Behind the Scenes Photos & Reports

Angelina Jolie

( Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )

The star is spied backstage at the 2012 Academy Awards in Hollywood. Jolie was a presenter on Sunday night, presenting the trophy for best adapted screenplay.

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Brian Grazer

( Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )

The powerhouse couple watch the show off-stage with the Academy Awards producer. Pitt was nominated Sunday night for his role in 'Moneyball."

Oscars 2012: Backstage tears, fears and a terrier

Performers pause to pull themselves together before or after being onstage. Uggie, the dog from 'The Artist,' takes it in.

By Rebecca Keegan, Los Angeles Times

February 27, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

Backstage at the Academy Awards was a place for unscripted moments of jitters, jubilation -- and doggy treats.

"We're so old and we're so happening!" Meryl Streep shouted, throwing her arms around her longtime makeup artist J. Roy Helland when the two Oscar winners converged in the scrum outside the press room.

Behind Streep and Helland clutching their statuettes, Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier from"The Artist,"was collecting rewards for his performance as well -- some treats delivered by trainer Omar Von Muller.

Photos: Backstage

Uggie had emerged from the stage quivering in the arms of best actor winner Jean Dujardin when "The Artist" won best picture. "Shaky shaky," Dujardin said, kissing Uggie over and over.

It wasn't only the Oscar winners who kept the production crew busy.

"Anybody have a 20 on Brad and Angelina?" a staffer called into his headseat.

Photos: Red Carpet

Brad Pitt was the one up for an Oscar this year, but backstage he was rooting for his partner, Angelina Jolie, as she presented the two screenplay Oscars. Pitt watched Jolie quietly from a monitor in the wings. When Jolie emerged from the stage she rubbed Pitt's back and wondered what to do with the envelope for original screenplay winner Woody Allen.

"Do we want to get this to Woody," a stage manager asked. "Does he even care?"

Before she won her Oscar, even a veteran like Streep had to collect herself as a presenter. As she waited to introduce the Academy's Governors Award winners earlier in the evening, Streep put on her glasses and read her script. Before she took the stage, the actress threw her shoulders back, straightened her dress, exhaled and peeked outside the curtain.

Oscars: Full Coverage

"You'll push me out when it's time?" she asked stage manager Dency Nelson.

"I'll pull you gently, yes," Nelson said.

Sandra Bullock was a supporting actress – lower case -- for best supporting actress Octavia Spencer Sunday night. When Spencer stepped off the stage after accepting her award, she could barely stand. Bullock held her for 30 seconds and then carried the train of her dress as the two walked through the wings.

"Sandy, thank you for that train," Spencer said, before making a quick stop at the official Oscar Thank You Cam. Spencer got just one sentence out before stopping.

"I don't wanna cry. I wanna be pretty," she said.

As Spencer was whisked to the green room, the wings filled with another set of nervous performers -- the Cirque du Soleil "Iris" company, many of them bouncing on their toes and shaking out their feet.

"Remember guys, television is hurry up and wait," stage manager Valdez Flagg told them. "Places please. Magical performance."

Moments before stepping onstage together, presenters Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez practiced a stage turn. "Oh my God," Diaz said under her breath, while Lopez gave her an encouraging smile.

The whimsical move had at least one big fan backstage. "That was genius!" Sandra Bullock wagged her finger at the ladies as she passed them on her way to the stage.

Diaz and Lopez bumped into Oscar producer Brian Grazer backstage as well, and the group discussed the audience's muted reaction.

"It was like, uh, hello?" Diaz said.

Lopez jumped in: "We're trying to entertain you!"

"You livened it up," Grazer told them.

"We gave it our best one-two punch," Lopez said.

