>> reporter: when you think of the oscars, you think of the steps down the red carpet and up to the stage. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: you rarely think of the steps they had to take to get there, the journey. tonight for the first time this year's oscar nominees take you back to their beginnings. >> my mom couldn't afford even a happy meal. >> reporter: they faced overwhelming obstacles. >> and i thought it was an enormous failure. >> reporter: stared down their fears. >> there was no retreat, this was the alamo. >> reporter: and discovered what matters most. >> i'm learning a ton every day i'm with him. for me that's the rush. >> reporter: join us tonight for

journey to the oscars. welcome, everyone, to "journey to the oscars." i'm robin roberts. tonight we're going to give you an insider's take on the most competitive categories. and we'll also discuss the controversy concerning the lack of diversity among this year's nominees. that's later. but first, we have some stories to tell. when you think of sylvester stallone you think yeah, action hero and of course, rocky balboa. you might not think artist, but he's all three of those. sylvester stallone's big break came about through the sheer power of his imagination when he hatched the idea that not only launched his career but began the 40-year saga that we still can't get enough of. let's start from the beginning. was there ever a time that you doubted yourself? >> yeah. you know, i thought when i lived basically in this flop house. it's $26 a week, very transient, and you shared a floor with ten people, you don't know anybody on the planet.

>> reporter: i think i recall you saying your acting low point, "the godfather," and you said you couldn't even get in a -- >> oh, i couldn't even get cast as an italian. i'll never forget where there's a party scene and there's 300 guests. they said, "no." i go, "what part of me didn't make it past the italian identification aspect?" he goes "eh, i don't know. you just don't fit in." that's telling you something. >> reporter: that's gotta play with your psyche a little bit. >> a little bit. >> reporter: i know! but it didn't and you decided to take matters into your own hands by writing "rocky." for six years and for six years you been sticking it to me. i wanna know how come. >> you want to know? >> i want to know now! >> okay, i'm going to tell you! because you have the talent to become a good fighter and instead of that you became a leg-breaker. >> reporter: you were able to write "rocky" in three and a half days. the movie that went on to be best picture. you wrote in three and a half days. >> yes. yes.

out of you? >> it was, i knew that this was going to be very flawed but if i could get to from the beginning to the end and with some semblance of a character. then, i'll repair the rest along the way. >> reporter: and you want to star in it! and you're told "no." you were even offered $250,000. >> 360. >> reporter: 360? you're a struggling actor. you can't make ends meet. you're getting offered all this money but you didn't take it. >> no. i just didn't understand how the rules of life were played at that point but this character i understood. >> reporter: to say that "rocky" touched a nerve would be an understatement. in the 1980s, "rocky" epitomized america's attitude and self image and the character continued to evolve in the new millennium. reappearing every few years to reflect america's changing hopes, fears and dreams.

the journey was at an end. the last "rocky" movie before "creed," the final scene, was it your way of saying good-bye to the character? good-bye to that. >> yeah, good-bye to everything. good-bye to the best chapters of my life at least professional life, it really was. then along comes this young guy out of oakland and i go, "what?" >> reporter: ryan coogler. >> ryan coogler. >> reporter: when director stallone, he was untested as a feature filmmaker. but he had an intensely personal idea for reviving the "rocky" franchise. coogler's father had fallen gravely ill a few years earlier. with ryan by his side there was only one thing the elder coogler wanted to watch. >> the father is a very soulful, powerful man. and now he's being reduced to the shell of his former self. but, oddly, he watches "rocky" again and again and again. his son who loves his father sitting right beside him and

eyes. the traumatic impact was so imprinted on this young man that he never got over it. so he comes to me and goes, "hey, look at this great idea. we're going to, you know, revive rocky." i go, "how?" and when he told me the story i said, "this is insane, wrong. you're a young kid, you haven't done anything yet, but i appreciate the thought." he goes, "okay, see you around." and he goes out and does a masterpiece, "fruitvale festival. every studio wants him. what's he want to do? "creed." i went, now, either this guy here is just trying my patience or he reminds me of a guy i used to know. >> reporter: i was going to say that was you 40 years ago. >> yeah, it was. absolutely. then i realized this is not a movie for him, it's for his father. this is all about a love letter to his father. >> now, if you really dug down

