The day before the Oscars, the ‘Bridesmaids’ rehearsed

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The “Bridesmaids” gathered for a rehearsal the day before the big show, but this time they're playing the role of awards presenter. Melissa McCartney, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig and Ellie Kemper took the stage at the Dolby Theatre Saturday to run through their lines one last time.

The Associated Press got a behind the scenes look at some of what’s to come during the 98th Oscars Sunday, with a few big caveats: What they’re presenting and what they’ll be saying are to be left surprises.

But 15 years after “Bridesmaids” hit theaters, the actors looked happy to be together again, laughing and chatting and blowing kisses to the theoretical audience. Wiig especially had Byrne in stitches as they got ready for their cue. But when it came for the rehearsal Wiig turned de factor director, asking about lighting timings and camera cuts to make sure that their bit landed just right.

Byrne is in the unusual position of also being a nominee Sunday for her leading performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” All were dressed informally, except for their sky-high show heels.

The male actors tend to be more casual with their footwear. Both Javier Bardem and Adrien Brody wore sneakers. Most of the presenters are also in and out of the room fairly quickly with their power publicists and agents ushering them along, but Bardem ventured into the auditorium to greet and chat with Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer.

“Am I fired?” he asked with a laugh. “I promise I’ll learn the lines.”

Brody, who won best actor last year, ran through his script several times. Sporting a black T-shirt with “Hollywood” printed on the front in big, white, block letters, a black baseball hat and red-rimmed sunglasses, he looked serious as he knelt and discussed something with a producer.

There was an air of calm inside the theater with just 24 hours until showtime as producers, technicians and camera operators milled about going through their tasks. Rehearsals have been going on for a few days now, and more will continue into the evening. Friday, the theater hosted the rehearsal for “I Lied to You,” from “Sinners,” which Kramer promised will be “epic.”

“There’s not a bad beat,” Kramer said. “It’s a stacked show.”

In addition to a planned Marvel reunion, likely with Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, producers said there will also be a “Moulin Rouge!” reunion with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor taking the stage together.

The Academy Awards, hosted again by Conan O'Brien, will be held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The show, to be broadcast live by ABC, is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

For more coverage of the 2026 Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards.

A person walks past Oscar statues wrapped in plastic in the red carpet area of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Friday, March 13, 2026, during preparations for Sunday's 98th Academy Awards ceremony. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Alex Cortez polishes the base of an Oscar statue at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in preparation for Sunday's 98th Academy Awards ceremony. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Workers install an Oscar statue at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in preparation for Sunday's 98th Academy Awards ceremony. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Oscar statue is protected by plastic in the red carpet area, Friday, March 13, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in preparation for Sunday's 98th Academy Awards ceremony. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Motion picture painter Chance Gugler, whose father was also a film set painter who worked on over 80 movies, touches up an Oscars backdrop on Friday, March 13, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, in preparation for Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ludvig Aberg made his third eagle of the week and kept the mistakes to a minimum Saturday in The Players Championship with a 1-under 71 that gave the 26-year-old Swede a three-shot lead going into the final round at the TPC Sawgrass.

Aberg had a couple of chances to ruin the hopes of practically everyone chasing him. He had 7-iron to the green from 193 yards away in the fairway on the par-5 16th. He had an 8-foot birdie putt to a front pin on the island-green 17th. He had 25 feet for birdie on the last.

He played them in 1 over — two pars and a three-putt bogey at the end — that was a reminder on this dangerous Stadium Course that the final 18 holes can still feel a long way off.

Aberg said he would have liked at least one birdie “and that three-putt annoys me a little bit.”

"But I started with a two-shot lead and I ended with a three-shot lead, so that's a positive," he said.

Aberg was at 13-under 203 and will be in the final group with Michael Thorbjornsen, who also lives in the area and is at the TPC Sawgrass when he's not on tour. They are friends who play often, just as they did as two of the most elite players in college. Both were No. 1 in the PGA Tour University ranking to earn PGA Tour cards.

Thorbjornsen made up ground with a 67 to land in the final group as he tries to become only the third player — and first since Craig Perks in 2002 — to win The Players in his first try.

“I don’t think I have to change too much, especially on courses like this,” Thorbjornsen said. “I think if you play some really steady golf you’ll run into some birdies. Does anyone have a bogey-free round either yesterday or today? I’m not too sure, but there aren’t many. So I think slow and steady wins the race, and we’re just going to play some solid golf.”

Cameron Young was Aberg's biggest threat on the back nine, holing a 45-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th and getting away with a wedge he hit a little heavy on the par-3 17th. It settled inside 2 feet away, the closest shot of the day.

“I was trying to land it 133 and I fatted it just a little bit and it went to a foot,” he said.

Two shots behind going to the 18th, the closing hole ate him up. Young tugged his drive just enough that it barely found the water down the left side. He pushed his third shot into the nasty, rough-covered moguls and chipped through the firm, fast green into a bunker. But he holed an 8-foot putt for double bogey and escaped with a 72 to leave him four shots behind.

Big blunders cost so many others.

Justin Thomas, looking strong in his second tournament back from lower back surgery in November, went from the water to the rough and then over the green in making a triple bogey on the sixth hole. His tee shot on the reachable par-4 12th found the water. But he kept it together, had a pair of birdies later and salvaged a 72.

Thomas was at 8-under 208, five shots behind along with Matt Fitzpatrick (69), Brian Harman (69), Viktor Hovland (69), Corey Conners (72) and Xander Schauffele (74). Schauffele was in the final group and managed only one birdie while hitting just eight greens.

Young is at The Players for the fourth time and has never cracked the top 50, and yet his optimism was running high even after a double bogey to finish.

“I cost myself two off the tee and I saved myself one with the putter,” he said of the 8-footer he made. “So it could have been worse. I drew a terrible lie right of the green, somewhere that it feels like you should have a decent chance to get up-and-down. Saved myself one with the putter is what I'm going to take away from it.”

That he felt he was still in the game said more about the give-and-take nature of the TPC Sawgrass than Aberg and his uber efficient swing that saw him play a Ryder Cup just four months after he got out of college in 2023.

Aberg shot a 63 in the second round to take the lead. Thomas shot a 62 last year. The best score Saturday was a 65 by Robert MacIntyre.

“Those number are out there, and no reason why I can't be the one to shoot them," Young said.

And so the final group is a pair of locals — one from Sweden by way of Texas Tech, the other from just outside Boston by way of Stanford. Neither plays the Stadium Course all that much because it's rarely in the condition seen at The Players.

But they know their way around, just not with so much at stake.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Xander Schauffele looks on on the 16th fairway during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Cameron Young reacts after a putt on the ninth green during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Michael Thorbjornsen watches his drive from the rough of the 18th fairway during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ludvig Aberg of Sweden looks on on the 16th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ludvig Aberg of Sweden reacts after a birdie on the ninth green during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)