With Oscar race locked, actresses celebrate backstage anyway

Pundits were -- correctly -- unanimous that Jessie Buckley would win for her tear-jerking turn as William Shakespeare's wife in "Hamnet." But that did not stop her rival nominees enjoying the night -- if anything, they were the life and soul of the party. Emma Stone, a two-time best actress winner already, spent much of the ceremony happily chatting backstage with friends and admirers in the theater's most exclusive lobby. "The bar is the place!" Stone, nominated for her role in conspiracy theory thriller "Bugonia," told AFP.