Virtuosos Draw Massive Crowds to the Arlington Theater for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Virtuosos is the hottest, coolest evening at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.  It features today’s hottest actors, mostly young, but also those that are just “having a moment.”

It’s the coolest in that the format is brisk and they all come together at the end.  The throng ringing the Arlington marquee, which started to gather at 4 pm, was one the biggest and noisiest I have seen in recent years.

Black-kilt clad Roger During kicked it off with an affectionate intro of interviewer Dave Karger of Turner Classic Movies. Karger, always “present” during the night, has been the host for 16 years now and knows how to keep the energy up, focusing on the awards season wins, losses and hopes. 

The guests and their films were:

• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
• Sydney Sweeney – Christy
• Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

They came on stage by alphabetical order.  Here are some key moments.

Amy Madigan is setting an Oscar record for the longest gap between nominations.  She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress 40 years ago for “Twice in a Lifetime” and then this year for “Weapons”.  The oldest person on stage by more than a minute, Madigan was also the liveliest and most quick witted.  She reflected on the ups and downs of her career acknowledging the “fallow times” but also her ability to keep it going.  She cited Bette Davis in the ‘60s camp classic “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” as an inspiration for her whacked-out character Aunt Gladys in Weapons.  The make up was so extreme, she said, that people she knows did not recognize her. 

Chase Infiniti was dressed elegantly in a swooping pink satin dress.  Infiniti recounted that the first scene she shot for OBAA, which was her first movie, was confronting Leonardo DiCaprio, her dad, for drinking and driving.  However, because she had 6 months of casting and preparing, she felt comfortable.  About her casting, because she was unknown, casting directors only had a few YouTube videos from which to work.  Here’s her doing a K-Pop dance cover:    Chase Infinti K-pop Cover

Lastly, she said she was a kickboxing and fitness instructor which greatly helped her in the epic fights scenes in OBAA.

Inga Ibsdotter had child care issues during the announcement of the Oscar nominees and therefore, had her four-and-a half year with her.  She cried at the announcement.  Here’s the touching video with her daughter:  Inga Ibsdotter Oscar Nominee Reaction

Ibsdotter said she was well prepared for the emotionally nuanced film from the extensive rehearsals that director Joachim Trier provided.  They went to the locations and could figure out the blocking before shooting.  He also gave his actors the freedom to improvise including Ibsdotter saying “I love you” to her sister at a key moment.  She noted that there are various ways to say I love you in Norwegian but hers was “the most intimate proclamation of love”.

It was tough to gauge but I think Jacob Elordi got the biggest swoons.   He said he was always a monster movie fan in the way that lots of boys are and that he wanted to be part of “a big, spectacular piece”.  His downer parents said that was infeasible and encouraged him to “have a plan B”.  He literally had the last laugh on stage.  The preparation time for Frankenstein was shockingly short, only 4 weeks.  Elordi just stayed inside, did collage, watched films and “got into this fugue state”.  He also said that John Hurt saying “beautiful” was an inspiration – “torn insides but breathy and beautiful” – for the monster’s singular voice.   Here’s the link:  Elephant Man “Beautiful”.

Sydney Sweeney elicited one, proud yelp from the audience when she walked on stage.  Although she was not nominated for an Oscar, she said that her film, “Christy”, had such a powerful message about domestic abuse that she anticipated it might be the most important story she ever does.  The film has some brutal boxing scenes that left the actors bloodied and gave Sweeney a concussion.  She was well armed for those scenes having practiced kickboxing from age 12 to 19, including working with the sport’s female pioneer Rhonda Rousey.  In a truly sweet moment, she said her mom told her “to fall in love with as many things as possible”.

Overtly sassy Teyana Taylor took the stage next, floating across it in the most extravagant gown of the evening, pearlescent white and flowing. She said that being nominated for a Grammy and Oscar was something she was “still trying to process” but was not taking it for granted and thanked god for the blessing.  Sean Penn has described her “as a force”.  When asked by Karger, she said she “doesn’t walk around saying, I’m a force”.  She is just trying to stay present in the moment.  In her controversial role in OBAA, she plays a mother who leaves her child to pursue her own life path.  She said she understood the value of “showing up for yourself” and being a little selfish.  She is directing a movie next and said she is “stealing everything” she learned from OBAA auteur Paul Thomas Anderson.

Wagner Mora exclaimed that it was great to see how excited Brazilians have been about his film, The Secret Agent, noting that, recently, “Brazil went through a very complex and politicized moment” and people were afraid that, as depicted in the film, the far right of the ‘70s might be coming back.  He said reactions to the film have varied around the world but it is “having an impact in the U.S. given what’s going on now here”.   He also said that some of the best films are coming from other countries and they hold the promise of building empathy across cultures.

Lastly, Wunmi Mosaku tries to stay present during all of the Oscar season craziness and then “goes to rest in a quiet room”.   About her Louisiana accent in Sinners, she said that the regional accents can be so specific, varying a lot only blocks apart, that she worked hard to be authentic.  Remarkably, Director Ryan Coogler wrote the part with her in mind, never having met her and only based on her video auditions.  Amusingly, when she read the script, at the beginning, she thought it was the “biggest, best, most delicious love story ever with Michael B. Jordan”, then she read the rest of the script which turns considerably darker.  She is of Nigerian, British, Christian descent and said the film helped her understand her roots. 

There was some fun when they all got back together but it was maybe a little less lively than previous years.  Amy Madigan got the last laugh when, in response to the question “what language would you like to speak in a film?”, she said “pig Latin”. 

In a Virtuosos tradition, local favorite Jane Lynch presented the award to the attendees and the energized throng dissembled into the night.

The 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival takes place from February 4-14, 2026. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes are held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre and the new McHurley Film Center. Passes for the 2026 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.