Ben Stiller pretended to suffer a stage mishap in a hilarious bit, while presenting at the Oscars this Sunday at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

Parks And Recreation star Nick Offerman, who was narrating the ceremony, introduced him once – then again when he failed to materialize the first time.

At that point Ben, 59, began to be lifted onto the stage from underneath with the help of an elevator, only for the machine to stall.

To gales of laughter from the audience, Ben stared out at them stony-faced, visible only from the chest up because of the supposedly malfunctioning lift.

The Tropic Thunder star got an even bigger laugh from the ᴀssembled celebrities when he announced the category he was presenting – production design.

‘It is a field where the slightest miscalculation can lose the trust of the audience and humiliate the performers onscreen,’ he ᴅᴇᴀᴅpanned.

Ben Stiller pretended to suffer a stage mishap in a hilarious bit, while presenting at the Oscars this Sunday at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre

As he worked his way through his speech, he clambered painfully out of the lift and onto the stage, stumbling as he went.

Once he got to his proper mark, Ben presented the Oscar for best production design to Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for Wicked. 

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This year’s Oscars are hosted by beloved former late-night host Conan O’Brien, who is compering the ceremony for the first time.

After his hiring was announced, the famously self-effacing comedian joked: ‘I only agreed to host so that I could get invited.’ 

Emilia Pérez, the Spanish-language musical starring Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon, leads the nominations with 13 nods including best picture.

Karla is nominated for best actress for her performance as a cartel chief who pretends to die in order to transition into a woman.

Her Oscars campaign was torpedoed by resurfaced old tweets in which Karla made controversial remarks on such subjects as George Floyd and Islam.

Zoe is also nominated for best supporting actress, with Jacques Audriard also in the running for best director for his work on the picture.

Parks And Recreation star Nick Offerman , who was narrating the ceremony, introduced him once – then again when he failed to materialize the first time

At that point Ben, 59, began to be lifted onto the stage from underneath with the help of an elevator, only for the machine to stall

To gales of laughter from the audience, Ben stared out at them stony-faced, visible only from the chest up because of the supposedly malfunctioning lift

The Tropic Thunder star got an even bigger laugh from the ᴀssembled celebrities when he announced the category he was presenting – production design

‘It is a field where the slightest miscalculation can lose the trust of the audience and humiliate the performers onscreen,’ he ᴅᴇᴀᴅpanned

As he worked his way through his speech, he clambered painfully out of the lift and onto the stage, stumbling as he went

Once he got to his proper mark, Ben presented the Oscar for best production design to Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for Wicked

The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody as a Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivor working as an architect in postwar America, is just behind Emilia Perez with 10 nods.

Adrien is nominated for best actor, as are Brady Corbet for best director, Guy Pearce for best supporting actor and Felicity Jones for best supporting actress.

Wicked is tied with The Brutalist with 10 nods, including best picture, best actress for Cynthia Erivo and best supporting actress for Ariana Grande. 

Anora, Sean Baker’s rollicking Palme d’Or winner from last year’s Cannes Film Festival, is also competing for the best picture honor.

Its leading lady Mikey Madison is up for best actress for her role as a New York stripper, as is Russian actor Yura Borisov for best supporting actor. 

Other best picture nominees include the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet, who is in contention for best actor. 

The drama Conclave about the election of a new Pope, the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two and the Brazilian political film I’m Still Here are also up for best picture.

So is last year’s buzzy horror film The Substance, whose leading lady Demi Moore is nominated for best actress for the first time in her long and glamorous career. 

Adrien was widely tipped to win best actor, until Timothee won the Screen Actors Guild Award last weekend in a surprise turn that has upset many predictions.

Best actress is a hazier category, with some predicting that Demi will win after the shower of acclaim she received for her comeback performance in The Substance.

Kieran Culkin seems likely to win best supporting actor for A Real Pain, written and directed by his co-star Jesse Eisenberg, given he has swept the awards circuit so far.

Zoe has also landed a number of wins on the awards circuit for best supporting actress, in a category that includes Ariana Grande as Glinda in Wicked and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. 

Anora won best picture at both the Directors Guild Of America Awards and the Producers Guild Of America Awards, both of which are regarded as bellwethers for the Oscars, particularly taken together. 

