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Move over, Meryl: Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig flex their ‘acting’ skills at the Oscars

Maya Rudolph, left, and Kristen Wiig showed off their acting chops while presenting at the 92nd Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Never before have the presentations for production design and costume design been so dramatic. Or so, um, musical.

That was thanks to the impeccable comedy pairing of Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, two “Saturday Night Live” veterans turned movie stars.

Get the latest on the Oscar winners, the best-dressed and behind-the-scenes action from L.A. Times journalists inside and outside the Academy Awards.

Feb. 9, 2020

The two stalked up to the microphone at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, with stern looks on their faces. Wiig said she couldn’t do it. Both were upset.

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They were sooo ticked off. Teed off. Steamed! Seeing red. PO’d. And they both couldn’t. Do. It. So they turned their backs as if to walk away.

But walk away they did not. No, they did not.

“Guys, we’re not mad,” Wiig said as they turned back to the audience. “That was an act.”

“We were acting,” Rudolph explained.

“We just know there are a lot of directors here tonight,” Wiig said.

Rudolph added, “We just wanted them to know we do more than comedy.”

But Maya had stepped on Kristen’s line. And Kristen called it out.

“Well, I guess it’s mine now, son,” Rudolph bellowed at her.

“How would you know?,” Wiig screamed back. “You were always gone when I was a kid.”

Then the two snapped back to the audience with smiles on their face.

“See,” Wiig said.

“Acting,” said Rudolph said. “We were acting.”

Cut to director Martin Scorsese, who was laughing like a madman.

After “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” won for production design, it was time for another award.

“We can’t just skip right to the award,” Rudolph said as they switched to present the costume design award. Instead, she and Wiig sang. Lots of songs. Very quickly. In many styles.

People laughed. Then “Little Women” won the Oscar for costume design.

Perhaps we’ll see Wiig and Rudolph cast in “The Irishman: Part II.”

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