Celebs in the News: James Franco Tweeted, TwitPic'd During Oscars Hosting Gig

'127 Hours' star uploaded series of backstage videos, candid photos throughout broadcast.
By Gil Kaufman

James Franco backstage at the 2011 Oscars
Photo: James Franco

The Oscars were going for young and hip, and they definitely got it in co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway. In fact, Franco dragged the often staid 83rd annual Academy Awards right up to the present by tweeting about his hosting gig during the broadcast and uploading a series of backstage videos and candid photos to his followers.

He started off his day by posting a video of himself groggily waking up before getting ready for his big gig, then posting a series of photos of the hours leading up to the show and a video preview of his social media plans. "Hey there, it's James Franco. I am talking to you from my suite pretty close to the Kodak Theatre," he said, panning across his room. "You should look out for a few tweets during the show."

As the magic hour approached, the multi-hyphenate actor/artist/Ph.D. student uploaded photos showing him escorting his grandmother into the theater, getting his makeup on, frowning in a high school senior superlative Best Smile pic to remind himself to show his pearly whites during the broadcast and encouraging fans to follow him at the hashtag #OscarsRealTime.

What followed were clips of him entering the elevator on his way up to the stage, a video of his backstage walk to the holding area and, under the heading "these were my famous last words," a clip of him saying nervously, "It might be bad," as an offscreen voice asked him for any parting words to his fans before walking out to open the show.

Franco also posted a clip of him and Hathaway laughing while watching a video together during a commercial break early in their duties, a photo of him flipping off the camera while getting his Marilyn Monroe dress and makeup applied and a video of him waiting to take the stage in drag. Other postings included a video of him interviewing the Oscars head writer backstage during the show and a photo of him and Hathaway with Oprah Winfrey.

He was seemingly as busy behind the scenes as he was in front of them, as he found time to snap photos with Billy Crystal, take a pic of himself onstage, shoot video from the wings of Randy Newman's performance and film a clip of a commercial break bit of time filler during which Hathaway joked with the audience about taping PowerBars under the nominees' seats so they could keep their energy up during the show.

Given the volume of material Franco posted, it's a wonder he could even concentrate on his hosting duties. He also gave a video glimpse of Florence Welch getting ready to perform, another of him self-deprecatingly listening to the intro to the segment on his work in "127 Hours" and a clip of him getting a late-show hand massage from Hathaway. One photo showed him having a post-Oscars celebratory drink with the words "Goodbye LA" scrawled on the pic. This was followed by a shot outside his plane window with the caption, "It was fun! Have to get back to class!"

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