fan why he likes the movies, it's usually because they watch it with somebody that they love. what's so great about them is it's so personal to people. people just associate it with their family. >> he writes me the role of a lifetime and then he has michael b. jordan, who's also along, tugged out, by the present generation, a character that could be their grandfather. about this? when are you starting treatment? >> i'm not doing no chemotherapy. i'm not crazy at all. if i can take everything that was good and put it into a bowl or something and say, "hey, here, i would like to buy one more day with my wife," i'd do it. i'm here. >> i never wanted to do this movie. i thought sick rocky is so counterintuitive to what rocky really is designed for. i just laid there, i said, "can someone else be sick in the movie and not me?" because i've never done that. my wife goes, "you're a coward." you know, that's kind of a harsh word.

you're basically a coward. it goes against every undeclared artistic rule." if you're afraid of something, that's the commitment of the artist. that's his duty to pursue the unknown. to go someplace where he's literally at odds with himself. >> you all right there, old man? >> yeah. you know, if you look hard enough you can see your whole life from here. >> how's it look? >> not bad at all. >> and once i just gave up and realized this movie belongs to michael b. jordan, who is the youth, he's the engine. you're the caboose. i am burgess meredith, i am wisdom, i am experience. >> reporter: what do you remember from the oscars 40 years ago? >> i remember driving up to the oscars and i had a rented tux and it wasn't fitting very well and the tie was a little loose and as i was adjusting it, it went "sprung" and it broke. and the driver was like "eh, don't worry about it.

i said, "no, no, no, no." so i take it and i put my collar out which at that time was disco fever and i go in. and people are looking at me like, "how? this is blasphemous." and i'm like, "what's going on? is it my cologne?" i had no idea. and it was just again, naivete, win. we were up against extraordinary works of cinematic filmmaking, i mean, on every level. >> films nominated for the academy award this year are "all the president's men," "network," "rocky," "taxi driver," and the winner is -- "rocky." >> reporter: what i remember most from the oscars, how wide-eyed you were. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: first of all, you had to be dragged up there. you didn't want to go up. >> they brought me on stage and i went, "oh, no. no tie. here we go." >> i'd like to thank you for sharing your dream with us, and

has enriched all our lives. >> for all the rockys in the world, i love you. >> reporter: when you said, "this is for all the rockys." >> this is for all the rockys in the world, yeah. >> reporter: who do you think are all the rockys in the world? >> we're all rockys in a sense. we all have this struggle to try to realize our dream. which is trying to be appreciated in our own lifetime, say, you know what? i'm not the fastest, i'm not the prettiest, i'm not the tallest, but i just like to take a shot at it. one time and then i'll know. >> you taught me how to fight again, and i'm going to go home and i'm going to fight this thing, but i want you to fight too. >> you know, even in my own life you realize that my ship has come and gone. my sunset is halfway down. i really -- i'm really paying attention. like this, right now, i'm photographing this in my mind. this is a really special moment in my life because there's not that many moments left. you know, they are really getting very special. so, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. >> i'm going to hang this one on

sharing this moment with us. thank you. coming up, matt damon, ridley scott, bryan cranston, our take on diversity and the oscars. and up next, hollywood's new "it" girl, brie larson. tt2w rr)|]@eo j# [zt tt2w rr)|]@e!!*n +z< tt2w rr)|]@e4!j# ]lh tt2w rr)|]@ex#*&`:zb< tt2w rr)|]@et#j'`:nbx tt2w rr)|]@et#j)`:e"< tt2w rr)|]@ep#j*`:r9 tt2w rr)|]@ep#j,`:3c@ tt2w rr)|]@el#*.`::jl tt2w rr)|]@el#*0`:!\$ tt2w`tkfd* bt@qzj tt2w`tkfd* "a@qjfd tt2w`tkfd* bm@qamh tt4w`tkfd*" dztq =$h tt4w`tkfd*" entq m (

