Real Life, Hollywood Style

Between the stalking school of photojournalism practiced by the paparazzi and the manicured glamour shots known as celebrity photography is a vast territory known as real life, where the camera rarely goes.

The movie business is particularly reluctant to allow unpoliced cameras behind the scenes; the movies are, after all, in the business of manufacturing illusions. They certainly don’t want to reveal the cogs and wheels that grind to produce their night of nights, the Academy Awards show.

So it’s worth a trip to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to see “Behind the Scenes at the Oscars,” an exhibition of 55 photographs by Lara Jo Regan opening Friday. Shot at the rehearsals and broadcasts of the Oscar shows of the last four years, the work was commissioned by Premiere magazine, which gave Regan the gig “because I usually cover riots and fires and they thought I could come up with something different,” says the self-taught photographer, who was born in Philadelphia and schooled at the University of Colorado, where she studied anthropology.

Regan, 38, succeeded on that score: Included in the show are her shots of an army of the precious statuettes stored among dirty dishes in a tiny offstage kitchen, of a fan who expressed his Oscar zeal by painting his skin gold and of countless rolls of red carpet carelessly tossed on a sidewalk before the ceremony. “They look like leftover burritos,” Regan says, laughing.

Spending several very long days at rehearsals during the week leading up to the show, Regan is the first photographer allowed to attempt a candid photo essay on the Oscars in 20 years, and she was given unprecedented access. This isn’t to suggest, however, that she wasn’t ordered around a lot.

“Being at the rehearsals is like being in the Pentagon; covering natural disasters is easier,” she says, laughing again. “The hierarchy of authority surrounding the Oscars is incredibly elaborate, and every teenager with a badge stops you. Sometimes I was treated well and other times, depending on which star was in the auditorium, I was treated like a criminal.

“The rehearsals are a lot more uptight than the actual show, and the rules changed for me according to what star was on the premises,” she said. “For instance, Billy Crystal and David Letterman both refused to let me photograph them, and that was frustrating, considering that they hosted shows. Limitations can lead to interesting things though, and I got some wonderfully weird shots of Letterman off a monitor.”

The element of surrealism that flickers through Regan’s images of Letterman colors much of her work. It’s certainly there in her portrait of Dolly Parton with Beethoven the St. Bernard and in a portrait of Uma Thurman taken backstage just after she lost the best supporting Oscar for her work in “Pulp Fiction.”

“What attracted me to the shot was this beautiful woman in an ethereal dress, adrift in a sea of electrical cables and empty soft drink cans,” Regan says.

“I try to photograph the stars just being human,” she says of an image of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman trying to get past a grumpy guard at a backstage door.

“Last year I took a picture of Mira Sorvino in an elevator with Martin Landau, and after it was published in Premiere, she asked for a print of it. She said it was the only picture from that night that looked remotely real to her.

“This shot of Geoffrey Rush and Frances McDormand in the press room appeals to me because they look like mismatched dates at a high school prom, just biding their time until the evening’s over,” she explains.

Of an image of David Helfgott embracing his wife backstage shortly after performing at the piano, Regan recalls, “Just after I shot this picture, he lunged at me with a big hug, then he hugged my assistant and a stagehand. He really is exactly the way Geoffrey Rush portrayed him in ‘Shine.’ ”

A shot of Nicolas Cage clutching his newly acquired Oscar while hugging his wife, Patricia Arquette, caught Regan’s eye, she says, “because they look so serious; they could be in a hospital having just heard bad news, were it not for the Oscar he’s holding.”

“One of the nicest things about being there is getting to see the gorgeous stages designed by Roy Christopher; they’re much more beautiful than they appear on television. The press room is also amazing. Everyone has to wear a tux on the night of the show, so the press room is packed with people in evening clothes, guzzling caffeine and filing stories.

“The most surprising thing I discovered was how business-like the movie industry is,” she adds. “There’s not much interaction between the stars, and it’s hard to get a sense of what the mega-stars are like, because they’re always surrounded by their handlers.

“Everyone at the rehearsals is constantly drinking water, maybe because it’s a few days before the show and water’s supposed to be good for your skin. They’re all hydrating,” Regan says.

“Most of the stars are nervous and trying hard not to show it, although there are exceptions to that. Whoopi Goldberg is incredibly relaxed, as is Oprah Winfrey. I shot Oprah while she was being made up, and when my brother, who was assisting me that year, told her she looked beautiful, she just laughed and said, ‘Honey, it’s just paint.’ Susan Sarandon is an incredibly graceful woman, and Nicole Kidman is the ultimate professional movie star. She always looks good; she’s always prepared. You can’t help but admire her.

“The biggest stars are often the nicest because they’re secure. Gregory Peck is absolutely wonderful, and Paul Newman is very unpretentious and sweet,” she says, gesturing at a picture of the casually dressed actor, standing on stage and looking like a million bucks.

And who is the star who leaves even the stars star-struck? “Muhammad Ali,” she instantly replies.

“When he arrived at the ceremony last year, he caused the biggest sensation I’ve ever seen there. Even the stars are dazzled by Ali,” says Regan, who captured the champ in conversation with a very thrilled-looking Tim Robbins.

BE THERE

“Behind the Scenes at the Academy Awards” runs through April 12 in the Grand Lobby Gallery at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m. Free. (310)-247-3600.