Party Hopping With Daisy Ridley and Bryan Cranston, by Cara Buckley, New York Times (February 29, 2016)

Everyone loves an underdog story, especially a surprise one, and ripples of delight over “Spotlight’s” win for best picture spread out from the Dolby Theater on Sunday night into the after-party beyond.

At the Governors Ball, the first stop for many on the post-Oscars party circuit, there was a discernible hop in many people’s steps — even in the ones who had not won. A relaxed, beaming Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”) lolled outside the party’s entrance, chatting with Louis C.K., looking wholly unperturbed about losing the best actor Oscar to Leonardo DiCaprio for “The Revenant.” (Mr. Cranston had long acknowledged he wasn’t the favorite to win.)

Inside the party, as waiters swirled about bearing assorted edible delicacies including Oscar-shaped smoked salmon toast points, Daisy Ridley, the “Star Wars” star, chatted excitedly with friends, and another presenter, Jason Segel, told the Bagger that after a long season campaigning for “The End of the Tour” (he was up for an Independent Spirit Award on Saturday; Abraham Attah won for “Beasts of No Nation”), he was eager to get back to acting.

Nearby, a chillaxed-looking Steven Spielberg, whose “Bridge of Spies” was a best picture also-ran, chatted closely with the film’s co-star, Mark Rylance, who had doffed his signature fedora and was still grinning widely from his best supporting actor win. “We spoke in New York, right?” Mr. Spielberg said to the Bagger, recalling their midfall interview.

Not looking so pleased was Ridley Scott, whose film “The Martian” did not end up winning anything. He glumly pottered about as his Costa Rican partner, Giannina Facio, towered alongside him, exuding enough warm vibes for them both. Another contender, Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”), had already made her exit; she had to rush back to New York in time for a preview of “The Crucible,” her Broadway premiere.

Next it was off to the Palihouse in West Hollywood, where the party for “Spotlight” was hitting a delighted fever pitch, so thrilled was everyone there for the film’s victory. The cast was not in attendance, but the writer and director Tom McCarthy was, and he was absolutely over the moon.

Laura Kim, of Participant Media, which produced the film, had just taken Phil Saviano, a survivor of clergy abuse whose story is depicted in “Spotlight,” to the emergency room. Before the Oscars, Mr. Saviano had suffered a blood clot that required he be hospitalized, but, against medical advice, had checked himself out to attend the ceremony, and afterward checked himself back in (reportedly he was faring well).

Then the Bagger swung by the Fox party; clearly the studio anticipated a big win for “The Revenant” (hey, the Bagger did, too) renting out the sprawling Hollywood Athletic Club, with barricades lining the sidewalks. But the Bagger got there late, and glimpses of the party from the outside looked a tad grim. She was told by a security detail that Mr. DiCaprio and the film’s director, Alejandro G. Iñárritu — also a winner that evening — had both opted to skip the party anyway, because there were more enticing places to be.