Oscar traveled incognito on his big day. About an hour before the start of the show, four white-gloved prop masters pushed 49 Academy Award statuettes on a rickety A/V cart through the byzantine backstage area at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Manny Santoyo guarded the little gold men, as their handlers polished them with fluffy blue towels and placed them on a table at stage right, where they waited until presenters placed them in the winners' hands.

rebecca.keegan@latimes.com

Behind the Scenes at the Oscars

By Martin Rogers | Coverage of The 84th Annual Academy Awards® – 1 hour 40 minutes ago

 
Sean Young (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES — Most of the drama happened off-camera at the 84th Academy Awards and the party that followed,, including a surprising arrest of "Blade Runner" actress Sean Young.  Young, who was spotted celebrating with stars at the Governors Ball, was involved in a fight that led to a citizen's arrest at 9:25 p.m. The Hollywood police station booked for for investigation of misdemeanor battery, though no details are available about the incident or the victim. According to TMZ, Young had an altercation with a security guard. City News Service reports she was released on $20,000 bail at 2:55 a.m.

In 2006, Young crashed the Vanity Fair Oscar party and in 2008 she entered rehabilitation for alcohol abuse after she was removed from the Directors Guild of America Awards show.
Oddly enough, she was seen cozying up to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie earlier in the night. She posed for photos with the couple and handed them champagne at the Governors Ball, and told Jolie that they have something in common.
"Darling, we have the same hairdresser and girls like us need help with our hair," she said, according to USA Today.
It seems Jolie was surrounded by drama on Sunday night.During the broadcast, Jolie showed her sense of humor  when she refused to be rattled by a mocking "tribute" from screenwriters Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
After Jolie presented the pair -- along with Alexander Payne -- the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for the "The Descendents," they imitated her onstage by each thrusting out a leg and pouting provocatively.

[ Photos: Fashion report card from the red carpet ]

Jolie had raised eyebrows by exposing her right leg through the slit in her Atelier Versace gown and the prank from Faxon and Rash left the crowd wondering if they had deliberately slighted her.
However, backstage sources told Yahoo! that while the 36-year-old actress did not directly address the pair afterward, she took their humor in good spirits and was said to have "clearly found it pretty funny," according to one onlooker.
Rash, who plays Dean Pelton in NBC's "Community," was adamant that his and Faxon's pose was not intended to cause any offense. "We think she is hot and she's great," Rash told Yahoo! "We just wanted to have a little fun with it. There were three of us up there receiving the award and only Alexander was going to get to speak so we wanted to give them something to remember us by."

[ Related: More Academy Awards coverage from Oscar.com ]

"I have been dealing with these two clowns all season," Payne joked to Yahoo! "I didn't expect anything less, but they meant no harm by it."

Jolie was not the only A-list star to suffer a tricky moment while presenting an award. Natalie Portman was swept off her feet, literally, when best-actor winner Jean Dujardin's excitement boiled over towards the end of the ceremony.
Dujardin was so thrilled at claiming the prize for his role in "The Artist" that he remained onstage to thank the crowd even as the cameras cut to commercial break. Dujardin had to eventually dash off the stage as the curtain closed upon him. He bumped heavily into the diminutive Portman in the process and made her lose her balance, before saving the day by catching her in typically charismatic style.
At the Governors Ball later in the evening Portman was left red-faced again as she and partner Benjamin Millepied scoured the Wolfgang Puck-catered event in search of food that conformed to her strict vegetarian diet. However, when she stopped one server and asked what was on the tray he was carrying, the response was: "People's dirty plates, ma'am."
Earlier on the red carpet, Sandra Bullock had promised an interviewer that the Oscars crowd would be treated to "a sexy time" and one of the best shows ever. Inside, Bullock wasted no time in schmoozing with her celebrity friends, awkwardly smooching Bradley Cooper and joking with George Clooney and Stacy Keibler, before appearing genuinely moved by the speech from Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Her documentary "Saving Face" highlighted acid attacks on women in her homeland of Pakistan.
With 82-year-old Christopher Plummer (best supporting actor) and 62-year-old Meryl Streep (best actress) both taking home some hardware, experience seemed to count for much for much in 2012. Perhaps nowhere more so than at the Governor's Ball, where veteran crooner Tony Bennett wowed the crowd while reminding the famous faces surrounding him that he had been performing for more than six decades.
Most roared their approval as soon as Bennett's set began -- except for Rooney Mara, who made a swift exit from the ballroom midway through Bennett's opening number.
At least however, she was spared the fate of Demian Bichir, who less than an hour after missing out on Best Actor looked annoyed as he had to wait 20 minutes to be seated, due to a lack of available tables for him and his small party.

By Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

At the bar, Brad Pitt was handing a flute of bubbly to Angelina Jolie when Young appeared and asked the couple to pose for a picture with her.
"Darling, we have the same hair dresser, and girls like us need help with our hair," she told Angelina. (Whaaat?!)
They graciously posed, and told her it was nice to see her. Young, who was wearing a black fur stole ( "very old Hollywood, very Myrna Loy classic," she said), said she was hitting up everybody she saw for photos.

What you didn't see on TV during the Oscars

By DERRIK J. LANG and SANDY COHEN | Associated Press – Mon, Feb 27, 2012

• Enlarge PhotoPenélope Cruz arrives before the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, in …
• Enlarge PhotoUGeorge Clooney arrives before the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, …

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even the hundreds of photographers, TV cameras and webcams around the Hollywood & Highland Center can't capture every starry moment of Sunday's 84th annual Academy Awards.

Celebrities reunite on the red carpet, mingle during commercial breaks and experience impromptu star-crossings in the wings — and we've got our eyes and ears trained on those moments.

From arrivals to after-parties, here's a running account of what you didn't see on TV:

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3:22 — "Is the house open?", a casually dressed Billy Crystal asks a backstage security crew a little more than two hours before the Oscar show is to begin. Wearing jeans, a sweater, sneakers and his Oscar credential, Crystal gazes out at an empty theater as he hits his marks and silently rehearses his monologue. A few minutes later, he's gone.

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3:26 p.m. — Outside the theater, things are beginning to heat up, thanks in no small part to the arrival of perennial Oscar heartthrob George Clooney. The fan bleachers erupt in a chorus of cheers and whoops as Clooney arrives on the red carpet, bobbing his head in time to chants of "George, George, George."

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3:27 p.m. — Matthew Lillard of "The Descendants" plays air guitar on the red carpet before taking off his jacket and breaking into a faux strip tease amid a shout from the bleachers of "Shaggy," a tribute to his role in the "Scooby-Doo" movies.

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4:01 p.m. — Viola Davis asks the bleacher crowd what it thinks of her new cropped copper 'do. The crowd responds with an enthusiastic cheer.
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4:03 p.m. — Clooney, who a few minutes earlier had promised the bleacher crowd he would return, keeps his word. He walks right up to a throng of fans to shake hands and sign autographs.

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4:30 p.m. — Not all the glamour is happening on the Oscar red carpet. An hour before the show, Sir Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, stroll the white carpet at the 20th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party at West Hollywood Park. Bringing the proper amount of glitter to the affair, John is decked out in an embellished black jacket with his initials spelled out.

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4:53 p.m. — Inside the theater, Jessica Chastain has taken her seat - make that her armrest. "The Help" actress squats on the armrest to chat with Christian Bale and others who are dropping by to say hello. The bonhomie is interrupted by an announcement over the theater's loudspeakers: "Please take your seats. This year's Academy Awards will begin in 25 minutes."

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5:05 p.m. — Gwyneth Paltrow stops on the red carpet to chat in Spanish with Penelope Cruz before the two make their way into the theater.

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5:15 p.m. — "How much time do I have?" asks Oscar show producer Brian Grazer, his all-access credential hanging atop his tux. Fifteen minutes to showtime he's told. "I'm going to see if Bennett Miller is in his seat," he replies and dashes off in search of the "Moneyball" director.

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5:21 p.m. — "Hey, thanks for dressing up," a tuxedoed Tom Hanks says as he passes a person wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Turns out the guy is part of the Cirque du Soleil troupe that is performing at the Oscar show.

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5:23 p.m. — Sandra Bullock is working the front row, chatting up George Clooney, awkwardly smooching Bradley Cooper and getting smacked on the rear by a jovial Meryl Streep.

