The Hilarious Beauty Moments That Happened Backstage at the Oscars, but You Never Saw

Updated on Feb 26, 2019 at 10:40 AM

There's a reason stars step onto the Oscars stage glowing like someone plugged them in, and it's called attentive glam squads and pricey skin treatments. How presenters, performers, and winners manage to continue looking that way for the rest of the evening, however — despite crying, sniffling, or sweating? Well, there's a whole hair and makeup team for that.

"You run on stage with Q-tips and Kleenex in case you need to mitigate any makeup smears."

Nestled between the press room and stage right sits a crew of eagle-eyed beauty pros waiting to perform touch-up magic. "It's a madhouse, like nothing you've ever seen," said makeup head for the Academy Awards Bruce Grayson. "Smoky eyes are really what you have to look out for, because if somebody cries or the makeup starts running, it takes extra steps to get it back to the integrity of what the original makeup artist created."

The perfect example is Regina King. "She looked like she was about to swell up [after her win]," he said. "You run on stage with Q-tips and Kleenex in case you need to mitigate any makeup smears, but in this case it didn't end up happening." Sometimes, of course, things don't go as smoothly — and he's dishing all of those hilarious moments ahead.

First, a Note About the "Touch-Up" Room

If you're wondering what a touch-up station looks like, this is it — and it was bigger for this year's Oscars than ever before. "Most presenters and winners exit and enter off stage right, and there's a hallway right there that leads to the green room, and right next to the green room, and equipment room turned functioning hair and makeup room," Grayson said. "It's usually pretty small, but we were presenter-heavy this show, so they gave us more room. It's the first place they go before they go to the winner's den, where the press does interviews and take photos. It's a moment for them to regain themselves."

The Real Reason Behind Melissa McCarthy's Updo

"Melissa McCarthy's look to present best costume was what kept us up all night late Friday — we were in panic mode trying to put it all together," said Grayson. "She was the second act to present, so it was very early on in the show. She came flying off the red carpet, so she was late getting there. If you'll notice, when she was on the red carpet, her hair was up in an updo. That was so we could mash it down and put on the ball cap and get her into the FX makeup."

Getting Melissa McCarthy Into Costume

"She was wearing a half bald cap to look like Mary Queen of Scots. Anthony Wilson, who runs the hair department at the Oscars, had to put on a wig to have her hair spike up. Since things were running late, we had 15 minutes to put on the half-bald cap. James [MacKinnon, from the makeup team] was coloring it and drying it as they were walking out of the door. I kept thinking, 'If that 10-gallon hat takes off the bald cap, we're screwed.'"

How Rami Malek Avoided a Beauty Conundrum

"The request goes through an usher, the usher tells the escort, the escort tells the stage manager, and then the stage manager comes rushing to me."

Sometimes, Grayson's team has to make room for off-the-cuff requests. "Rami [Malek] had a dry contact lens and needed eye drops, so we had to do a handoff in the theater," he explained. "It's one of those funny things that happens when someone is in the audience, but they can't stand up during the show. First, the request goes through an usher, the usher tells the escort, the escort tells the stage manager, and then the stage manager comes rushing to me. I'll find whatever it is they need — we have everything up there! — then the chain of command goes the opposite way."

The First Thing Lady Gaga Did After Her Oscars Win

OK, fine. It wasn't go to the touch-up station. The first thing Lady Gaga said as she walked offstage after winning the Oscar for best song was, "I need a drink!" This, Grayson explains, was all before any makeup touch-ups. "I've worked several shows where Gaga has won and she was a mess," he said with a laugh. "She gets emotional. But for this show, because she was a performer, she was able to bring her makeup artist Sarah Tanno on-site."

(For the record, Tanno said she used Marc Jacobs's Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara ($26) so avoid any mascara smudges, so that's gotta help.)

Marc Jacobs's Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara

From

$26

On Placing Bets With Guillermo del Toro

In the most interesting fact of the day, "Guillermo del Toro — who gave out the best director award — was an FX makeup artist in Mexico before becoming a director," said Grayson. "So he's just really funny to have in the makeup chair. He kept betting me on who was going to win each award as I was making him up. He'd say, 'Who do you think is going to win?' and I'd go, 'Bradley Cooper,' and he'd go, 'No, Malik! Five pesos. Ten pesos!'"

How Kacey Musgraves Handled a Wardrobe Malfunction

In addition to the hair and makeup team in the room working on touch-ups, there's also a seamstress on site to help with any fashion crisis. "Kacey Musgraves was in the room for a while because her pink flowy gown had a mishap. That was being sewn, and it was also an opportunity to compose herself before going back out there — [the Oscars are] totally out of her element, so it was a moment to pause."

Why It's OK to Let the Tears Roll

"During Olivia Colman's speech, you could see that tears were running down her face, so we got her all touched up," Grayson said. "But you can't put a timeline on people's emotions. Eyes don't stop tearing; noses don't stop running. After she left us, when she went to the press tent, and I could see her nose went red again. That's all part of live TV and why I love it — you get to see the evidence of one's emotions."

After all, isn't that what show biz is all about anyway?