Preparations underway for 90th Oscars

LOS ANGELES (KGO) -- On the Friday before Oscar Sunday, among the lighting crews and media from all over the globe, the "stars" walking the plastic-covered red carpet look...a bit different.

"I play Sam Rockwell, he's one of my favorite actors, he's terrific." smiles Ron Waldron, who has been a stand-in rehearsal actor for the real celebs since 1984.

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The A-list actors are often busy and don't have time to rehearse the show and test lighting and sound, so these professional actors act as they double. It's often their only shot at being part of the real thing.

Bernadette Guckin has been a rehearsal actor for several years and is a self-described Hollywood junkie, reading trade magazines and keeping up with all the stars, including writers and directors. She says when their character wins an Oscar in rehearsal, they're the ones who go up, improvise and make an acceptance speech.

"We all have an Oscar moment of winning and act all excited and it's like a dream come true."

Then there are different kinds of stars, like Oakland's own Raphael Saadiq, a 1st time nominee for best original song, Mighty River, in the movie Mudbound. This is his gift back to the Bay Area. "The bay always held me up and it's good you know, to show love back to the bay."

Ask if he's going to take home that golden Oscar statuette come Sunday? He's not so sure.

"We're taking it one step at a time. I'm on the court and let's see if we can shoot a three like Goldn State!"

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Neither is film critic and historian Leonard Maltin. "I expect the unexpected at this year's Academy Awards."

What is for certain-this year's nominated pictures that are highly stylized.

"These are not the marvel superhero movies that make a gazillion dollars. The one of the thing I like about the Oscars is that they call attention to those films and maybe inspire people to go out and see them."

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