Why ‘Knives Out’ writer Rian Johnson didn’t mind losing the original screenplay Oscar to ‘Parasite’

Watching from the lobby bar were Oscar-nominated “Knives Out� writer-director Rian Johnson and his wife, film historian and author Karina Longworth, who cheered as Laura Dern won the best supporting Oscar.

Johnson worked with the “Marriage Story� actress on his last film before “Knives Out,� a little movie called “The Last Jedi.�

“She is the loveliest, and her performance was brilliant. I wish [the Oscars] would do what they did for her at the Spirits, with the choir — that made me happier than anything I’ve seen all year,� he said, referencing the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus musical number devoted to Dern. “That should win best picture tonight.�

Longworth, creator of the popular classic Hollywood podcast “You Must Remember This,� had some tips for the Academy at the tail end of the award season.

“[The Oscars] should be more like the Spirit Awards,� she said. “They should take risks in terms of doing comedy and be able to make fun of themselves.�

Her husband countered: “I disagree!� A short while later, the telecast would deliver a true surprise when Eminem took the Oscars stage to perform his Oscar-winning “Lose Yourself� from the 2002 motion picture “8 Mile.�

For now, Johnson was looking forward to the rest of the night — and seriously rooting for “Parasite’s� Bong Joon Ho, who beat out his “Knives Out� screenplay earlier in the evening, to take home best picture.

“I was on my feet cheering,� he said. “The movie is incredible and he’s such a wonderful human being and so talented. ... I’ve got my fingers crossed for him for the end of the night.