Update 9:12 p.m.
“Birdman” has been named best picture.
Update 9:10 p.m.
The winner of the Oscar for best actress is Julianne Moore for her portrayal of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease in “Still Alice.”
Updated 9:05 p.m.
The winner of the Oscar for best actress is Julianne Moore for her portrayal of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease in “Still Alice.”
Updated 9 p.m.
Eddie Redmayne has won the best actor Oscar for his portryal of Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”
Update: 8:45 p.m.
Alejandro Inarritu has been named best director for “Birdman.”
Update: 8:40 p.m.
The adapted screenplay Oscar winner is Graham Moore for “The Imitation Game.”
Update: 8:35 p.m.
The Oscar for best original screenplay goes to Alejandro Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Armando Bo for “Birdman.”
Update: 8:25 p.m.
Alexandre Desplat is a first-time Oscar winner for his original score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Update: 8:09 p.m.
“Glory” from “Selma,” has won the Oscar for best original song. Common and John Legend are first-time Academy Award winners for their music and lyrics.
Update: 7:58 p.m.
“CitizenFour” has been named best documentary feature. Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky are first-time Oscar winners.
Update: 7:45 p.m.
The film editing Oscar goes to first-time nominee Tom Cross for “Whiplash.” It’s the third Oscar for the film.
Update: 7:29 p.m.
The Oscar for achievement in cinematography goes to Emmanuel Lubezki for “Birdman.” It’s his second consecutive win — he won last year for “Gravity.”
Update: 7:25 p.m.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” production design team has won an Oscar. It’s the third Academy Award for the film.
Update 7:18 p.m.
The Oscar-winning animated feature film is “Big Hero 6.” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli are first-time Academy Award winners.
Update: 7:13 p.m.
“Feast” has just been named best animated short film at the 87th Academy Awards. Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed are first-time Oscar winners.
Update: 7:05 p.m.
The Oscar winners for achievement in visual effects are Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher for “Interstellar.”
Update: 7 p.m.
Patricia Arquette is the best supporting actress winner for “Boyhood.”
Update: 6:55 p.m.
The winners of the Academy Award for sound mixing are Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley for “Whiplash.” And for sound editing, the Oscar goes to Alan Robert Murray and Bob Asman for “American Sniper.”
Update: 6:36 p.m.
The winners of the Oscar for best documentary short are Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry for “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1.”
Update: 6:35 p.m
The Oscar winners for live action short film are Mat Kirkby and James Lucas for “The Phone Call.”
Update: 6:15 p.m.
The Academy Award winner for best foreign language film is “Ida” from Poland.
Update: 6:02 p.m.
The winners of the Oscar for achievement in makeup and hairstyling are Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Update: 6 p.m.
The winner of the Academy Award for costume design is Milena Canonero for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Update: 5:45 p.m.
The first Oscar of the night — best supporting actor — goes to J.K. Simmons for “Whiplash.”
Backstage at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, best supporting actor Oscar winner J.K. Simmons cautioned anyone drawn to the arts to make sure there is absolutely “nothing else” they can imagine doing.
“You know what, I almost got back on the bus a handful of times. And if I had any really reasonable options in terms of employment, I probably would have. But unfortunately, I didn’t, or fortunately, I guess …” the Detroit native said.
He said he’s “always felt that … if you are in any kind of an artistic, creative endeavor and you feel that there’s something else you could do for a living and be happy, I think you should do something else because you are much more likely to find comfort and happiness. And if you can look deeply within yourself and honestly answer that there is nothing else that will bring you satisfaction, then there’s your answer.”
Simmons remembered his early years in regional theater fondly.
“The lean times were a wonderful and beautiful time of my life,” he said, recalling that he “had no responsibilities other than feeding myself and trying to be a decent human being and trying to get better at what I was wanting to do.”
The 60-year-old character actor has worked on the stage, in film and in television, but joked that he may be best known for appearing in commercials for Farmers Insurance.
“Maybe more people saw me tonight than see me in the commercials, finally,” Simmons told reporters.
Simmons previously took home Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for his portrayal of Fletcher, a music instructor who uses brutal tactics to push a young drummer to excel, in “Whiplash.”
“The movie hit people because (writer-director) Damien Chazelle had a life experience that he wanted to expound on and fictionalize,” Simmons said. “He is a brilliant, brilliant, creative artist.”
Chazelle was able to create characters that “clearly and simply lift off the page,” Simmons said.
Asked whether he thought Academy voters appreciated Fletcher’s ruthlessness, Simmons called it a loaded question.
“I think there is much to admire in Fletcher’s passion for art … I don’t find much to admire in his pedagogy,” he said.
The Oscar “means more opportunities,” Simmons said, calling it the “cherry on top of the extraordinary experience that ‘Whiplash’ has been for me.”
— City News Service