The 2025 Oscars are here, and Remezcla had the exclusive opportunity to attend rehearsals for the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. And this time around, we were up close and personal with the stage.
This year, there’s plenty to celebrate regarding Latine talent nominated for their work. Colman Domingo is coming for that Best Actor win, with his second-ever Oscar nomination for Sing Sing. If he wins, he’ll be the first Afro-Latino to win an Oscar. Then there’s Fernanda Torres. The Brazilian actress nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for I’m Still Here. Like Colman, she would be making history if she wins as no Brazilian has ever won an Oscar. Zoe Saldaña would also be making history if she wins Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Pérez as no Dominican has ever won an Oscar.
Last year when we attended the 2024 Oscars rehearsal, we said “The beloved awards ceremony is a careful ballet with actors, directors, and a whole production team built on trust and the kind of comfort that only comes from knowing that they’re all in this together.” For the 2025 Oscars rehearsal, we still agree with these words. We just got to see the team behind the Oscars a little bit more up close. We’re talking orchestra close where we could see their monitors as they ran through lines and brought out celebrities like Andrew Garfield, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Oprah Winfrey.
And that changed how we see the Oscars, again.
First up was Ana de Armas and Sterling K. Brown. As someone who has been bamboozled by his smile and voice during an interview with him, we recognized him instantly. He was wearing a brown hat, shorts, and a hoodie that read “PARADISE,” his new Hulu series. Armas had her hair pinned up with a black long-sleeve top and a leather skirt with silver buttons. They were both listening intently as the production team guided them through where they had to stand and how they had to enter. And Brown did it with a smile and an energy that said he was wide awake while de Armas was us, wishing we were still in bed on an early Saturday morning.
In between bringing in the next presenters, the stage continued to transform. Screens floated down from God knows where, the floor opened up and made me go, “Oh, that’s where that hides,” and they made me pause when they revealed that the orchestra was behind the stage on a lifted platform and that a man in white gloves stands in front of the teleprompter counting down the actors. In addition, lights were turning on and off all over, including the shimmering light strip that ran behind all the seats in the main orchestra. Even the speakers were going off, in seemingly random waves, but actually, they were being tested for the 2025 Oscars.
Next up was Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Last year she won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Holdovers. Now she’s back as a presenter. Wearing a floral jumpsuit with pockets (the most important part of her outfit) and a headband from TLC with Taije, she went through her lines. And since a rehearsal is meant to work out the kinks of a show, it didn’t matter that Randolph stumbled a little and said about the teleprompter, “It’s covered.” before continuing with “Oh that’s intentional.” Emma Stone, who also won an Oscar during last year’s ceremony, and was back as presenter also fumbled with her lines and kept going. She tiptoed to the mic, obviously having fun even though early, and fumbled with her lines before laughing and saying, “This is gonna go great.”
As more actors poured in, the crew at the 2025 Oscars kept hustling. They called out scenes with stacks of paper in their hands, made the actors run through their lines again and again, and pretended to accept awards because of course they take into account how long it would take a winner to walk down from their seat to the front stage and how long a speech would take. And as Miley Cyrus, Miles Teller, Whoopi Goldberg, and even Oprah took the stage, it was clear that the biggest night in Hollywood would be nearly impossible without the production team who run it like a well-oiled machine.
One of the most memorable moments during rehearsals came when Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn took the stage. Between Sterling K. Brown and Andrew Garfield, no one should look this good in the morning. That’s important to note. Garfield was wearing a striped button-up, white pants, and a blue cardigan across his shoulders. The glasses completed the charming boy next door look as he guided Hawn, who was wearing a black suit, to the Oscars stage.
While the 2025 Oscars production team was guiding them to their positions on stage and giving them the rundown of the day, Garfield had the goofiest smile on his face. And it wasn’t because he was on stage at the Oscars. His entire being was giving off “Do you see who I’m standing next to?! It’s Goldie Hawn!” At one point you could hear his honest-to-God giggle over the video presenting all the nominees as he continued to talk to Hawn. And then when he presented the Oscar to the fake winners of rehearsal he enthusiastically presented it like a kid showing his mom his macaroni art from school. He was pure joy.
We highlighted Garfield and Hawn in particular because they are an essential component of the Oscars. The production team and technicians guide things. They make sure the lights are on, the mics are working, and the stage transforms over and over again during the star-studded night with a seamlessness that anyone would envy. But the actors are also an essential component of a night that celebrates film. They bring that natural chemistry that makes this job fun. And they make viewers like us tune in year after year in hopes of witnessing these memorable interactions that you bring up way past the Oscars. Basically, it takes a village. And this one in particular is going to kill it at the 2025 Oscars.
The 97th Academy Awards ceremony broadcasts live on March 2, 2025, on ABC at 7 p.m. EST.
