Angelina Jolie, Steve Martin shocked by Oscars to come at the Governors Awards

This Saturday, November 16th, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present Oscars to honor actors with high achievement. Among those schocked to be part of the Governors Award ceremony are Angelina Jolie, Steve Martin, Angela Lansbury and costume designer Piero Tosi, according to the Associated Press. Ceremony producer Paula Wagner says, "This event is a celebration of film, and it is really the beginning of Academy Awards season." Here is a rundown of the Academy Awards going out, and the stars' reactions to their honors.

Angelina Jolie, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 

Last year this award went to Oprah. The website boasts that this goes to an "individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." The namesake of the honor is the Danish translator and actor who goes down in history as one of the biggest philanthropists in the film industry. One past recipient of the award was the late Paul Newman. In response to hearing about her upcoming honor, Jolie wrote to the AP from Australia where she is directing Unbroken: "Paul Newman has been a hero of mine since I was a little girl," she wrote. "Receiving the Hersholt award makes me feel like I am on the right path but also reminds me I have more to do." 

"It is an honor and a pleasure to work on behalf of refugee children and victims of rape," Jolie wrote of her involvement as special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and co-founder of the Prevent Sexual Violence Initiative. "No matter how much I have to do, how busy my life is, I am always aware that the challenges are absolutely nothing in comparison to what they face on a daily basis," the 38-year-old mother added.

Steve Martin, Honorary Award

When the academy president called, Martin said he "thought maybe a host had fallen out or something...I thought maybe they needed a favor or wanted me to introduce somebody." So it's safe to say Martin was floored he would finally be receiving an Oscar, something that he's never gotten in a long career of comedy and drama that began in the late 1970s. In the 80s and 90s, he worked on films The Jerk, Three Amigos! and L.A. Story. He references this work for establishing his credit as an actor. "I and all the people I worked with, we took it very seriously and we worried a lot about it, so it's quite a compliment to have it regarded in some way. It's quite an honor," Martin said. He admits he's actually not bothered that comedians don't traditionally get recognized with Oscars, only later honorary Oscars. 

Angela Lansbury, Honorary Award

You know the British actress from Murder, She Wrote, but if you stretch back into her career you will see many notable films. "My early days at MGM were thrilling and exciting beyond words because it all happened so fast," Lansbury said. "I started off with three big, huge movies." These films were National Velvet with Elizabeth Taylor, Gaslight (1945 Oscar nomination), and The Picture of Dorian Gray, where Lansury received her second Oscar nomination. (She received a third for 1962's The Manchurian Candidate.)

Piero Tosi, Honorary Award

This costume designer has racked up five oscar nominations during his long career. In an e-mail to the AP, the 86-year-old joked, "Given my young age, I was really shocked." The Italian has worked on over 60 films and collaborated with Italian director Luchino Visconti in the 1960s and 1970s for The Leopard, Death in Venice and Ludwig.  "Mostly, I dreamt a lot watching American movies of the '30s and '40s," he wrote. "That wonderful season fed me throughout my career."