Timothée Chalamet hangs with Leonardo DiCaprio as stars hit AFI Awards

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LOS ANGELES — A meeting between leading best actor candidates/global superstars Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet was in the stars at the AFI Awards on Jan. 9.

The duo was supposed to come together at the Palm Springs Film Festival earlier this month,but DiCaprio got famously waylaid while traveling back from his Jeff Bezos yacht vacation.

DiCaprio made it back for the Jan. 4 Critics Choice Awards and here's photographic proof that the DiCaprio-Chalamet meeting took place at the AFI Awards. Both stars' films — DiCaprio's "One Battle After Another" and Chalamet's "Marty Supreme" — were recognized among the year's best by the American Film Institute.

The annual awards honored 21 of the most notable films and TV series of the past year. It's the only awards show where "you've already won," AFI President Bob Gazzale said in the opening remarks. "Let's get that off the table. This is not about competition."

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The Hollywood event is also the best schmoozing and a critical awards campaign stop for the Oscar frontrunners. DiCaprio, the man of any hour, was everywhere, posing with Gwyneth Paltrow, a "Titanic" reunion with James Cameron and goofing around with the Del Toros — "One Battle" co-star Benicio del Toro and "Frankenstein" creator Guillermo del Toro.

Sartorially gifted George Clooney expressed smiling surprise seeing his sartorially challenged "Jay Kelly" co-star Adam Sandler wearing a similar suit jacket — Sandler's over a floral shirt and Clooney's over his classic unbuttoned shirt, of course. The star duo even held the blue jackets sleeve-to-sleeve to see if they were the exact shade. Just feet away, "The Lowdown" star Ethan Hawke goofed around with his arm around the poster of his critically acclaimed FX series, even tickling his character's chest with his free hand during a personal photo.

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"Sinners" star Michael B. Jordan breezed into the event just before start time, but still made time for some key hellos —including a chat with Hawke and "Task" star Mark Ruffalo, before a back-slapping "Friday Night Lights" reunion with Jesse Plemons. They seemed like they had really missed each other.

"Sinners" director Ryan Coogler shared his thoughts with Apple CEO Tim Cook, in attendance for the AppleTV+ show "Severance."

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Ariana Grande represented for "Wicked: For Good" with Jeff Goldblum and director Jon M. Chu. Grande paid her respects to grand elders, moving from Sandler to Paltrow, and then comedy legend Carol Burnett.

But the man who towered above them all was 6-foot-6-inch "Frankenstein" star Jacob Elordi, who was easy to spot talking with "One Battle" standout Teyana Taylor and even hosting a Hollywood giant meeting with 6-foot-4-inch Goldblum.

AFI pays respect to Diane Keaton, Rob Reiner

The AFI event opened with a film montage featuring the famed Charlie Chaplin song "Smile," with the lyrics "smile though your heart is breaking." Gazzale said the lyrics were appropriate after the sad deaths in the film world, including Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, and "Rob and Michelle" (director Rob Reiner and wife Michelle Singer Reiner, who were tragically murdered on Dec. 14).

"Our hearts are breaking, every day it seems, on the hour,” Gazzale said. “With so much loss, why are we celebrating today? Because we need you. Because we need your stories to help us make sense of emotions that we cannot escape, nor should we escape them.”

Carol Burnett gave the benediction and received a standing ovation

Burnett, 92, who grew up just miles away in Hollywood, gave the benediction to close out the annual luncheon. The legend received a rousing standing ovation while taking the stage.

"I never lost the deep respect and love that I have for all the stories we tell through cinema and television. Creative collaboration has always remained at the heart of our work,” said Burnett. "The world is a better place for having heard your voices."