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as far as how i came from single mom who was a waitress, we were on food stamps to how am i here now?

considering leaving acting. and my mom called and she said, "i will never speak to you again if you turn your back on this. it gave me that one little bit of a nudge." >> i was always sort of shy but i always loved acting. i was naive enough to think that's just what you did when you grew up. >> i didn't get into theatre school at that point. i questioned that i might go in another direction, but then i dared to believe that i would at least give it a few more years to try. >> reporter: in the intensely powerful film "room," a young mother is held captive with her 5-year-old son in a garden shed. it's the only world her son has ever known. the mother is played by a remarkable young actress named brie larson, whose career has been forever changed with this performance. >> the world is so big. it's so big you wouldn't even

>> room is not stinky. i don't believe in your stinky world. >> reporter: as a young girl, brie moved to los angeles with her newly single mother and they shared a cramped studio apartment. brie would draw upon her mom's experience for her character in "room," a young mother fiercely protecting her child. >> what i forgot up until recently was waking up in the middle of the night with me and my sister, my mom all in the same bed. hearing my mom like covering her mouth sobbing trying to not make a sound for us to hear. it wasn't until i was prepping "room," where i realized that moment was the only crack. thinking, "my kids were asleep, i can release," because where else was she gonna go? my mom was struggling while being in a very small space with

not put any of it on us. you realize how hard she tried and you see it from this perspective that you couldn't as a kid. we lived in a studio apartment with just a room and a bed that came out of the wall. and my mom couldn't afford even a happy meal. we ate top ramen. i had no toys, and i had like two shirts, and like a pair of jeans and that was it. but i had my mom all to myself and i remember it being the coolest period of time. i was really, really shy. painfully shy. so the idea of me wanting to do something that's extremely extroverted seemed bizarre and unnatural. being an actor hasn't been easy. you're given mostly "no"s. there's like these sayings like just keep on going, it's just around the corner and it just felt like this is the longest block, ever.

one block waiting for that corner to turn. >> reporter: while successful as a supporting player in both tv and film, brie was still searching for that role that would show her true talents. and then she read the screenplay for a small, independent film called "room" and something inside her clicked. >> good morning. good morning, tv. good morning, sink. >> you're 5 now. you're 5 and you're old enough to understand what the world is. you have to understand. you have to understand. we can't keep living like this. you need to help me. >> reporter: the character allowed her to create an homage to her own mother and to connect more deeply with her co-star. >> this is a mothering role. i had to really create this sense of companionship with this boy. how could you not want to just give everything you have to that brilliant little kid?

responsibility. i knew from being an actor the same age jake was and how badly i really wanted to be respected and i wanted to do a good job. and i saw that in jake right away. i knew that he was in it for real. i understood that he wanted to be respected and so i was always going to make him feel like a creative force. >> you saved me. >> are you better now? >> yeah, i'm starting to be. >> "room" s really making it all about him like making it about his experience and it allowed me to really feel ma in a deeper way. we were doing the escape sequence -- i always saw it as like what's on the page. like it's a mom giving up her son. she thinks that he's going to be

i always assumed that it was about that. when we started doing it and i would remember just holding on to jacob and that rug and i felt this gut-wrenching feeling of not wanting it to go and i realized that was me letting go that's me letting go of my inner child. not knowing if i'm gonna get it back. >> reporter: brie's breakthrough resulted in the most powerful performance of her career and gave her closure with the little girl she used to be. >> it's such a powerful metaphor for me now and it trips me out that this movie is the thing that's given me that experience. >> say bye-bye to room. >> it's saying good-bye to the 7-year-old that was in the studio apartment, that was blissfully unaware and also so

happen. it's saying good-bye to my old normal. ma has to commit to living in a bigger, more complicated world and that's what i have to do as well. >> you're going to love it. >> what? >> the world. coming up next, bryan cranston. and matt damon's 50 million-mile journey from mars to the oscars. tt2watv# -4 bt@qq

