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The Oscar Moments You Didn't See on TV

By SANDY COHEN | AP Entertainment Writer

9:24 AM EST, February 25, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Most of the action on the Oscar stage is choreographed and rehearsed. Backstage is another story.

In the wings of the Kodak Theatre, stars grapple with nerves, have impromptu meetings with colleagues and make last-minute adjustments to their hair and makeup. Presenters and performers mingle with brand-new Oscar winners while dodging props and cameramen.

What you see on TV is Hollywood magic. Backstage is like a home movie, where everybody knows each other and they're all excited about putting on a show.

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OSCAR SHOCK: As Marion Cotillard stepped offstage with the best-actress Oscar for "La Vie En Rose," Forest Whitaker enveloped her in a hug that lasted at least a minute.

Then they looked at each other and laughed.

"I'm shaking, like wow," Cotillard trembled.

Stopping by the backstage "thank you" cam, she expressed her gratitude in French and studied her Oscar.

"I'm shaking so much I think I can't talk," she said.

Whitaker led her arm-in-arm behind the stage on the winner's walk.

"This is huge, this is huge," she gushed as backstage workers applauded.

At a stop for a makeup touch up she tried to breathe deeply.

"This is crazy, this is totally crazy. Ooh la la la la! It's totally surreal," she said.

Tilda Swinton was so stunned by her win for supporting actress in "Michael Clayton" that she could only keep repeating "wow, wow" as she walked offstage.

Presenter Alan Arkin chased her with the winner's envelope.

"Oh yes, this is the proof," Swinton said, leaving arm-in-arm with Arkin.

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JITTERS: Katherine Heigl wasn't kidding when she told the Oscar audience she was nervous.

Behind the scenes, a stagehand asked if she was OK.

"I just need a cigarette," she said, bumming one from a security guard and heading out to a loading dock.