--- title: Michael Shannon Watched Shape of Water Win, Oscars at Bar description: Michael Shannon took a low-key approach to Hollywood's biggest night, opting instead to watch the ceremony from a dive bar in Chicago. canonical: https://time.com/5187637/michael-shannon-the-shape-of-water-oscars-2018/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-06T16:33:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:19.981Z og:title: Michael Shannon Watched His Movie Win an Oscar From a Dive Bar og:description: Stars, they're just like us og:url: https://time.com/5187637/michael-shannon-the-shape-of-water-oscars-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfa871c0c48132e9/698929d6656a3f7769bd3c45/michael-shannon-oscars-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The IMDb Studio At The 2018 Sundance Film Festival - Day 3 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michael Shannon Watched His Movie Win an Oscar From a Dive Bar twitter:description: Stars, they're just like us twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfa871c0c48132e9/698929d6656a3f7769bd3c45/michael-shannon-oscars-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Shannon Is So Levelheaded He Watched the Oscars On Mute at a Dive Bar > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: The Shape of Water - Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): The Shape of Water - Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pYANZeud.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2017-08-31. The Shape of Water - Official Trailer_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 6, 2018 4:33 PM UTC  PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 21: Michael Shannon of 'What They Had' attend The IMDb Studio and The IMDb Show on Location at The Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb) PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 21: Michael Shannon of 'What They Had' attend The IMDb Studio and The IMDb Show on Location at The Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb) Rich Polk—Getty Images for IMDb  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 6, 2018 4:33 PM UTC While the rest of Hollywood spent Sunday night dressed to the nines at the [90th annual Academy Awards](http://time.com/5182674/oscars-2018-winners/), [Michael Shannon](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1879802%5F1879801%5F1879794,00.html) took a more low-key approach to the Oscars. [_The Shape of Water_](http://time.com/5185843/oscars-2018-the-shape-of-water-best-picture/) star opted to watch the night — during which the film that he starred in nabbed Best Picture — from the comfort of Old Town Ale House, a dive bar in Chicago. According to a post on Twitter from the bar’s owner, Bruce Elliott, Shannon watched Guillermo del Toro accept the biggest honor of the night for _The Shape of Water_ sans sound, just subtitles. According to [_AV Club_](https://www.avclub.com/michael-shannon-watched-the-oscars-on-mute-at-a-chicago-1823544051), Shannon didn’t sit out of attending the Oscars in person because of the institution; his reasoning was far more practical; he’s currently in Chicago because directed a production of Brett Neveu’s “Traitor” at A Red Orchid Theater and the play closed on Sunday night. 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