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5:25 p.m. — The thing must really be ready to start. Billy Crystal has just been escorted to the stage.
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5:28 p.m. — And the award for the last celebrity to take his or her seat before showtime goes to ... Actually, it's a tie this year, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie claiming the honor.

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5:34 p.m. — Uh oh. "The Artist" might be coming down with a cold. As the Oscar for cinematography is being presented, "The Artist" star Jean Dujardin not-so-silently blows his nose and coughs a few times before apologizing to everyone around him.

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5:44 p.m. — Billy Crystal's long awaited return as Oscar host doesn't earn a full standing ovation, but perhaps that's because Michelle Williams, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie and others are too busy jumping out of their seats to schmooze during the show's first commercial break. Leading the charge, George Clooney dashes over to hug his pal Brad Pitt and a cameraman.

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6:10 p.m. — When Octavia Spencer is announced as winner of the supporting actress Oscar for "The Help" one of the loudest whoops comes from backstage. "Sorry," Sandra Bullock quickly apologizes as workers turn to stare. "I don't even know what I said," a still stunned Spencer remarks as she walks offstage and into the arms of Bullock.

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6:25 p.m.: The Muppets puppeteers have taken up residence in a balcony box overlooking the theater. They'll soon be joined by their respective counterparts, Miss Piggy and Kermit, to introduce the Cirque du Soleil performances. They have a better seat than their human co-star Jason Segel. He's situated down below, all the way on the right side of the theater next to a monitor broadcasting the show.

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6:28 p.m. — Robert Downey Jr. chews away on his gum and dances along to the music as he waits in the wings to present an award during the Oscar show's Cirque du Soleil performance. When his cue comes he quickly deposits the gum in a napkin and steps on stage.

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6:42 p.m. — Stage manager Dency Nelson has discovered Downey's discarded gum. "Robert Downey Jr. chewing gum! We could sell it on eBay," Nelson jokes before tossing it in the trash.
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6:51 p.m. — Are the infamous Oscar hunger pangs already setting in? Meryl Streep just handed Sandra Bullock a piece of gum in the audience. A few minutes later, Melissa McCarthy hands what looks like a piece of candy to her "Bridesmaids" co-star Kristen Wiig.
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7:21 p.m. — There's no need to survive solely on what Oscargoers have in their purses. An army of 1930s-era candy girls has just marched into the crowd to dole out popcorn and candy. Stacy Keibler grabs some of each.

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7:26 p.m. — It's not exactly "At The Movies," but Oscar show producer Brian Grazer has just gotten two thumbs up from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on how the program is going so far. "It's really, really good," Jolie tells him backstage.

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8 p.m. — Composer Ludovic Bource, winner of the Oscar for "The Artist,' leans over the orchestra pit to give a rousing cheer to his fellow musicians during a commercial break.
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8:01 p.m. — James Earl Jones, posing for photos backstage with his Governor's Award for lifetime achievement, pauses to ask a worker, "Whose name is on this?" ''Yours," he is told. "My name is on it," a beaming Jones tells Oprah Winfrey when she shows up to collect her own Governor's Award.
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8:29 p.m. — She has already won two, but Meryl Streep doesn't seem to be expecting this Oscar for "The Iron Lady." ''I can't believe it," she says as she stops in the wings just offstage after accepting the award. "Want to take a minute? Let's take a minute," says presenter Colin Firth, leading her to a little nook just off camera. "This is just insane," she says.

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8:37 p.m. — No stage fright for Uggie. When "The Artist" won the Oscar for best picture the little Jack Russell terrier that had nearly upstaged Oscar winner Jean Dujardin in the movie was right there to share in the glory. "I just said, 'Uggie's coming out stage right," stage manager Dency Nelson says with a smile. And Uggie did.

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8:40 p.m. — It's a celebrity traffic jam as Steven Spielberg tries to maneuver around Zach Galifianakis, only to find "The Hangover" star has gotten stuck behind Octavia Spencer, who has stopped to let "The Help" co-star Emma Stone pat her new Oscar on its shiny gold head. Wait, Demian Bichir has found a way around the crowd. He cuts down another aisle and out the door. Can he duplicate that move on the freeway?