Oscar winners 2025 full list – see who received honors for this year’s Academy Awards

 Best Picture

Anora – WINNER

The Brutalist 

A Complete Unknown 

Conclave 

Dune: Part Two 

Emilia Pérez 

I’m Still Here 

Nickel Boys 

The Substance 

Wicked

Emilia Pérez leads this year’s Oscar nominees with 13, including for best picture, actress, supporting actress and director

Best Director 

Jacques Audiard — Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker — Anora – WINNER

Brady Corbet — The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat — The Substance

James Mangold — A Complete Unknown

Actress in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo — Wicked 

Karla Sofía Gascón — Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison — Anora – WINNER

Demi Moore — The Substance 

Fernanda Torres — I’m Still Here 

The Substance has been nominated for numerous Oscars, including Best Actress for Demi Moore 

 

Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody — The Brutalist – WINNER

Timothée Chalamet — A Complete Unknown 

Colman Domingo — Sing Sing 

Ralph Fiennes — Conclave 

Sebastian Stan — The Apprentice

The Brutalist came in second place with 10 nods, including for best picture, actor (Adrien Brody), supporting actor (Guy Peare) and supporting actress (Felicity Jones)

 

Actress in a Supporting Role

Monica Barbaro — A Complete Unknown 

Ariana Grande — Wicked 

Felicity Jones — The Brutalist 

Isabella Rossellini — Conclave 

Zoe Saldaña — Emilia Pérez – WINNER

Actor in a Supporting Role

Yura Borisov — Anora 

Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain – WINNER

Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown 

Guy Pearce — The Brutalist 

Jeremy Strong — The Apprentice 

Animated Feature Film

Flow – WINNER

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail 

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Cinematography

The Brutalist — Lol Crawley – WINNER

Dune: Part Two — Greig Fraser

Emilia Pérez — Paul Guilhaume 

Maria — Ed Lachman 

Nosferatu — Jarin Blaschke

Original Screenplay

Anora — Sean Baker – WINNER

The Brutalist — Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold 

A Real Pain — Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 — Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; co-Written by Alex David

The Substance — Coralie Fargeat

Adapted Screenplay

A Complete Unknown —  James Mangold and Jay Cocks 

Conclave — Peter Straughan – WINNER

Emilia Pérez — Jacques Audiard with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi

Nickel Boys — RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing — Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield

Achievement in Production Design

The Brutalist 

Conclave 

Dune: Part Two 

Nosferatu 

Wicked – Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales – WINNER

Achievement in Sound

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two – WINNER

Emilia Pérez 

Wicked 

The Wild Robot

Original Song 

El Mal – Emilia Pérez – Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard – WINNER

The Journey – The Six Triple Eight

Like A Bird – Sing Sing

Mi Camino – Emilia Pérez

Never Too Late – Elton John: Never Too Late

Original Score  

The Brutalist — Daniel Blumberg – WINNER

Conclave — Volker Bertelmann

Emilia Pérez — Clément Ducol and Camille 

Wicked — John Powell and Stephen Schwartz

The Wild Robot — Kris Bowers

Live-Action Short Film

A Lien 

Anuja 

I’m Not a Robot – WINNER

The Last Ranger 

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Animated Short Film

Beautiful Men

In the Shadow of the Cypress – WINNER

Magic Candies

Wander to Wonder

Yuck!

Documentary Feature Film

Black Box Diaries

No Other Land – WINNER

Porcelain War 

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat 

Sugarcane

Flow is nominated for both International Feature Film and Animated Feature Film

Documentary Short Film

Death by Numbers 

I Am Ready, Warden

Incident 

Instruments of a Beating Heart 

The Only Girl in the Orchestra – WINNER

International Feature Film

I’m Still Here (Brazil) – WINNER

The Girl With the Needle (Denmark)

Emilia Pérez (France) 

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)

Flow (Latvia) 

Kieran Culkin has dominated the supporting actor categories in recent weeks for Jesse Eisenberg’s drama A Real Pain

Makeup and Hairstyling

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez 

Nosferatu

The Substance – Pierre Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli – WINNER

Wicked 

 

Achievement in Costume Design

A Complete Unknown — Arianne Phillips

Conclave — Lisy Christl

Gladiator II — Janty Yates and Dave Crossman 

Nosferatu — Linda Muir

Wicked — Paul Tazewell – WINNER

 

Achievement in Film Editing

Anora — Sean Baker – WINNER

The Brutalist — David Jancso

Conclave — Nick Emerson 

Emilia Pérez — Juliette Welfling

Wicked — Myron Kerstein 

Anora is nominated for several Oscars, including best picture, actress, supporting actor, director, screenplay and editing

Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two  – WINNER

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked