I had done the stage. Done Black Mirror. Done a studio film. I thought, Oh, they want me to hate myself! I had to reassess. How do I do this by being myself? I was playing a game that didn’t suit me. When you’re playing a game that doesn’t suit you, you don’t win. Even if you win, you don’t win.”

All winners in our eyes!

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: Vanity Fair / Ethan James Green]