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With the 96th Academy Awards just hours away, actors, directors and Hollywood’s biggest stars descended upon the Dolby Theatre on Saturday for the official dress rehearsal ahead of the big day.
The run-through, held each year as a way to familiarize the presenters and production crew with the flow of events before film’s biggest night, went off with only a few slight hitches and some major pauses to camera block and adjust lighting for stars like Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Steven Spielberg, America Ferrera and more. ET’s Hope Sloop was inside the theater and watched as the building blocks of the show were stacked on top of each other to reveal an exciting — and hilarious — night planned.
Earlier in the day — prior to ET’s entrance in the auditorium — Best Supporting Actor nominee Ryan Gosling hit the stage to practice ahead of his performance on Sunday. The actor will be one of five musical acts to sing their Oscar-nominated song, which for Gosling means his power anthem from Barbie, “I’m Just Ken.” For the casual practice run, Gosling sported a ballcap, sunglasses and a Grave Diggers T-shirt, still giving off the hard rock and too-cool-for-school Kenergy of his character.
ET first walked in as Nyong’o — an Academy Award winner for her role in 12 Years a Slave — was onstage with a mix of other presenters, represented by stand-ins as the others involved could not make it to the rehearsal. As she stood patiently in sweats and a puffer vest, she listened intently to directions and introductions for the nominees in her respective category. To keep the element of surprise, ET has been asked not to divulge which category or categories each presenting will be reading on Sunday.
After exiting and taking a beat to change up the stage and lighting colors, Zendaya was welcomed with a raucous bunch of applause as she approached an imaginary microphone to announce an imaginary winner. The actress — still with a bit of a raspy voice after losing her voice while promoting Dune: Part 2 — stunned in a dark green jacket, jeans and black loafers, only stumbling once over her lines while reading from the teleprompter.
After Zendaya, Spielberg — himself an eight-time Best Director nominee — came up for the run-through in the early morning hours on Saturday, sporting his casual best with jeans and a scarf while presenting. The two-time winner, clearly superstitious over jinxing the nominees in the category he is presenting, refused to announce a winner chosen at random for the purpose of the event, even after one production member told him it was okay to read it.
“No, because it’s bad luck,” he said, laughing. “It’s bad luck.”
Ferrera — a nominee herself in the Best Supporting Actress category — and Kate McKinnon practiced their address to the crowd together, presumably wearing their heels for the big show. While the “Weird Barbie” actress sported a traditional black suit and black heels, Ferrera added a serious pop of color with pink high heels to accompany her jeans and black leather jacket. Hilariously, the two Barbie stars flubbed and cursed as they both went in to read the same line.
“Oh wait, f**k,” they said together as they both went to introduce the nominees. The audience — a skeleton crew of producers, stand-ins and technical workers — burst out into laughter as they worked it out together and the nominees names were read via voiceover. The hilarious chaos between the two comedy actresses continued as they started to announce the fake winner, which is accompanied by the presenter stating “for this rehearsal only” as to ensure that false reports are not shared about the winner of each category.
“And the Oscar goes to –” McKinnon said as Ferrera interjected quickly “for this rehearsal only,” laughing together once again and causing the crowd to chuckle with them.
At the very end of the observable rehearsal, Catherine O’Hara and Michael Keaton presented together and held back laughs while going through a bit connected to their categories. The pair also got turned around twice as they awaited handing off their practice Oscars.
In one hilarious moment before ET’s exit, Keaton presumably walked away from O’Hara, prompting her to call out “Michael” twice. The sound of the Schitt’s Creek actress’ voice rang out through the crowd, even without a microphone. The sound was eerily familiar for any fan of Home Alone who has heard O’Hara’s classic (and iconic) “Kevin!” line in the film.
Among those announced to be presenting together but not in attendance for the Saturday trial includes Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga stars Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor Joy as well as Barbie‘s Issa Rae and Poor Things‘ Ramy Youssef.
The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be handed out live at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on March 10 starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC. In the meantime, stay tuned to ETonline.com for complete Oscars coverage.
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