What I saw, overheard, and swallowed behind the scenes at the 2024 Oscars.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
I experience my firstAcademy Awardsweekend in 4K, as a delightfully immersive and occasionally destabilizing multisensory experience.
Every single person is wearing black and smoking, perhaps as some kind of light homage.
I also bring upThe Facultyand he says, Yeah, wow, that was in like, 1998.
Dominic Sessa ofThe Holdoverstalks toBillie Eilishs brother.
Once inside the Dolby, I wander down endless red carpeted halls like I am Danny inThe Shining.
She is one of the only famous people I can see from my perch.
She,Cynthia Erivo, andLena Waithechat excitedly at commercial breaks in between looking intently at their phones.
Can we take the drinks in?
she asks the bartender, gesturing to the theater.
Commercial breaks induce madness.
In the process, Emma misses aPoor Thingswin for production design: Oh my god!
She watches the speech, visibly emotional, on the monitors near the bar.
Florence, now drinking a vodka soda, hugs her.
They poke at each others dresses.
Were missing Cena naked, observes Florence when she returns to the monitors.
asks a nearbyEva Longoria.
John Cena is naked, reiterates Emma.Poor Thingscontinues to win and Emma screams.
Florence rubs her back, Oh, babe, she says as her friend tears up.
Where the fuck is Mark?
); they reconvene at the bar as a family.
I feel like I fucked it up, says Greta, about something mysterious.
I just feel like Im not doing the Oscars well, she jokingly announces to the people surrounding her.
I see a woman carrying what appears to beAriana Grandes dresslike a corpse into the elevators.
She realizes she is missingIm Just Ken; this girl cant catch a break.
I end up watchingRyan Goslings Best Song performance standing next to her by the monitors.
Are you Best Dressed?
She giggles and everyone says congratulations.
The bar cheers raucously as the cowboy Kens flood the lobby after the song.
A trickle of blood leaves my shoe as I noticeDanielle Brookshas changed into sparkly sneakers.
The room is increasingly filling with people from TikTok.
I thought Oppenheimer was mediocre, says a man behind me.
It goes on to win Best Picture.
The celebrities pour out after the Best Picture acceptance speech The Rockfirst,JLawtanly clutching her art husbands hand.
Several people hug thehot lawyer fromAnatomy of a Fall.
The lobby empties, butMessi the dogwanders in.
Its his time now.
Maybe youll seeWill Smith, says my Uber driver as he drops me off at the Annenberg Center.
Sandra Hulleris at the entrance to the party, trying to exit.
Suddenly we are trapped in another Kubrickian hallway withGreta Lee, and she and Sandra take photos together.
at Florence Pugh near the bathrooms and they hug passionately.
Nicole Richie and Maggie Rogers.
Kathryn Hahn and Jason Ritter.
Cynthia Erivo and Tan France.
Camila Cabello and Nicholas Galitzine.
Lupita Nyongo and Joe Keery.
Hannah Einbinder and Julia Fox.
Ice Spice and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Jeffrey Wright and John Waters.
Cardi B and Jodie Foster.
Josh Hartnett, my leitmotif, and an In-N-Out Burger.
