LOS ANGELES – Hilary Swank was feeling a little height-challenged at Oscar rehearsals.
She'll be presenting the best director award alongside last year's winner, Kathryn Bigelow, who stands a statuesque six feet, so Swank looked to her shoes for help.
"I need 10-mile-high shoes so I can remotely come close," she said, toting a Gucci shoe box onto the Kodak Theatre stage on Saturday.
She traded her flat boots for spiky stilettos before stepping out to rehearse her lines. Meanwhile, Bigelow swapped the sneakers she arrived in for some strappy gold heels.
"Oh my God, we're wearing the same shoes!" she said to Swank.
"I am going to be standing with the best posture ever," the actress said.
Swank was tickled that her bedazzled shoes seemed to match the crystals embedded in the Oscar stage, so she set a lone stiletto down and had her boyfriend, Jon Campisi, snap a quick photo. Then she went back to flats.
Like most of the A-listers at Academy Awards rehearsals, Swank and Bigelow dressed down — with the exception of their feet, of course. They were part of a parade of stars who came through the Kodak Theatre to run through their lines for the big show, presenting awards with fake envelopes, fake winners and even fake Oscars.
But many women opt for their real show-day shoes.
Oprah Winfrey arrived in black flats and carried her dress shoes on stage in a red cloth bag. By the time the media mogul made her entrance, she'd switched to the towering silver heels.
"Boy, that's a long walk," she said as she strode to the microphone at center stage.
Amy Adams allayed her footwear fears by practicing walking down the staircase she'll use to make her entrance Sunday. Cate Blanchett also wore a pair of super-tall heels.
With the theater empty save for a few dozen stand-ins and show workers, stars can relax, and even goof around, as they prepare for Hollywood's grandest pageant.
Tom Hanks announced the winners in his category by saying, "And the fake Saturday morning Oscar goes to..." When stand-ins approached the stage to accept the trophy, he said, "Here come the fake winners now!"
Helen Mirren had a little fun with Russell Brand as they practiced their presentation. When a pop-up microphone emerged from beneath the stage, she warned playfully, "Don't stand over that, Russell."
Jennifer Hudson brought her baby boy along, who called out, "Mama!" when he saw her on stage.
Nicole Kidman, decked out in a red lace dress and matching pumps, spotted her front-row seat in the audience from her position on stage. But she had a little trouble when it came time to announce the winner of the category she was presenting: She looked to her partner for the envelope, then realized she was holding it.
"I'm going to get this down," she said. "Don't worry."
Other stars rehearsing Saturday included Justin Timberlake, Sandra Bullock, Javier Bardem, Mila Kunis, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry, Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Hugh Jackman and Reese Witherspoon.
Even co-host Anne Hathaway got into the casual rehearsal vibe. In jeans and boots, with no makeup and her hair loose, she breezed onto the stage holding her boyfriend's hand — then bumped right into Witherspoon.
"This is so much fun," Hathaway said. "We are so excited."
Then she bounded down the stairs and disappeared into the theater.
