Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, and Christoph Waltz: Behind the scenes at the Oscars

Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, and other Oscar winners and presenters talked backstage. Anne Hathaway took home the Best Supporting Actress prize for the movie 'Les Miserables,' while Jennifer Lawrence took Best Actress for 'Silver Linings Playbook,' and Christoph Waltz snagged Best Supporting Actor for 'Django Unchained.'

OSCAR IS TRIP FOR LAWRENCE

Jennifer Lawrence's performance in "Silver Linings Playbook" was flawless enough to capture the best actress Oscar. She wasn't so adroit in claiming the trophy.

Lawrence stumbled as she took the steps to the Oscar stage, falling to her knees in her flowing Dior gown. That drew a sympathetic ovation from the auditorium.

She remained endearingly flustered during her acceptance speech, thanking her family, those who worked with her on the film and wishing a "Happy Birthday" to a fellow nominee, Emmanuelle Riva of "Amour," who turned 86.

"Look at this dress. I tried to walk up stairs in this dress," Lawrence said of her white, floor-length gown. "I think I stepped on the fabric and they wax the stairs."

Lawrence said she thought of a "bad word" to say when she tumbled but kept it to herself.

She had already been bleeped by ABC when she let loose with a four-letter word while joking with Kristin Chenoweth on the red carpet.

–Lynn Elber

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QUICKQUOTE: BEN AFFLECK

"I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It's good, it is work, but it's the best kind of work. There's no one I'd rather work with." — Ben Affleck, thanking his wife, Jennifer Garner, as he accepted the best picture Oscar for "Argo."

–Christina Hoag

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ACTING GODS, TOGETHER

For a moment, it looked the Oscar stage had turned into the Mount Olympus of acting, with British actor Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep standing together.

Though he's not known for comedy, Day-Lewis got a big laugh when he turned to Streep, who had just presented him the best-actor trophy – his third – and said he'd actually originally been slated to play Margaret Thatcher, the role Streep won the Oscar for last year in "The Iron Lady."

And, he added, Streep had actually been director Steven Spielberg's original choice for Abraham Lincoln.

"I'd like to see that version," Day-Lewis quipped.

With his win for "Lincoln," Day-Lewis became the first person to win three best-actor Oscars. Streep has won three Oscars too, one of them as supporting actress.

–Jocelyn Noveck

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QUICKQUOTE: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS

"I love it when people are completely inarticulate giving speeches because it says the same thing in a different way." –Daniel Day-Lewis backstage, discussing the unpolished thank yous he gave after winning the lead actor award for "Lincoln."

–Hannah Dreier

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QUICKQUOTE: ANG LEE

"I think sometimes this disadvantage can be an advantage. The fact that I come from another culture makes me special." –Ang Lee of Taiwan, encouraging Asian and other non-American filmmakers to take on Hollywood after he won the directing Oscar for "Life of Pi."

–Hannah Dreier

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MASTER-FUL EXIT

In recent years, everyone would head for the door as soon as the best picture winner – the last Oscar category in the show – was announced.

This year, organizers hoped to get attendees to stick around until the end of the show for a closing performance from Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth, which was dedicated to all the evening's Oscar losers.

Well, one pair of "losers" weren't interested. "The Master" stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman bolted for the door at the beginning of the song.

–Derrik J. Lang

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THANKING THE 'MOVIE GOD'

Ang Lee had his priorities in order when he gave one of his first thank you's to the "movie god."

The Taiwanese director pulled off a huge upset when he won an Academy Award for directing "Life of Pi." He beat out front-runner and two-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg.

Lee also gave a shoutout to the shipwreck story's lead actor, Suraj Sharma, but didn't thank the rest of the cast by name.

"I cannot waste this time talking about them," he said sheepishly.

He did slip in a quick mention of his agent, his lawyer and of course his wife.

"I have to do that," he said.

Hannah Dreier

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THE AVENGERS REUNITE

Just like the superheroes they played in the movie, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson huddled together backstage to joke around.

Downey suggested the stars of "The Avengers" bow as they headed onstage to make Oscar presentations. Or perhaps curtsy.

When a show worker asked Jackson to stand still so he could be wired with a microphone, the actor faced a backstage wall and pretended he was being frisked by police.

To pass the time, the superheroes watched Melissa McCarthy and Paul Rudd from a backstage monitor.

Suddenly Ruffalo asked, "Did we miss our cue?"

"You want to go out there with them?" asked Jackson.

After presenting two awards, the actors returned backstage, where Downey quipped, "Avengers disassemble."

–Sandy Cohen

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QUICKQUOTE: QUENTIN TARANTINO

"I'm not an American filmmaker. I'm American and I'm a filmmaker, but I make movies for planet Earth" –Quentin Tarantino, tie loosened, talking with his hands and drifting into an Australian accent backstage after winning the Oscar for original screenplay for "Django Unchained."

–Hannah Dreier

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KRISTEN STEWART HOBBLED

Backstage, Kristen Stewart ran into supporting actress winner Anne Hathaway, who noted her crutches.

"I know, I'm an idiot," Stewart replied. "But congratulations!"

"Please tell me you're going on stage with those," Hathaway said, pointing to the crutches.

"Nope. I'm gonna hobble," said Stewart, explaining that she had stepped on glass.

–Beth Harris

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NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON

As soon as British singer Adele stepped off the stage after singing the Oscar-winning theme from "Skyfall," she kicked off her sparkly Louboutin platforms.

"I'm sorry. (Forget) that," she said, flinging the shoes onto the floor. A stagehand quickly swooped them up.

"I'd pick them up but I can't bend over," she said, motioning toward her tight beaded dress.

–Sandy Cohen

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BASSEY HITS IT OUTTA THE PARK

For all the sparkling young starlets and the edgy new host, it was none other than Dame Shirley Bassey who set the joint on fire early in the Oscar telecast.

The 76-year-old singer's rendition of the theme from "Goldfinger" – or, as she sang so memorably, "GoldfinGAH" – was a feel-good moment that won what was at the time the biggest ovation of the night.

Bassey, who recorded the song in the '60s to great acclaim, reprised it as part of the Academy's 50th anniversary tribute to the James Bond franchise.

Minutes after the performance, the singer and her song were trending on Twitter.

–Jocelyn Noveck

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QUICKQUOTE: CHRISTOPH WALTZ

"Quentin writes poetry and I like poetry." –Supporting actor winner and Austrian Christoph Waltz of "Django Unchained" about working with writer-director Quentin Tarantino.

–Beth Harris

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MAYBE IT LOOKED EASY...

Charlize Theron, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were one big bundle of nerves before they took the stage for their opening song-and-dance numbers.

Radcliffe danced by himself. Theron dabbed at her eyes and Gordon-Levitt stood silently as Oscar host Seth MacFarlane delivered the Oscar show's opening monologue.

Then it was time to hit the stage.

"Thank God!" Theron said afterward as she let out a sigh of relief.

"You stepped on my dress," she told Tatum.

Radcliffe and Gordon-Levitt bear-hugged after their dance routine.

"We did all right! We did all right," they told each other.

"It felt good! How did it look?" Gordon-Levitt asked.

"Well done," Radcliffe told him.

— Sandy Cohen