They may have spent their whole lives preparing for this moment, practicing their acceptance speeches in front of the mirror while clutching hairbrushes like statuettes, but for those who emerged victorious from the Academy Awards, the reality of actually being handed an Oscar clearly takes some getting used to. Backstage in the press room, we got a front-row seat as winners staggered through, looking like deer caught in headlights coming from every direction.
Even the first winner of the night, Kieran Culkin, who made his film debut aged seven in Home Alone, looked like he was levitating over the stage. “I’m not fully inside my body right now,” he murmured through a wide grin. “I’m trying my best to be present.” Despite his dazed look, Culkin characteristically still cracked jokes, making fun of the numbers journalists had to hold overhead to get the moderator’s attention: “Number two-thousand eight hundred and sixty-four… what’s your question?”
