Ed Begley Jr. and Daughter Hayden Took the LA Metro to the Oscars

Ed Begley Jr. may very well be described as Hollywood royalty: The actor is a son of one other actor, Ed Begley, who received a finest supporting actor Oscar in 1963.

However the youthful Mr. Begley, a longtime member of the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences, the group behind the Oscars, commuted to this 12 months’s ceremony like a plebeian by taking the Los Angeles Metro. His journey was filmed by his daughter Hayden Begley, who later shared the video on TikTok, the place it has since acquired greater than six million views.

The video opens with Ms. Begley, 24, asking her mom, Rachelle Carson, Mr. Begley’s spouse and Oscars visitor, how she is attending to the ceremony. “I’m driving,” Ms. Carson says, earlier than asking, “And also you’re what?” Off digicam Ms. Begley replies, “Taking the subway.” Ms. Carson, who’s carrying a black lacy robe, mutters, “Oh God, no matter,” as she waves her arms in exasperation.

Ms. Begley, who in a voice-over explains that she isn’t attending the ceremony along with her father, then movies his journey to the occasion on a 240 bus and the B line subway.

As Mr. Begley, 74, who has spent a lot of his profession selling environmentalism, talks to the digicam about his fondness for public transit whereas driving the bus, he exhibits off two pins on the lapel of his darkish go well with jacket. One pin was formed like an Oscar statuette and got here from the Academy, the place he served on the board of governors for 15 years. He stated that the opposite pin, which had a capital M, was his “Metro pin for being a rider since 1962.”

Later within the video, Ms. Begley movies her father’s full look, which features a pair of black Nike sneakers with chunky white soles. “Thank God there are individuals like my dad who don’t thoughts carrying trainers on a pink carpet,” she says in a voice-over.

Mr. Begley, in an interview with The New York Instances, stated he purchased the Cesarani go well with he wore to the Oscars on the set of a manufacturing he was concerned in many years in the past. Wardrobe objects are tailor-made to suit actors after which generally offered to them at a reduction, he defined.

“I’m not a slave to vogue as you most likely observed,” stated Mr. Begley, who not too long ago printed a memoir about his relationship along with his father, who died in 1970, and his life and profession in Hollywood.

Door to door, the journey from the Begleys’ residence in Los Angeles to the Dolby Theater took an hour, partly as a result of subway station closures resulted in a few half-mile of strolling — and likewise as a result of Mr. Begley frolicked posing for photos with followers and fellow commuters, his daughter stated in an interview with The Instances.

Ms. Begley, an actor, additionally works for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a job she began through the current actors’ union strike. However she was not filming her father’s commute on behalf of the company; she shared the video from her private TikTok account.

Taking public transportation to the Oscars has change into a form of custom for Mr. Begley and his daughter. They used it to get to the occasion in 2023, a visit she additionally filmed and shared on social media, in addition to to others in prior years. A number of days earlier than the primary ceremony they attended, Mr. Begley stated, he walked into his daughter’s room and requested her if she needed to make an announcement. When she stated that she did, he advised her, “OK, we’re going to take the subway to the Oscars.”

Over time, Mr. Begley’s commutes to the awards present have additionally concerned bicycles and electrical autos, like a Bradley automobile he and his pal Annette Bening took to the ceremony in 1991. “As a lady in a costume,” he stated, “you’ve obtained to be a yoga grasp to get out of the automobile in a dignified method.”

Bicycles and public transit, he added, are a few of his favourite cost-effective and environmentally pleasant methods to get round.

“I by no means really feel that I’m losing my time taking the bus or the subway someplace as a result of I convey my script with me or do Jumble or Wordle,” Mr. Begley stated. “I do the L.A. Instances and New York Instances Crossword daily.”