See behind the curtain

Experience the contemplation, reactions and more backstage at the ceremony.

‘Best show ever! Best show ever!’

With ten minutes to go before showtime, Jimmy Kimmel emerged from his dressing room, where dozens of staffers outfitted in black awaited him. One launched into a spontaneous chant: “Best show ever! Best show ever!” It rang through the halls and continued as Kimmel walked toward the stage.

Also following behind him? Kelly Ripa and Helen Mirren, who emerged from the elevator leading to the backstage area just as the chant was in full swing. “Dame Helen Mirren is here! Let’s have a little respect, for Christ’s sake!” Ripa kidded. The talk show host had a prime spot backstage, interviewing celebs after they win their big prizes. —Amy Kaufman Another milestone

With Kazuhiro Tsuji’s win for makeup and hairstyling, along with David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick for their work transforming Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill in “The Darkest Hour,” he became the first Asian person to win that Oscar. But the makeup artist, who Oldman pulled out of retirement for this project, doesn’t focus on his identity or being a first.

“I don't want to think about [being] Asian,” he said backstage at the Academy Awards. “I’m just doing what I love to do. As soon as we start to think about the race we are, it’s not good. It doesn't work well.” —Tre’vell Anderson Crowdsourcing the presentation

Just before she was to present documentary feature, Greta Gerwig was having her makeup touched up — “I did you on ‘No Strings Attached!’” the makeup artist reminded the actress — when co-presenter Laura Dern arrived backstage. Gerwig was jittery with excitement.

“I can’t breathe in,” she said with a smile.

“I know,” Dern said. “I wish I didn’t wear eyeglasses.”

“When we walk out, should we hold hands?” Dern asked Gerwig. “I think arm-in-arm is awkward.” She noticed a clutch of reporters observing the actresses' conversation and asked for advice.

“Holding hands? That’s cute, right?”

“We crowdsourced it!” Gerwig said. —Amy Kaufman ‘Coco’ represents

Representation was a major point of conversation in the press room after “Coco” won the award for animated feature. Directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina and producer Darla K. Anderson fielded questions and compliments about the film’s inclusivity and diversity.

“It takes an awareness of the fact that strong storytellers come from all sorts of places,” said Molina. “At Pixar … we work very hard to show that films about communities of color, films that come from particular places, have resonance that can reach across the world. We’ve seen that with ‘Coco,’ we've seen that with ‘Black Panther,’ and I think you're going to see it with a lot of other films in the future.”

The importance of a film like “Coco” was not lost on Unkrich. Equally important was having the story be as true to life as possible.

“We tried to make the best film, the most authentic, the most respectful film that we could," Unkrich continued. "It just means the world to us that the film ended up being the biggest movie of all time in Mexico and that it's done so well all around the world including [in] places like China that you wouldn't expect a film like ‘Coco’ to do well in.” —Sonaiya Kelley Skaters for ‘I, Tonya’ What did the Olympians think of “I Tonya?”

“We loved it,” raved Rippon. “We thought it was awesome.” —Jen Yamato At long last Oscar

The wait is over for Roger Deakins, who finally won an Oscar for cinematography for “Blade Runner 2049,” after having been nominated in the category 14 times, beginning in 1994 for “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Nonetheless, Deakins was unfazed in the press room when a reporter mentioned that he began his career in the era of film stock.

“On the way here, I was just reminded that one of the early films I did was ‘Sid and Nancy’ with Gary Oldman,” he said. “So amazing to be with Gary in the same space — I don’t know, what can I say?” —Jessica Gelt A powerful song

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez took home their second Oscar for original song, “Remember Me,” from Pixar/Disney’s “Coco,” which also won animated feature.

The film explores the colorful practice of mourning the departed through the Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead. That tradition proved healing to Robert this year after his mother passed away in August and his family celebrated her in early November when much of the Latin world honors its lost loved ones.

“She was the main force in my childhood who encouraged me to play piano and write music and go for my dream,” Robert said. —Jessica Gelt Encore, encore

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were waiting in the wings, and Dunaway seemed nervous.

She noticed a camera snapping photos in her direction and became distressed. Even though the photographer said he was not taking her pictures, she shooed him away.

“Can you walk away? I don't want cameras. I don't want anyone near me. What can we do about all these cameras?”

She paced in the wings while she read her lines. This year, there would be no Oscar snafu.

Once Beatty and Dunaway took the stage and began their presentation, one of the PwC accountants who replaced last year’s wrong-envelope accountants was watching the monitor closely as “Shape of Water” was announced, shaking her head in the affirmative.

“Awesome, awesome show,” the stage manager said, embracing her as she let out a huge sigh of relief. —Amy Kaufman