'I was an Oscar seat-filler - all the weird audience secrets you don't see'

All eyes are on Hollywood this Sunday for the 97th Oscars – though there's plenty of action that you don’t see on camera.

The biggest night in showbiz has come around once again as US comedian Conan O'Brien takes to hosting duties at this year’s Academy Awards. With films including The Substance, A Complete Unknown, Wicked and Emilia Pérez all up for nominations, celebrities including Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande and Demi Moore will be heading to Los Angeles for the iconic awards ceremony.

But while the Oscars may see some of the biggest names from the world of film come together for one night, not everyone in the audience is a famous face. In fact, among the nominated stars and their guests are a series of 'seat fillers' whose jobs are to ensure the audience looks as gap-free as possible.

One of those people was Taiyler S. Mitchell, who attended the 94th Academy Awards back in 2022. With around 300 seat-filler spots available, Taiyler was one of the lucky individuals able to secure a place at the ceremony, and she revealed all the secrets from inside.

Although the ceremony itself doesn’t start until the late afternoon, it’s a rather long day for seat-fillers. According to Taiyler, she arrived at the venue at 10.15am – around seven hours before things kicked off.

Given seat-fillers are required to hold seats while guests head to the bar or toilet, it’s important they fit in at all times. In turn, Taiyler had her make-up done at 7am after having her hair and nails done prior to the event day. She estimates she spent almost $800 on getting ready for the event itself.

After getting glammed up, seat fillers are required to attend an orientation session as well as a luncheon. “During that time, I connected with some people I knew and made friends with others. Everyone I talked to was in good spirits and excited about the show,” she told Business Insider.

During the ceremony itself, viewers will have become accustomed to the regular ad breaks between awards. In the same way that viewers at home may use this time to grab some food or have a chat, guests and nominees use the break to leave the theatre – which is where seat-fillers come in.

To help ensure those running the event can keep things going smoothly, Refinery29 reports that seat-fillers wear badges that read “I am temporarily filling this seat for camera purposes” which they take off when filling in seats. It’s also reported that seat-fillers aren’t supposed to speak to the celebs.

“They told us not to speak until we’re spoken to. [That way,] we’re not trying to draw up conversation with [the stars] and infringe upon their time,” a seat-filler told the publication. Another added: “You’re effectively a butler”.

They also said that there were rules about how to exit an aisle, revealing that they’re advised to “not to have your bottom going in front of [the guest’s] faces”. When guests are all in their seats, seat-fillers are understandably less busy and are told to line up outside of the theatre. As a result, this means that they may miss out on some of the action.

In Taiyler’s case, she missed around half an hour of the show, including some stellar performances. “I had to exit the theater for about 30 minutes - missing the Encanto and Megan Thee Stallion performance of We Don't Talk About Bruno,” she explained.

While seat-fillers don’t get paid for their time, they do receive a goody bag at the end of the night – and for Taiyler, it was an experience to remember regardless of the cost. “As far as I'm aware, I wasn't in direct view of any of the cameras for a brief TV moment, but the experience was nonetheless unforgettable. I hope to do it all over again next year,” she said.