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8:43 p.m. — The Hollywood & Highland Center is all but empty now save for stragglers Kenneth Branaugh and Wendi McLendon-Covey. The sounds of workers breaking down the stage are about all that's left behind.

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9:25 p.m. — Let the partying begin! As Natalie Portman nibbles appetizers, Owen Wilson poses for photos with his mother at the Governor's Ball, the official post-Oscar gala. Instead of the extravagant sit-down dinner of past years, this event offers a cocktail-style format aimed at encouraging people to move through the room and schmooze. And it's working, at least on Michelle Williams and Busy Philipps, who hold hands as they roam through the party.

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Associated Press Writer Cristina Silva and Solvej Schou contributed to this report.

Odd moments at Oscars 2012, such as Angelina Jolie's right leg

February 27, 2012 |  6:01 am

Unlike the Grammys, which all but throws open the doors for weirdness with its medleys and awkward collaborations, the Oscars is a staid affair, planned and managed to the minute.
With host Billy Crystal helming his ninth telecast, the 84th edition of the Hollywood Huzzahs was especially stiff and self-reverent, resembling a wake for an elderly uncle we never knew more than a celebration of film's passionate spirit.
The Oscars still managed to host its fair share of eye-rolling moments, Twitter mini-scandals involving certain body parts and a Big Upset that really wasn't much of a shocker at all. The highlights of the 2012 Uggies — oops, we mean Oscars:


1. Billy Crystal was brought in as a hasty replacement for Eddie Murphy, who was swept out as part of the Brett Ratner anti-gay slur meltdown of 2011. And although we understand the academy's desire to get someone experienced (read: safe) in there, wouldn't it be great if they had taken just a wee bit more of a risk with the host?
Last year everyone complained James Franco seemed stoned and that Anne Hathaway overcompensated, but at least it wasn't reheated jokes that played better in the Catskills, where the last standing comedy clubs were likely recording this on Beta tape for posterity. An early sketch had Crystal meeting with Justin Bieber to pull in the 18-24 crowd — and that's the last moment this age group or any person younger than 50 was seemingly thought about ever again.
2. Are the movies (all of them, everywhere) dying or going away somewhere? There was an oddly funereal vibe to the recorded segments that had actors recollecting their first cinematic memories or somberly intoning about the magic of cinema in general. With actors talking against a black background, we were just waiting for a procession of bagpipers to announce the Death of Film. By the time we got to the In Memoriam montage, things were so gloomy that Esperanza Spaulding rendered "It's a Wonderful World" dangerously close to a dirge rather than a poignant celebration of life.
3. So desperate for entertainment, some viewers of the Oscars manufactured a fake wardrobe malfunction a la Janet Jackson's flash at the Super Bowl. Shortly after Jennifer Lopez sat down from her presenter duties with Cameron Diaz, Twitter lit afire with rumors that Lopez's left nipple slipped out of her dress while she was turning around onstage. Videos of the supposed moment were quickly cut and posted on YouTube; Daily Beast created a poll, asking viewers if they'd indeed caught a view of JLo's assets; and Gawker wondered if we had a true nip slip on our hands or simply a shadow, perhaps from some clothing tape meant to prevent this kind of mishap from occurring in the first place.
Well, we're here to tell you that we have diligently studied the footage and it is our professional opinion that no such slippage happened at all. Sorry. But we thoroughly applaud the person who started the Twitter account called @JLosNipple.
4. Not to be outdone by anyone's nipple, there was Angelina Jolie's lithesome leg. Wearing a black dress with a slit nearly up to her waistline, Jolie thrust out her right gam and cunningly smiled at the resulting wolf whistles. Some said it was an overcooked attempt to generate steam while others said yowza, who cares?
The pose was so striking that when "Descendants" writer and comedian Jim Rash later came on stage to get his trophy for adapted screenplay, he mimicked the actress but with much more fabric involved (stupid tuxedos). Of course, Jolie's leg also has a Twitter account (@AngiesRightLeg), where it has excitedly tweeted sentiments like "I'm a leg, get a load of me!" Fifteen minutes of fame, meet your new competition: five seconds of Internet chuckles.
5. When the Big Upset of the night is Meryl Streep winning for best actress for playing a character from real life, a world leader mind you, this tells you everything you need to know about the surprise element of the show. The shocker is that one of the most lauded actresses of our time actually won?
Although Streep hasn't nabbed the Oscar in nearly 30 years, she has a record 17 nominations. Sooner or later, she was bound to get another one; the academy certainly wasn't about to stop nominating her. And though she looked genuinely surprised when her name was called, her face soon settled into that regal Streep visage that's about as manufactured as Taylor Swift's surprise face. What's next? A movie about movies wins for best picture? Oh, wait, that happened too.

