Rebel Wilson & Harry Connick Jr. Announced as Hosts of the AACTA Awards

The Australian Academy are elated to announce Harry Connick Jr. as host of the 2024 AACTA Industry Awards presented by Foxtel Group. The Awards will be held on Thursday 8 February at HOTA (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast. Connick will also present at the 2024 AACTA Awards Ceremony on Saturday 10^th February 2024 hosted by Rebel Wilson.

At the AACTA Industry Awards, Connick will be supported by some of Australia’s most revered screen talent including the creators of Deadloch Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, actors Osamah Sami, Darren Gilshenan, Lincoln Lewis, comedian Zoë Coombs Marr, TV presenter Andrew Winter, and more.

The AACTA Industry Awards will be held on Thursday 8 February followed by the AACTA Awards on Saturday 10 February. Both ceremonies, presented by Foxtel Group, will be held at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) on the Gold Coast, a destination renowned for its beauty and vibrant cultural scene. Tickets are on sale now for the AACTA Awards, AACTA Industry Awards and AACTA Live Viewing Party. Click here for more information.

Earlier this week the Australian Academy announced Rebel Wilson as the host for the AACTA Awards Ceremony on Saturday 10 February. Joined by Oscar®, BAFTA, Golden Globe and AACTA Award winning actress and producer Cate Blanchett, internationally-renowned, Academy Award winning Director, Ron Howard, creators and stars of Colin From Accounts, Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, actress and producer Leah Purcell, comedians Tom Gleeson, Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald, TV royalty Julia Zemiro, Rove McManus and Grant Denyer among others.

The 2024 AACTA Awards Ceremony will be broadcast on Channel Ten at 7pm AEDT, Saturday 10 February. A special director’s cut including all awards from the ceremony will be available at 7:30pm on Sunday 11 February on BINGE and Foxtel On-Demand and on AACTA TV.

The AACTA Awards ceremonies form part of AACTA Festival, a four-day celebration of Australia’s vibrant screen industry. With more than 90 events, AACTA Festival will present a dynamic array of panels, meet-and-greet, screenings and activities offering a place for the Australian screen industry to connect from February 8-11, 2024. Many nominees and winners from the AACTA Awards will be presenting on panels and discussions throughout the Festival. AACTA Festival will be held at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) on the Gold Coast, a destination renowned for its beauty and vibrant cultural scene. Find out more at aactafestival.com

Key Details:

2024 AACTA Industry Awards: Thursday, 8 February

2024 AACTA Awards Ceremony: Saturday, 10 February

AACTA Awards Broadcast: Channel Ten at 7pm AEDT, Saturday 10 February; Special director’s cut including all awards from the ceremony at 7.30pm AEDT, Sunday 11 February

AACTA Festival: Thursday, 8 February – Sunday, 11 February

For information on the AACTA Awards and ticket sales, click here. 

For information on the AACTA Festival, click here.

More about Harry Connick Jr.

Harry Connick, Jr.’s career has exemplified excellence across multiple platforms in the entertainment world. In the US, Connick’s home country, he has received Grammy and Emmy awards as well as Tony nominations for his live and recorded musical performances, his achievements in film and television and his appearances on Broadway as both an actor and a composer. 

Connick has appeared in 20 films including Dolphin Tale with Morgan Freeman, Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock, P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank, Bug with Ashley Judd, and Copycat with Sigourney Weaver, and on television (American Idol, Will & Grace, South Pacific and his Emmy Award winning concert specials). In the fall of 2016, he launched Harry, a national daytime television show featuring his touring band, which earned 11 Daytime Emmy nominations in its two seasons, including two nominations for best host, and a Critics’ Choice nomination for best talk show.  He last performed on Broadway in December of 2019 in Harry Connick, Jr.- A Celebration of Cole Porter honouring one of America’s most respected songwriters, Cole Porter.  Connick hosted the CBS Special UNITED WE SING: A GRAMMY^® TRIBUTE TO THE UNSUNG HEROES, honouring essential workers in the pandemic.  In December of 2021, he stepped into the shoes of Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks in Annie Live! which aired on NBC. On Broadway, Connick received Tony nominations as both a lead actor in The Pajama Game and as a composer/lyricist for Thou Shalt Not. 

The foundation of Connick’s art is the music of his native New Orleans, where he began performing as a pianist and vocalist at the age of five. Highlights of his music career include several multi-platinum recordings such as When Harry Met Sally, Blue Light, Red Light, When My Heart Finds Christmas, Come By Me, and Only You.  True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter, was released in 2019 and coincided with performances on Broadway in a show he wrote and directed: Harry Connick, Jr. A Celebration of Cole Porter honouring the musical achievements of one of America’s most respected songwriters, Cole Porter. In 2020 as the country entered the pandemic lockdown, Connick retreated to his home studio and emerged with an album of songs of faith and inspiration. Alone With My Faith, released during the spring of 2021, displays the sheer breadth of Connick’s talents as he wrote new songs, arranged all songs, played every instrument, and sang every voice. Alone With My Faith earned Connick his 16^th career Grammy^® nomination for Best Roots Gospel Album. 

Despite his busy career, Connick has always found the time to be charitable and has done some of his most important work in his efforts to help New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He, along with friend Branford Marsalis, conceived of “Musicians’ Village,” and its centerpiece the Ellis Marsalis Center. Musicians’ Village provides homes for Katrina-displaced musicians while the Center uses music as its focal point of a holistic strategy to deliver a broad range of services to underserved children, youth, and musicians from neighbourhoods battling poverty and social injustice. 

Connick’s honours, including a star on the celebrated Hollywood Walk of Fame, induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, Honorary Doctorates from Tulane and Loyola Universities, and the Jefferson Award for Public Service, have not led Harry Connick, Jr. to slow his creative pace; they only confirm his determination to apply his talents in ways that prove inspirational to other artists and publicly spirited citizens.