Golden Globes 2012: Backstage Gossip
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — There are 17 cameras scattered throughout the Beverly Hilton's International Ballroom, capturing the action inside the Golden Globes, but even they can't see everything. From the cocktail lounge to the outdoor smoking patio to the winner's walk through the kitchen, here's a running look at the starry happenings you didn't see on TV:
3 p.m. PST – Maybe he was afraid they would lock the door on him. Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais, whose sharp-tongued wisecracks ruffled the feathers of some celebrity attendees at last year's show, was among the first to arrive for this year's Golden Globes. He got here two hours early, stopping outside long enough to say he won't mind being offensive again – as long as he's funny.
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3:59 p.m. – Burning a couple of their 15 minutes of fame: Two men holding Ernst & Young metal briefcases, presumably with the winners' envelopes inside, proudly pose for photos at the International Ballroom stage where the show will take place.
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4:03 p.m. – Just about an hour to showtime and the early arrivals are doing a little star-gazing of their own. Big-screen TV monitors are showing all the action on the red carpet outside, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have just arrived.
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4:10 p.m. – "Slumdog Millionaire" star Freida Pinto needed some triage help in the ballroom's women's restroom, where makeup artists and hair stylists are on hand for quick fixes. Pinto's fashion emergency: threads from the red carpet were clinging to the hem of her sweeping teal blue dress. A quick swipe of a sticky tape roller had her back at the party.
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4:29 p.m. – A fashion disaster is narrowly avoided as Michael Fassbender tells Tilda Swinton he almost stepped on her dress as they made their way down the red carpet. After playfully pretending to attack him, Swinton begins to walk away but stops abruptly when she really does feel a foot on her dress. Fassbender laughs and tells her that one was deliberate.
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4:39 p.m. – Paul Giamatti walks briskly down the carpet, ignoring cameras and reporters, just before an announcement urging everyone to get inside prompts a stream of stars to head for the door.
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4:45 p.m.: Let the ridiculing of the rich and famous begin. "He's no doubt going to rip me apart," a smiling Gerard Butler says as he prepares for Ricky Gervais' opening routine.
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4:46 p.m. – It's Angelina Jolie's world and we just live in it. While everyone else is rushing for the door, Jolie remains on the red carpet, continuing to grant interviews. Asked to name one thing she's most looking forward to this evening, she laughs and says, "Getting into bed with Brad."
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4:49 p.m. – Now that voice of authority is inside the ballroom and it's saying: "Please take your seats. We're 10 minutes from showtime and we have to start on time."
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5:15 p.m. – As Laura Dern accepts her Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy or musical TV series, sitting in the audience beaming with pride is another Golden Globe winner, her mom. Dern's mother, Diane Ladd, won her Golden Globe in 1981 for best supporting actress in a series, miniseries or movie made for TV.
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5:16 p.m. Fifteen minutes into the show, a late arriving Queen Latifah finally gets to take her seat in the ballroom. Latifah, who arrived three minutes into Gervais' opening monologue, had to stand in the back until she was shown to her seat next to Mary J. Blige.
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5:25 p.m. – Who has time to sit down for dinner when there are awards to hand out? One of the night's first presenters, Mila Kunis, is seen downing finger sandwiches straight off the platter in a cocktail lounge adjacent to the ballroom.
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5:35 p.m. – The champagne and wine are flowing freely at the backstage bar, but Jane Lynch of "Glee" is sticking to the alcohol-free beer. Before taking a sip she stopped to pose for pictures with a starstruck waiter.
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5:47 p.m. – Let's not forget there was an important football game going on during much of the first hour of the Golden Globes. Awards presenter Ashton Kutcher didn't. Almost an hour into the show he took to Twitter to ask, "Who won the game?" For the record, it was the New York Giants coming out on top 37-20 over the Green Bay Packers.
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5:48 p.m.: Even stars have to wait in line for the ladies room at the Golden Globes, as Jessica Alba discovered. After letting out a quiet curse, the actress passed the time by chatting with security guards as she waited for the long line to go down.
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6 p.m. – The bigger the name, the quieter the room. When stars like Michelle Williams or Madonna accept their awards the audience shuts up and listens to what they have to say. Not so for lesser-known winners. During their acceptance speeches the hubbub often gets so loud that the room fills with "shhhs."
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6:07 p.m. – Talk about stage fright. "He'll think I'm weird," Emma Stone frets out loud as she and her "The Help" co-star Octavia Spencer approach Harrison Ford to ask if they can have a picture taken with him. Whatever he thought, Ford, who was seated with his wife, Calista Flockhart, smiled and graciously agreed to pose.
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6:19 p.m. – What would the union say about this? During a commercial break, "Glee's" Mark Salling pretends to film the Golden Globes with one of the show's cameras while his co-star Chris Colfer records the moment for posterity on his iPhone. "OK, got it!" Colfer said after shooting a few frames.
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6:30 p.m. – "Thirty seconds to air" was the announcement, and the challenge for George Clooney was to get back to his seat near the front of the packed ballroom before the show returned to TV. Turns out all he had to do was flash that charming Clooney smile and a path was cleared for him.
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7:04 p.m. – Julianna Margulies skips the Cecil B. DeMille Award presentation to Morgan Freeman in favor of a martini in the cocktail lounge. While enjoying her drink she checks out a friend's iPhone photos.
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7:04 p.m. – Those Christian Louboutin high heels may look cool on TV, but try walking a mile in them. "I'm sorry y'all, I love you but I have to kick these shoes off," Octavia Spencer announces to reporters backstage. She says she's switching to flip-flops for the rest of the night.
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7:18 p.m. – Oops, almost forgot. Eric Stonestreet was bolting for the stage to join his fellow "Modern Family" cast members in accepting the award for best TV musical or comedy when he suddenly remembered something he had to do first. He stopped to kiss his wife.
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7:30 p.m. – Did we say there's booze at this thing? "I thought you were supposed to be my bodyguard!" Madonna says to a friend after a drunken woman stops by her table to tell her what a big fan she is.
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7:30 p.m. – The crowd is building in the cocktail lounge and the haze is getting thicker on the smoking patio as the night is moving toward its end. "Hung" star Thomas Jane, in a rakish hat, scouts for a bite to eat but almost every deli tray is empty.
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7:43 p.m. – The announcer tells the crowd it's been a great evening but the show is running long and has to end on time. Upcoming winners must watch for their cues and really end their acceptance speeches when they're told to.
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7:47 p.m. – Overheard during a break in the show: "Dude, I've seen all you work. I'm working with Russell Crowe right now, and he brags about you." Mark Wahlberg to Guy Pearce.
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7:52 p.m. – He said he didn't think he'd win but he did. And after George Clooney took the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama he collected off-camera hugs from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
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7:54 p.m. – Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban decide to beat the traffic. With the final award, for best dramatic film, about to be announced, Kidman and Urban head for the door hand-in-hand.
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8 p.m. – The announcer needn't have worried. The show wrapped up right on time.
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AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this story.
AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: . www.twitter.com/APSandy
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SANDY COHEN and LYNN ELBER 01/15/12 11:17 PM ET Associated Press