For Cain, one of the hardest parts of being a seat filler was picking the dress. Photo / Supplied
An Oscars seat filler has revealed why she was fired from the enviable job.
Laura Cain was a seat filler at the Academy Awards for six years before she was let go after taking some naughty photos.
In case you're not familiar with seat fillers, they're the people who fill the gaps at the Oscars when the stars go to the bathroom, so that the crowd appears full during the telecast.
Speaking to news.com.au's podcast, I've Got News For You, Cain explained that seat fillers have to abide by a lot of rules.
"You are not allowed to speak to the celebrities, make any ruckus, you're supposed to be quiet," she said.
"You have to wear this name tag around your neck when the cameras are off and then put it behind you when the cameras are on."
Even though Cain wasn't allowed to talk to the celebrities, they were allowed to talk to her, and if they initiated a conversation she would often ask them for a selfie.
During her six-year run, she snapped pics with Bradley Cooper, Kevin Spacey and John Stamos.
"They sat me next to a lady who had just won the Oscar for a short documentary film," Cain told podcast host Andrew Bucklow. "She was holding an Oscar and she was drunk, and she said to me, 'Hey, do you want to know what an Oscar feels like?' So she hands it to me."
Cain took a photo with the Oscar statue and that picture, as well as her other celeb selfies, eventually got her fired.
"I posted those pictures [on social media] and the guy who was in charge of the seat filling saw that and was like, 'you broke the rules!'" Cain said.
Despite getting fired, Cain said getting the photos was "worth it".
During the chat on I've Got News For You, Cain spoke about the various celebrities that she met during her time at the Oscars.
"Bradley Cooper was super chill, nice … Leonardo DiCaprio, very quiet but a nice guy … Jennifer Aniston, she didn't do anything mean, she was just very cold," Cain recalled.
The former seat filler also sat next to Adele's ex-husband, Simon Konecki, back in 2013 when Adele won an Oscar for her song Skyfall.
"I remember thinking, why is she seeing this guy? He just was a dud," Cain laughed.
Seat fillers are supposed to be anonymous and blend in, so Cain said it was a highlight when she got a shout out from Neil Patrick Harris when he hosted the Oscars in 2015.
"He was standing in the aisle and he goes, 'Welcome back to the Oscars. Hey, are you a seat filler?' And he pointed the mic to my face to be on TV. I thought it was a trick question because we weren't supposed to say anything but I said 'yes'."
Cain said that her phone blew up after the moment was televised with friends and family texting and calling her in shock.
So how does one become an Oscars seat filler? According to Cain, it's all about who you know.
"I worked with a guy whose cousin was in charge of seat filling" she explained.
The Academy selects around 300 seat fillers for the event out of thousands of applications.
Cain also revealed on I've Got News For You that one of the most challenging things about being a seat filler was picking an outfit.
"They have to approve the gown before you even show up," she said. "Your make-up, hair, the whole thing."
Cain would go shopping months before the event to pick out a dress, but said she occasionally had her choices rejected.
"A couple of times when I saw an excellent dress, they said 'nope, can't wear that type of colour'."
And whereas celebrities wear dresses to the Oscars that cost tens of thousands of dollars from the likes of Dior and Oscar de la Renta, Cain was forced to be a little more thrifty.
"I'm a budget shopper so I bought one of my gowns on Amazon," she said. "I can't spend thousands of dollars so I made it work."
Among all the glitz, glamour and the excitement of meeting the world's biggest celebrities, Cain says the most surprising part was just how tiny everyone was.
"I'm a normal sized girl. I'm 5 foot 9 [175cm] and I weigh 150 pounds [68kg] … but these celebrities are so thin and so little, it makes them look like they have larger heads.
"They look bigger than life on the big screen, but they're small."
The 2022 Academy Awards will air Live on TV2 at 1pm today
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