"scorsese finally wins." "could you double check the envelope?" "best actress, 1984." p "and i can't deny the fact that you like me." r "life is like a box of chocolates." "you never know whatv

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we had to do a sex scene and i was really nervous about it 'cause i've never done one. it's a terribly uncomfortable thing and she pulled me outside and was like, "oh, this is the worst." i go, "have you ever done one of these before?" and she said, "only one with george clooney." didn't help. >> reporter: welcome back to a special edition of "20/20." let's continue now with an actor whose journey to his first nomination has taken him decades. bryan cranston. but he'd be the first one to tell you it has been more than worth the wait. >> hello. >> reporter: hello. >> i didn't know you dine here. how are you? >> reporter: good to see you. >> good to see you too. >> reporter: congratulations. >> thank you. >> reporter: please sit. this is your hood. >> it is. i know. i lived right around the corner. >> reporter: it has to be humbling to come back here.

oscar-nominated bryan cranston. >> that life is as about as far away from the boy who was raised in this area as you can get. i was not raised with the idea that you could achieve that. >> reporter: he grew up here, in the los angeles suburb of canoga park. the town's blue-collar work ethic would inform his own. >> there was a duality to my childhood. when i was raised in canoga park up until the age of 10, life seemed pretty normal. it was kind of a typical suburban life. my dad was an actor and he made his living getting a job here, getting a job there. sometimes doing fairly well and other times not so well.

our backyard. and i remember a year later or so my mother saying, "we can't swim this summer because we can't afford the chemicals to go in the pool." so that was interesting, that up and down life. >> reporter: do you remember that first time seeing him on the screen? >> yeah. >> the locusts are everywhere. >> he was an army guy and he was up on top of a building saying, "no, the sector 7 looks fine here." >> they're moving into our location. >> and then behind him we see this large grasshopper coming up behind him. and then we just here -- we would go, "oh! there goes dad, he just died." >> reporter: bryan walked to his elementary school every day. >> so this is the auditorium. >> reporter: and it was here he decided to walk in his father's footsteps.

memorable one, but painfully so. so you are about this tall and everything seems really big and you are supposed to say -- >> president lincoln will finish writing the gettysburg address when he returns to the white house. and instead i said, "president lincoln will finish writing the gettysburg address when he returns from the white front." which was this department store, this chain of department stores all throughout southern california. and everybody cracked up. everybody was laughing. and i thought it was an enormous failure. but later on i realized the power. i mistakenly misplaced one word, and that did this. >> reporter: and just one word. >> one word. >> reporter: bryan's rough moment on stage passed fairly quickly, but he faced deeper stresses at home, where his parents struggled to keep their family together.

mother came to an impasse and split up. unfortunately, my father left the family and i didn't see him from the time i was 12 to the time i was 22. >> reporter: bryan initially considered becoming a police officer. but the pull of the stage was too strong. in junior college he enrolled in an acting class. >> the first line i read says, "teenage boy and girl are making out on a park bench." oh, my god. cute. we were called up and i sat on a bench and she sat on a bench and i had the first line. and i put my sides down on the floor and before i could turn she's on to me, she's kissing me and i'm leaning back and kissing me and tongue and hands and she straddles my leg and kissing and kissing, and it's like, "oh, my god."

and i'm going to ask her out and she looked at me like i was a lost puppy. >> reporter: you didn't realize she was acting? >> i completely believed her. the power that she exuded at that time as a person, as an actor, was immense. and it just blew me back. by the age of 25, i never looked back. >> reporter: during the '80s and '90s, bryan was the ultimate of television shows and commercials. but unlike his father he considered himself blessed simply to be a working actor. your father wanted to be successful. he wanted to be a star. that did not happen for him. did that break him? >> i think it did. i think that his ego was inflated to the point where he felt that was what was important.

