LOS ANGELES, March. 25, 2001 —
Being a movie fan has some advantages – if you were lucky enough to have a seat in the bleachers at the 73rd Academy Awards.
It was a sought-after position, to say the least. Some eager fans camped out for 14 days, hoping to sit right up front at the edge of the red carpet.
And when the moment arrived, cameras and autograph books in hand, they screamed their very lungs out, trying to get celebrities to look up at them and wave. Euphoria took over.
Hollywood.com wanted to experience this feeling firsthand, so we nabbed a seat in the front row behind legendary Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd as he welcomed the red carpet arrivals. Here’s a rundown of what we saw… and heard….
1:45
We took our spot in the bleachers at the Shrine Auditorium. Lucky for us, we were able to sit right up front. Asking around, we find out that those lucky fans who got in got a free camera, a bottle of Naked Juice and a hat. Naked Juice? O.K., still seems worth it.
There were people dressed as Tibetan monks. Some had on pink wigs. Others wore Mickey Mouse ears. A choir sitting behind us started singing. The die-hard fans whooped and hollered as if they were at a high school football game, even attempting to create a “spirit” competition between the two sets of bleachers.
One fan, spotting two women dressed as geisha walking down the carpet, yelled, “Crouching Tiger, YEAH!” Then his friend sitting next to him said, “Don’t be stupid…they’re Japanese, not Chinese.”
3:30
Army Archerd announced the beginning of the red carpet coverage to the roar of the crowd. The first celebrity to appear moments later was Mark Ruffalo, the young actor from You Can Count on Me, with his very pregnant wife, who probably had to say that she was due at the end of June about 300 times.
Next came the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president, Bob Rehme. He told Archerd about the new theater being built for the Academy Awards show in Hollywood, near where the show first aired. Guess now the event won’t have to bounce from the Shrine to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Archerd then conducted some audience polls to see who we thought would win this fine evening. It was a tad hard to distinguish who actually won, since the crowd simply never stopped screaming.
Composer Hans Zimmer, nominated in the Best Original Score category for the film Gladiator, came up to talk. He was very excited, both about the evening ahead and the soundtrack he is currently working on for Pearl Harbor, the big blockbuster coming out Memorial Day weekend. “I hope I can go into work a little late tomorrow…I want to have a hangover,” he told Archerd.
Chow Yun-Fat, star of the spectacular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, happily climbed the platform to talk. “Last year I was a king [having starred in Anna and the King, nominated last year]. This year, a warrior.” Chow’s wife, however, ran behind the publicist when asked to come up too. A little shy, we guess.
4:30
The celebrities were really pouring in and the bleachers were going insane. Oscar nominee Benicio Del Toro got a huge response and politely waved to the crowds as they screamed his name, over and over. Del Toro’s competition in the Best Supporting Actor category, Joaquin Phoenix, enjoyed playing to the audience with wacky ease. He looked like he was having a blast. At one point, Phoenix even ran up to the side of the bleachers and grabbed some of the fans’ hands.
Mike Myers said that he “really, really enjoyed” working with Gwyneth Paltrow in his next film. Oscar nominee Javier Bardem was just ready to party, “even if it’s a loser party.”
Singer Bjork, nominated for Best Original Song, strode by, dressed in a swan. Yep, a swan. She didn’t make it to Archerd’s podium.
When asked if her mother, Goldie Hawn, was watching the show somewhere else, the exquisite nominee Kate Hudson replied, “Oh no. She’s on her way.”
And the stars just kept coming – Michael Douglas and his beautiful bride, Catherine Zeta-Jones; the stunning Oscar nominee Laura Linney, dressed in red; Winona Ryder, with blonde highlights; Ashley Judd, looking very ’20s retro; the elegant Michelle Yeoh. Oscar nominees Ellen Burstyn and Judi Dench shared a moment together, two acting greats getting a chance to meet one another; Halle Berry smiled beautifully at her fans.
And Angelina Jolie, dressed in a sharp white pantsuit and looking a lot fresher than she did the previous year, ran up to the bleachers and gave autographs. The crowd went wild.
And when two young women across the way were just desperate to get the hunky Ben Affleck to look up at them, they simply melted when he gave them what they wanted.
5:25
With Archerd counting the minutes before the show was to start, the celebrities were on a mad dash to get inside to their seats. Oscar nominee Julia Roberts and her date, Benjamin Bratt, rushed by, but not before Julia flashed those pearly whites at us. Jennifer Lopez had just enough time to wave a little.
Last but not least, Russell Crowe, with his cool Aussie manner, made his way through to the throngs screaming their adulation.
At this point even we were shouting names and waving when the stars looked up — the spirit of the evening was definitely taking hold.
And we hope we can do it again.
