2024 Oscars Behind the Scenes: Everything You Didn’t See

“This is the night! We did it!” people said to each other as they arrived at the Oscars last night.

There are two sides of the red carpet: The one everyone sees at home with megawatt stars, and the one behind them where other ticket holders walk up a massive staircase, also draped in scarlet, where staff members politely and sternly moved everyone along as people lingered to take selfies.

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Oppenheimer would go on to win the night, but the team behind Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 Japanese film directed by Takashi Yamazaki, were the stars behind the scenes. The film won for Best Visual Effects on Sunday, beating out Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One but even before their victory, the cast and crew’s jubilant energy lit up the red carpet.

“Please take your seats, the Oscars will begin in 30 minutes,” a booming voice repeated every five minutes as everyone made their way inside.

In the theater, screens on either side of the stage showed live red carpet-footage. Underneath everyone’s seat was a brown box of snacks — water, movie candy, and a soft pretzel — with a sticker of a cartoon image of host Jimmy Kimmel’s face sealing it closed.

With just a few minutes before showtime, actor David Alan Grier took the stage, explaining he was the mysterious voice everyone heard ushering the night along. He went over basic rules and gave the future winners some speech pointers. “You want to say something today that will be remembered tomorrow,” he said. “In closing, remember these words: Don’t fuck this up.”

The show was delayed by a few minutes, which host Jimmy Kimmel noted in his opening monologue. And as Michelle Yeoh, who won Best Actress last year for Everything Everywhere All at Once, made her way to her seat in her sparkling gown, the cameras began to roll.

There were brief and fleeting moments between stars during commercial breaks inside the theater, but the real action was in the first floor lobby, where the biggest names of the night grabbed drinks and snacks, used the restrooms and phone charging stations, and spent time chatting between their own award categories. Now and then, you’d hear the sound of champagne bottles popping.

That’s where Barbie director Greta Gerwig and her husband Noah Baumbach hung out with friends and colleagues, rushing back to their seats before Best Supporting Actor was announced. There was a glimpse of Willem Dafoe sneaking out to grab a glass of white wine in between categories. Cillian Murphy and Carrie Mulligan made brief appearances — not stopping for small talk (probably thanks to the security guards leading and following them).

There are televisions inside the lobby so people can still see what’s happening during the broadcast. When John Cena appeared on stage and on screen to present the award for Best Costume Design and was seemingly completely naked, he captured the attention of every set of eyes in the lobby. Cena’s lack of clothes stopped passersby in their tracks, including stars like Gerwig, Riz Ahmed, and Emma Stone who all paused to stare at the screen in the silence.

Stone, who would later win Best Actress for her role in Poor Things, was there standing next to her husband, Dave McCary, and Florence Pugh when the movie was announced as the winner. She let out a happy yell and kneeled down to the floor, grabbing Pugh’s arm in excitement. When costume designer Holly Waddington gave her acceptance speech, Stone blew a kiss to the screen and clutched her heart.

It didn’t initially make a lot of sense when iconic guitarist Slash was seen walking around the lobby, but it all clicked later when he came out for a surprise performance during Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken.”

Gosling’s performance was one of the most talked about moments of the night before it even happened — audience members didn’t want to leave their seats in fear of missing it. When he started to sing the nominated song from Barbie inside the theater, it wasn’t immediately clear to the audience where his voice was coming from. But once Gosling stood up in his pink suit and made his way to the stage, the audience found him and sang along.

After the end of the performance, which felt more like a concert with people swaying while they held their lit up cell phones, all of the Kens on stage surrounded Gosling and moshed. The audience stood and clapped for a standing ovation.

When we got to Best Picture — the night’s most anticipated award — presenter Al Pacino didn’t leave much time for nerves. He quickly opened the envelope and said, “And, I have to go to the envelope for that… and I will… here it comes… and my eyes see Oppenheimer.”

You could feel the confusion in the room. But eventually, the crowd stood and clapped as Christopher Nolan’s cast and team took the stage to be recognized for their honor before listening to Emma Thomas’s acceptance speech.

As people spilled out of the theater to the limo pick up area, waiting for their ticket numbers to be called over a mega phone, there were sounds in the background of protesters across the street chanting “Free Palestine.” There were stars at the awards wearing red pins calling for a ceasefire and director Jonathan Glazer referenced the war in his acceptance speech for Best International Film. But there, after the show, the attendees seemed more focused on the night of parties ahead of them.

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