Canadian Oscar winner Craig Mann recounts his wild night

LOS ANGELES, – Winning the Oscar is one thing. Actually accepting the trophy in front of a celeb-studded crowd, on live TV, is another.

Days after winning an Academy Award for his work on the intense drumming film “Whiplash,” Canadian sound mixer Craig Mann still marvelled at his wild Sunday night when he took the stage at the Dolby Theater to claim a gold statue.

“I just tried not to focus on anything at all — I sort of was drilling my eyes into (director) Damien (Chazelle) because that’s a friendly face there,” Mann said Tuesday of addressing the star-packed audience.

“(I could see) everyone who was in the front row there, you know. (Steve) Carell’s there and bloody Oprah’s over there. I was just like, ‘Stop looking at them, stop looking at them.'”

On Tuesday, the 38-year-old Oakville, Ont.-native returned to work, where he chuckled about “wading through a rush of people” congratulating him.

Mann and his team beat out rivals from “American Sniper,” “Interstellar,” “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” and “Unbroken.”

They also collected a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award earlier this year, but Mann said the Oscar win was much more nerve-racking.

“I had a lovely (acceptance speech) written and well-memorized. It kind of left me slightly when I was up there, so that came out a little bit clunkier than I had anticipated,” said Mann, who invited his wife and Toronto-based parents to the ceremony.

After the show, Mann partied at the Governor’s Ball with his fellow “Whiplash” winners — picture editor Tom Cross and supporting actor J.K. Simmons. Mann says he took a few laps around the room to “just to kind of see who we could see.”

“You have the trophy in your hand so it sort of empowers you … you can just walk up and sort of say, ‘Hey, I’m a big fan,'” he chuckled, adding that trick got him some face time with Common.

From there, Mann headed to the Vanity Fair party and then a bash thrown by “Whiplash” producers Blumhouse Productions. He ended the night at about 3:30 a.m.

“It was back to reality Monday morning because (my daughter) had her finger in my eye at 7:05 and it was back to playtime and taking out the trash.”

— By Cassandra Szklarski in Toronto

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