that you enjoy doing and love to do, then it doesn't really matter where that takes you because you're in love. >> mr. white? >> yes. >> you understood what i just said to you. >> yes. lung cancer. inoperable. >> walter white is the reason i was able to become dalton trumbo. >> surprise! >> reporter: bryan's portrayal of walter white, the science teacher turned meth kingpin, was one of the crowning achievements of modern television. but brian never would have been cast without the advocacy of the show's creator. >> vince gilligan was my champion because the network and studio, they were like, "well, wait a minute. you're talking about walter white being played by the silly dad from 'malcolm in the middle?'" and vince, to his great credit and my benefit, said, "he's an

this is what he does, you know, he can do this." >> a guy opens his door and gets shot, you think that of me? no. i am the one who knocks. >> reporter: from then on he's had his pick of projects. winning a tony for his performance as president lyndon johnson in "all the way." and now, although bryan never sought it, he has arrived at the place his father always coveted. he is an oscar-nominated movie star for his performance as blacklisted screenwriter "dalton trumbo." >> trumbo, we can't afford you. >> all right, i will write you a movie for $1,200. >> and you don't want your name on it? >> no. you don't want my name on it. >> we should be able to embrace someone's different culture, different ideals. and not take someone's point of view that differs from ours as a

but to be intrigued by it. >> whisper a movie you've written in secret. maybe i've heard of it. >> maybe you have. >> reporter: at this point in your career, as opposed to early on, your 20s, getting the recognition, what does that mean to you now? >> i think that it came to me at the right time. i think i'm mature enough to be able to accept this life and at thrill ride of a roller coaster that i'm on, it's going to pull into the station again, stop, and that bar will lean up, and i'll be asked to step out and i think i'll do it gladly. it's like, okay. and, have a great ride, go on, take it. have fun. coming up, matt damon, ridley scott, and our look at the oscars' diversity issue.

my grandmother who loved movies, knew that i was kind of a night owl and sneaked on to watch movies with her on the couch. i'm watching this movie and i see this incredible charismatic actor. i wanted to do that, what is he doing? what i was watching was "streetcar named desire." and that was marlon brando. that's where the acting bug started. >> reporter: at the academy awards we celebrate great stories. but there's another story taking center stage this year. none of this year's nominated actors and actresses are people of color.

remarkable journeys of our nominees, we also take a look at the journey of the oscars themselves. >> to me it seems more than just a plaque of gold. it opens the doors of this room, and enables us to embrace the whole of america. >> reporter: years before jackie robinson, decades before martin luther king jr., hattie mcdaniel became the first african-american to win an oscar. >> my heart is too full. to tell you just how i feel. may i say thank you, and god bless you. >> reporter: the oscars seemed to be on the cutting edge of racial equality. but over the next 50 years, only three more actors of color won oscars. until whoopi goldberg's win for "ghost." >> i had heard people talk about how long it had been between hattie mcdaniel and another black woman. i was kind of shocked by that. thank you so much. but the difference between my win and another woman is a much

halle berry. >> reporter: halle berry was the first african-american to win best leading actress. >> this moment is for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. >> reporter: after that moment, especially with denzel washington winning best actor that same night, many people believed that real racial equality had finally arrived at the oscars. between that moment and this one, seven other actors of color won oscars. but now, for the second year in a row, not even a single nominee. with a viral hashtag and several high-profile celebrities and directors choosing to skip the event, people are taking a deeper look not just at the

>> when i host the academy awards, the same thing happened, you know, people said, "well, we got to boycott it because there's no folks of color." you can fill the academy with all black folks, all asian, latino and stuff and if you don't put folks in the movies that are the caliber that they should be, you're going to have the same issue. >> if our industry is not open enough to be able to look at ourselves and find the flaws then we're not very strong. >> reporter: perhaps this zero-nomination moment is necessary to begin creating real and lasting change. immediately after the nominations were announced, the academy did adopt a series of changes to the voting and membership process. we will see how effective those changes prove to be. coming up on "journey to the oscars," you may think "the martian" put you through the emotional wringer. >> we knew we needed a moment

