Could sparks be flying between Chelsea Handler and Ralph Fiennes?
The comedian and author, 50, and the Oscar nominee, 62, were spotted arm-in-arm outside this year’s Vanity Fair Oscars party late Sunday night. The unlikely duo appeared to be chatting and laughing as they left the soirée together.
Handler wore a metallic silver strapless gown and gold pointed-toe pumps, while Fiennes kept things classic with a wide-lapeled black suit and matching bowtie.
Reps for Handler and Fiennes did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The iconic Oscars after-party was not the first awards season event where Handler and the Conclave star’s paths crossed. At the Feb. 7 Critics Choice Awards, which saw the comedian hosting for the third consecutive year, she jokingly noted that Fiennes has “played a ruthless Nazi, an evil lord [Voldemort] and a celibate cardinal, and somehow you’ve made me want to have sex with you in all roles… I’m begging you never play Vladimir Putin. I can’t do that again.”
Later during that ceremony, Handler roped the nominee into recreating a buzzy moment from Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson’s erotic thriller Babygirl. The movie “inspired me to hire a new sexy intern,” she joked, before guzzling a glass of milk while Fiennes repeatedly cooed Dickinson’s line from the movie: “Good girl. Good girl. Good girl.”
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Fiennes was married to actress Alex Kingston from 1993 to 1997, and was linked to actress Francesca Annis afterward. Handler has only dropped hints about her dating life since her 2022 split with fellow comedian Jo Koy.
Inside Sunday night’s Vanity Fair party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Handler was photographed alongside a starry list of friends: Paris Hilton, Rita Ora, Leslie Bibb, Catherine O’Hara, Ken Jeong, Monica Lewinsky and Katie Couric.
Fiennes, meanwhile, posed for shots with Patricia Clarkson and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones. The British actor was in good spirits celebrating his Best Actor Oscar nomination for Conclave.
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 97th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien.
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