Elizabeth Banks saves herself from fall after dangerous trip onstage at Oscars

Things almost went horribly wrong

Elizabeth Banks had a near-miss at the Oscars after saving herself from falling onstage.

The Cocaine Bear director was at the ceremony to present the Visual Effects category.

Before that, though, Banks arrived onstage and, seconds later, tripped up.

Fortunately, the actor-director managed to regain her balance.

Banks looked relieved as she slowly made her way to the microphone alongside a costumed bear.

Banks then performed a skit alongside the bear, a nod to her comedy thriller Cocaine Bear, before announcing Avatar: The Way of Water had won the Oscar.

Banks would not have been the first person to suffer a fall at the Oscars. In 2013, Jennifer Lawrence fell up the stairs as she was collecting her Best Actress trophy for Silver Linings Playbook.

Elizabeth Banks and the ‘bear’ that she jokes ‘tripped’ her up (Getty Images)

The 2023 ceremony saw big wins for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which took home seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh.

Curtis’s win proved controversial due to Angela Bassett’s loss in the category. However, the actor, who was nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, has been praised for her “real” reaction after learning the news.

Host Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the Los Angeles event with an opening monologue that saw him poke fun at Avatar director James Cameron, last year’s Will Smith slap and, in what was deemed a “low blow” by viewers, the poor box office performance of Babylon.

Meanwhile, Hugh Grant ruffled feathers before the ceremony had even started with his “rude” answers during a “painful” red carpet interview.

Find the full list of winners here, and all the live updates from the ceremony as it happened here.