Theres one unsung hero of the Oscars broadcast youve probably never seen before but youve definitely heard her.
Prior to getting the gig, it wasnt something shed even dreamed of doing.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Youve done this 10 times now.
Courtesy Randy Thomas
How did you first land the gig?RANDY THOMAS:My first Academy Awards was in 1993.
We honored them all, and they wanted to use a woman for a first time.
It was the 65th Academy Awards, and I won the audition and it changed my life.
Courtesy Randy Thomas
It changes with every producer, so the producer that brought me in was Gil Cates.
So it was sort of spread out.
I could not have imagined it.
The Kennedy Center Honors Ive been doing for five years.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I was the first woman to do that.
Its opened a lot of doors for me, and its just been an incredible ride.
Being the first woman on so many shows, is that particularly meaningful to you?
Theres a great interest in voice-over work.
Do you have input into scripts?
I dont make a run at rewrite anything.
I dont do anything but take the writers words and bring them to life on the show.
I wish theyd write more comedy for the announcer, but they never seem to.
This is the first time youve worked the broadcast when theyvehad no host.
Did that change things for you or make things more hectic?Absolutely.
I had to do all of the introductions that the host wouldve done.
I was incredibly busy.
How often does your script change the night of?
If this happens, then I say this; if this doesnt happen, then I say that.
I work the show with the script supervisor, who writes all of the winner walk-up copy.
I escort them from their seat to the stage vocally in sharing a tidbit or two about them.
I work with the Academy historian, Lucia Schultz she is an incredible resource.
She speaks a few languages but can pronounce names in any language, and she sits with me.
Otherwise I get replaced by all of the celebrities, and thats cool.
But youre still going to be calling their names out when they win.Correct.
She does amazing directing with me.
And working on the names and making sure weve mastered the pronunciations before we go live.
Every year there are surprises, theres excitement, there are moments that are just beautiful.
Was there a moment that stood out to you last night?I lovedOlivia Colmans speech.
She was so real and in the moment.
She was honestly shocked that she won.
And when she apologized to Glenn Close, I thought that was a really great moment.
That was the hairiest, craziest part of the Oscars.
Now the red carpets do their own show and the opening is a lot simpler.
Do you have other hidden talents?I can say my alphabet backwards.
Many years ago, I was the voice of a reading program calledHooked on Phonics.
That was me on those commercials, Call 1-800-ABC-DEFG.
But thats how I learned to say my alphabet backwards.