— Margaret Wappler
Photos: Jennifer Lopez, with Cameron Diaz. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times. Angelina Jolie thrusts her leg on stage. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Presenting the golden moments of the 84th Oscars

By Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY

Updated 6h 50m ago

LOS ANGELES – Some of the most intriguing Oscar action isn't captured by the broadcast. USA TODAY shares the unscripted moments that unfolded Sunday night in the wings of the Hollywood & Highland Center.

A 'wow' moment for Streep

One of the night's most emotional moments arrives when Meryl Streep takes best actress for The Iron Lady, topping favored Viola Davis (for The Help) and collecting her third Oscar in 17 nominations. She's so flustered heading backstage that she simply gasps, "I can't even believe it."

A stage manager asks if she needs to sit down to collect her thoughts before she's whisked to the media room. As the best-picture nominees roll, Streep sips bottled water and occasionally exclaims "Wow!" and "I'm just so shocked!"

Finally, she walks with a flushed face to the thank-you cam, which allows winners to express gratitude to all the people they couldn't fit into their onstage speeches. At the end, she promises, "I'm going to drink a lot."

84th Annual Academy Awards

Presenter Colin Firth hands her the gold envelope that signals her win. "You don't want forget this," he says. "Do you want me to hold onto it?"

She replies emphatically: "Yes, I do."

A 'bowwow' moment for Dujardin

Before Streep's upset, best-actor winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) strides backstage, pumping his fist in the air, Oscar in hand. He's greeted by canine co-star Uggie (and Uggie's handler) and allows the Jack Russell terrier to lick his face. "Thank you, Uggie. Thank you, boy," he says.

When The Artist wins best picture, a celebration of the entire cast convenes backstage. After Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller welcome Tom Cruise, who presented the award, Miller tells him, "We're going all night tonight."

"You guys enjoy. Congratulations!" he says.

Bullock approves

Sandra Bullock watches the Academy Awards' supporting-actress presentation on the backstage monitor, holding her hands almost prayer-like below her chin as the names are read off. She laughs especially hard as a clip of Bridesmaids' Melissa McCarthy rolls.

But when Octavia Spencer's name is announced, she gives a shriek of delight and claps madly. As soon as Spencer walks off the stage, Bullock squeezes her in a big hug.

Video highlights from the red carpet, the ceremony, backstage and the parties.

Spencer heads somewhat unsteadily toward the thank-you cam.

"Oh, God," the first-time Oscar winner says out loud, as if the moment is just starting to hit, as Bullock reassures her, "Don't worry, I've got your (gown's) train."

She calmly thanks her agent and her family, then loses her composure and has to walk away, overwhelmed. "I don't want to cry, I want to look pretty," Spencer says.

Presenting is quite a 'feet'

After presenting the award for best documentary, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. huddle backstage. "Oh, my feet," Paltrow moans, sitting in the first director's chair she finds. "Nice shoes," Downey says.

Speaking with Melissa Leo, last year's supporting-actress winner, Downey asks, "How do you feel about relinquishing your title?" Leo explains that she gets to keep her Oscar. "I'm just not sure how this all works," Downey jokes.

Pressure? What pressure?

Two hours before the live broadcast, host Billy Crystal walks backstage with a content look on his face, wearing jeans and a neat blue sweater. Leaning against the doorjamb of his dressing room, he cracks jokes with a number of tuxedoed onlookers.