>> thanks for coming back for me. >> we're on it. >> reporter: but matt damon's collaboration with producer and director ridley scott is an emotional story in and of

the all new lexus rx and rx hybrid. oh, my god, i have not been >> i love that you're asking me that because my wife has brought this up many times. >> hmm. >> i think the toilet is a wonderful place to practice just about anything. i'm a big fan of that as a rehearsal room space. >> i never ever practiced an oscar speech. written them. this year i'm not going to

that moment. i think that would be a pretty courageous thing to try and do. >> to memorize anything, i just stand in the shower and scream. >> reporter: matt damon is nominated this year for best actor. and sir ridley scott produced and directed this year's best picture nominee "the martian." they had never worked together before this film. but when they finally did, it was out of this world. >> everyone's had a crack at playing the guitar, but when jimi hendrix played the guitar, you knew it was jimi hendrix, right? and when ridley scott is being completely simple and completely honest, you know it's ridley scott's frame. >> there's an innocence to matt. i think that's what makes him fresh. >> reporter: we all expected the amazing visuals. we expected the great action

but none of us expected "the martian" to become hollywood's perfect storm of 2015. a $600 million-grossing blockbuster that struck an emotional chord around the world. >> i got it. >> reporter: the story of "the martian" is surprisingly an intensely personal story, one that could only have been told at this moment by these two men -- ridley scott and matt damon. >> when i first read the script, i thought this is a challenge because you're by yourself. all of that risk is kind of mitigated by a master standing next to you the entire time, you know. had it not been ridley i wouldn't have done the movie. >> i storyboard everything. and by doing it, you're literally shooting the film on paper in your head first. i've got to sit down, by myself, and think it through quietly, a bit like a writer. what touches me?

>> reporter: for nearly 40 years ridley scott has followed the same daily ritual of sitting down in his study and drawing the pictures that came into his head. the resulting storyboards have become the launching pads for some of the most memorable worlds in cinema history. from the depths of outer space in "alien" -- to the arenas of ancient rome in "gladiator" -- to the american west of "thelma and louise." >> actors are one excuse for not being good in a movie is that we don't know what movie we're in. what ridley does is he absolutely arms you with all of this information. so you not only know what movie you're in, you know what lens size you're on, you know what shot he's cutting from and what shot he's cutting to. all of that makes your job much, much easier. >> reporter: ridley's method springs from his training as a painter at london's royal college of art.

beginning of his lifelong creative partnership with his brother tony scott. that's tony on the bike. >> tony was his best friend. there was a profound bond between them. my dad was, in some ways, tony's protector and guide. >> reporter: tony would become a director and producer as well. together, they created successful production companies in hollywood. >> i knew that i wanted blood in that company. i knew tony had it in him, and he flew eventually. >> reporter: ridley and tony scott produced a staggering 157 films and television shows, ranging from "top gun" and "crimson tide" to "blackhawk down" and "american gangster." but in 2012, the unimaginable happened. with their company at the height of its powers, tony scott took his own life at the age of 68.

moment of ridley's life. but in the darkness he worked his way toward the light. >> i always learned if you sit at a problem long enough, there's always a solution. you've just got to keep going at it. >> reporter: he turned to the process that had been his creative bedrock. he sat down in his study and drew the pictures that came into his head. he could have told the story of an alien or a gladiator. but instead finding his inspiration for the screen play of "the martian." inspired by the bestselling book a man facing the abyss who somehow, step by step, found a way to survive. >> at some point, everything's going to go south on you. everything's going to go south. and you're gonna say, "this is it. this is how i end." now you can either accept that,

