MTV News was all over the Oscars tonight! Check out our red-carpet report and live blog and our fashion report and live blog for the full details, but here are some behind-the-scenes moments you might not have seen on the show.
Once the show started,
Backstage,
You see a lot of entertaining moments at events like the Oscars, but this one was probably the funniest: During the commercial breaks, people strolled around and schmoozed, and during one,
One major change this year was the fact that, due to the super-tight seating conditions, most cameras were wireless and robotic, popping out from nowhere. People just didn't know when the cameras were on them (as opposed to other years when each camera was on a cameraman's shoulder), which probably explains some of the candid moments caught on TV.
Backstage, the press corps was asked if they wanted
"Obviously, it belongs to Matilda," explained Heath Ledger's sister Kate, with father Kim adding that the Oscar statue will be placed in a trust until Heath's daughter is 18. "Whatever has to happen in the meantime, will happen. But I'm sure it will go somewhere secure, and then it will end up with Matilda."
After winning for Best Actress, a beaming
Later, she paused midsentence and said, "It's just dawned on me that I've won an Oscar! It's only beginning to sink in now, honestly. Oh, my God!"
Shortly after, Winslet ran across the press-interview room and gave an enormous hug to a veteran reporter who first interviewed her when she was 18. Wrapping her arms (and the Oscar) around a man she called "Baz," she held the hug for a very long time; an emotional hush fell over the press room.
Sean Penn, fresh from winning Best Actor, was asked about the gay-bashing sign-holders he'd mentioned seeing on his way to the ceremony. "I'd tell them to turn in their hate card and find their better selves," he said. "These are largely taught limitations and ignorances. It's very sad, in a way, because it's a demonstration of such emotional cowardice."
Clutching his Best Picture Oscar and smiling from ear to ear, "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle was the king of the world — and the last person to come into the press room backstage. "One of the lovely things about this evening and in the Academy giving us this is that it is an independent film; it won against the odds," he marveled. "You see Heath Ledger's work acknowledged in 'The Dark Knight,' and it was extraordinary work, but like everybody, Heath started in small films. ... The studios have to protect [independent films], because that's where everybody begins. ... It's very, very, very important. The first film I made cost a million pounds. It's where you learn your craft."
Boyle also talked about the decision to fly the whole "Slumdog" cast to Hollywood for the show. "We had been thinking about it, because you want to share the experience," he said. "We were concerned about distorting their lives, because they're all in school. ... It's impossible to imagine what they think of coming here tonight."
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