Gabourey Sidibe at the Oscar Luncheon: 'It Was Awesome'

Best Actress nominee Gabourey Sidibe told our own Leonard Maltin at Monday's Oscar Nominees Luncheon that hanging out with her fellow nominees "was like the high school graduation where you take the pictures and you get a certificate. It was awesome."

The 'Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire' star stood next to her buddy Carey Mulligan, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga in the annual "class photo" and "behind me was Jeremy Renner, who I love. It was a good spot." She added that Meryl Streep took her aside to tell her, "I just got the cutest picture of you up there."

Awards season and Oscar contention has been such a whirlwind that Gaby says she needs to make some time to choose her Oscar dress, because she's not nothing yet.

"I need to start that," she told Leonard. "I have no idea what I'm wearing. I don't have a dress just yet. I don't have any jewels just yet, or shoes, or colors, or anything really. So I really need a day where I can sit down and figure it all out, preferably like a week before the Oscars."

Reflecting on what she's absorbed from all this critical acclaim, she tells Leonard, "I've learned that if you work really hard on something and that you're passionate about your art, that people can tell, and usually it pays off, and it's been paying off for our little film, 'Precious.'"

Watch ET for more with Gabourey Sidibe!