>> the methodology of what he is doing and how he does it is exactly as my father would do it. if my dad were stranded on mars, he would work it out. >> you just begin. you do the math. you solve one problem, then you solve the next one. and then the next. and if you solve enough problems, you get to come home. >> "the martian's" got tony in it. the way matt's character blows himself up. tony was the most accident-prone person. he was always like, drive his motorcycle through the back of the garage. that's tony. >> reporter: sir ridley scott infused the set of "the martian" with his brother's buoyant spirit. he attracted "a"-listers and oscar nominees to fill out his cast and oversaw every detail of the massive production. and for matt damon, whose

nearly the entire movie alone, ridley was with him every step of the way. >> in the preproduction, we went through the script starting on page one and just went through every single moment. >> he and i talked technically, studying emotion of human, saying, "this is funny, tears here, maybe." >> we knew we needed a moment where mark's armor cracks. >> about two minutes. how you doing down there? >> i'm good. i'm anxious to get up to you. thanks for coming back for me. >> the other actors had already wrapped, they'd gone home. so it was just ridley and i in budapest shooting that scene and as we started to do the scene, ridley did something kind of tricky. he put the sound of the other actors inside my helmet. it just struck me that it was the first time i'd heard anybody's voice in, you know, almost two years. >> captain. >> go. >> command. >> go. >> recovery. >> go. >> secondary recovery. >> go.

>> go. >> i just went. but it happened because of ridley. and it surprised me. i don't think it surprised ridley. >> and he said, "i just lost it. was that too much?" and i said, "no. that was perfect, dude." but that's him. that's him. >> there's a thing that happens at the end of "the martian" where he's sitting in the park and he looks down between his feet and he sees that little through the cracks, that's all my dad. he sees beauty in everything. >> this little green stalk growing out of gravel. that could be ridley scott. nothing is gonna stop that guy. he's gonna make a lot more movies. i'm just hoping i'm in them. coming up on "journey to the oscars," a surprising take on this year's oscar races. when this special edition of "20/20" continues. tt2w>rxlm `:o j# r#@

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>> reporter: welcome back to a special edition of "20/20." we promised you an insider's look at the races and we're gonna deliver. krista smith is the "vanity fair" west coast editor. it's wide open. >> this year it is just anybody's guess. >> reporter: how about best picture? what do you see for that? >> well, i think this has been the most exciting race that the oscars has had for best picture in a very long time. >> it could have been you, me, it could have been any of us. >> now "spotlight," it's a classic american story about

a lot of heart. then all of a sudden, "the big short," loaded with movie stars. >> i love my job. >> you hate your job. >> it takes on something that's so contemporary. you have "the revenant," it feels epic. it feels important. you've got leonardo dicaprio in the lead and audiences are loving it. those are the films that i think it's gonna boil down to, one of those three. >> reporter: you bring up leo. it's his time? >> i feel the momentum is in his favor. this is his sixth nomination. but this being the oscars i would never say that there is anything like a sure thing. you've got michael fassbender, who's amazing in "steve jobs." eddie redmayne, he won last year. it's a great group of actors. >> reporter: let's talk about the women. >> what's really exciting to see is a whole new generation of young actresses coming up. i mean, saoirse ronan's fantastic. she was nominated as a teenager for "atonement" seven years earlier.

brie larson is hollywood's "it" girl of the moment. it could be interesting to see if one of these young girls becomes a household name. >> reporter: all right, krista, thank you for your insight. and we'll be watching sunday to see if you're right. be sure to watch as chris rock hosts the 88th academy awards. i'm robin roberts, and i'll see you on the red carpet. good night. >> the worst role i ever played? >> i did "mirror mirror two" and "mirror mirror three." >> i played a loon, yes, the bird. >> i died in the first one and then came back as another

>> get to the boat. >> it' s a time bomb. >> the road to gold leads to the ultimate movie prize. is down to the wire as hollywood heavyweights clamber to the finish. you will you' re from the hottest newcomers to the tried-and-true veterans. stars devault their red carpet secrets. and discuss everything from lack location. entertainment.