"I just tweeted that the opening number has changed. War Horse broke his leg, and we had to put him down," Crystal declares with a grin, causing bystanders to break into laughter.

Don't drop the trophies!

A sea of gold Oscar statuettes roll by on a humble two-level cart, pushed by three tuxedo-clad workers up a slight wooden incline to the backstage. As the trophies wobble slightly, one Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences onlooker shivers and says, "Oooh, that makes me nervous."

But the Oscars arrive unharmed and are lovingly polished to meet their new owners.

Even Oprah gets nervous

Oprah Winfrey walks through the hallway backstage, clutching longtime partner Stedman Graham's hand, a tight expression on her face.

The couple runs into Tom Hanks, who pumps Graham's hand and greets Winfrey with a hug and a "Hello, darling."

"You had such a look of worry on your face — you'll be fine," Hanks tells Winfrey, who's receiving the honorary Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, previously bestowed upon Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, and Paul Newman.

Graham asks where Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, is. Hanks responds: "She's at home with her hand in a bucket of ribs and enjoying herself."

Hustle and bustle

At 12 minutes until airtime, a bevy of celebrities goes by, with Prince Albert of Monaco helpfully preventing a rogue TV camera from veering off into a line of stars. Martin Scorsese, Bradley Cooper, Winfrey and Graham head for their seats.

With five minutes to go, Crystal emerges with a blue coffee cup in his right hand and makes his way to the stage.

After presenting the awards for cinematography and art direction (to Hugo), Hanks follows the winners backstage, proudly proclaiming, "Congratulations, you Hugonites!"

Before stepping out onstage, presenters Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez go over their lines quickly while nervously adjusting their fitted cream-colored gowns. The two share a bottled water, sipping out of the same green straw.

"I'll do that, but even better," Lopez vows after their run-through.

"Good luck!" a well-wisher tells Diaz, who flashes a smile and a thumbs-up.

A successful turn

"That was genius!" Bullock yells out when Diaz and Lopez return backstage, reacting to their decision to turn their backsides to the crowd as the camera panned back to them. "That's what makes the Academy Awards great!"

Afterward, the two huddle with producer Brian Grazer, who tells them, "I thought it was really great, really sexy." J. Lo responds, "Yes, but it seems like a really tame crowd this year."

What now?

Emma Stone follows Ben Stiller offstage, but as Stiller departs, Stone suddenly seems confused. She looks about for a good five seconds before someone approaches her and asks, "Can I help you?"

"Where do I go?" Stone asks.

"We can take you to your seat or we can take you to the lobby bar," the academy member says. Stone says conspiratorially, "I'm just going to go to the bar!"

On the way out, she runs into Grazer, who tells her that the Bridesmaids cast has been watching her from a side room and laughing hysterically.

"They were just digging you," Grazer says. "Thank you," she replies. "That was seriously one of the greatest moments ever."

Tying up loose thank-yous

When Christopher Plummer walks offstage after winning his much-awaited supporting-actor award (for Beginners), he immediately walks to the thank-you cam to finish his speech.

"I left out my last sentence," he says, and then thanks the rest of the cast, including Goran Visjnic and a Jack Russell terrier named Cosmo.

"I'm just sorry I didn't mention it," he says.

Always by her side

Brad Pitt waits backstage like a nervous spouse, watching Angelina Jolie present the awards for adapted and original screenplay.

When Jolie returns, the couple congratulate producer Grazer on the show, Pitt's arm around her waist. He holds out his hand for Jolie to grab, and the two walk arm in arm into the greenroom.

See you next year?

As the night winds down, Spencer trudges by, complaining that her feet hurt, though she's switched to flat sandals under her gown. But carrying her Oscar and her purse in her right hand, she's still beaming.

"That was the best Oscars ever," she tells Grazer outside his office.

After the show, a beaming Crystal poses for pictures and hugs production staffers. As he walks off, stage manager Dency Nelson, who came out of retirement to manage the show, tells him, "I don't want you to go."

Crystal smiles and says, "I never said this was going to be my last year."