Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth's Body Language At The Oscars Was A Little Concerning
After tying the knot in December, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's 2019 Oscars body language gives us some insight into what their dynamic may be like as newlyweds. The two took on the red carpet together at the star-studded Vanity Fair after-party, and as you can imagine, they were the center of attention. There were plenty of pictures snapped of them and plenty of short video clips of them interacting posted all over social media. And, to figure out what all of this means, we asked some body language experts to help determine what their posture and physical connection tells us about their relationship dynamic.
Cyrus and Hemsworth are known to be pretty flirty — on the day before Valentine's Day, she even posted a hilarious meme letting her husband know that she's ready, willing, and able to get down to business. So, fans might expect that the couple would be all over each other and super passionately in love all over the red carpet. But that actually couldn't be further from the case, according to the body language experts. No, in fact, both the experts I spoke to mentioned that, in general, the couple's body language indicates that they seem to be more interested in the cameras snapping their pictures than they are in each other.
They're keeping their distance from each other.
"The only thing in [this] clip that indicates they are in any way a couple is that she looks up to him when he’s talking briefly but, otherwise, they’re standing so far apart and he’s stiffly standing up straight, not leaning towards her," notes Patti Wood, body language expert and author of SNAP: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma. "It’s not romantic or steamy or anything that would indicate they’re hot to trot for each other."
On the other hand, Traci Brown, body language expert and author of Persuasion Point, has a more positive take noting that his quiet distance could actually be a sign that he's "silently supporting her watching over the situation."
They want to be seen as individuals.
"There’s a brief shoulder-to-shoulder touch, but even if you look at the way they’re oriented, he steps over away from her and then turns towards the reporter to talk, rather than leaning in towards Miley to talk as a couple," says Wood. "She steps away to talk and he steps away to talk."
Wood notes that throughout her years as a body language expert, she's read plenty of celebrity couples and has never seen a dynamic quite like that of Cyrus and Hemsworth. "In this case, she steps away and answers the question and then when the reporter asks him something he steps away and turns towards the reporter," says Wood. "So, typically, in situations like that, either couples stay together or they lean in towards each other or put a wrap arm around each other and they’re answering as a couple. But because they’re both stepping away, it doesn’t bode well. It doesn’t make sense."
"Sometimes if it’s their event, one member of the couple will do that but not both," she continues. "And usually it’s a step forward instead of a step away which, again, doesn’t dismiss that as a couple by their behavior. Them being off to the side to answer typically says, 'I don’t want to be seen as a couple. I want to be the only one on camera.'"
They're all about the business first.
"They take the photo and he has his arm around her briefly and she has her arm around him and then he just walks away," Wood recaps. "And I know it’s directive. I know there’s somebody saying, ‘Come with me,’ or, ‘Walk this way,’ but I would be looking for a moment between them before he walks away and he just goes. There’s no little affection touch. There’s no linger. There’s no look at her. There’s no kiss. There’s nothing. And she doesn’t look at him as he’s leaving! She looks at the guy who’s telling them that they want photos of just her, but she’s looking forward; she’s not looking at him. She’s just adjusting her dress and getting re-established for her photo. Yeah, I don’t see hot and steamy in any of this."
That being said, Brown notes that Hemsworth has his head down as he moves away from his new wife, which indicates that "he’s not that excited about" being pulled away from her.
It was her time to shine.
"We see him pointed towards her with his shoulders, but she’s pointed towards the camera," notes Brown about the above image. "We know everyone was yelling her name and it was clearly her night so not surprised her energy isn’t 100 percent on him."
That being said, Hemsworth is the actor and the Oscars are for acting. So shouldn't it have been his night?
And he wasn't really loving the spotlight.
"He’s holding her right but she’s leaning away ever so slightly," Brown says. "And his hand is in his pocket so he’s not super comfortable being there."
They want to be the center of attention more than they want each other.
"Here she is leaning away again in the third straight pose," Brown notices. "Is there trouble in paradise or does she really just want the spotlight all to herself?"
Wood thinks it may be the latter. "They’re more about themselves than each other," she says. "That would be the overall takeaway."
Now, of course, walking red carpets and doing press events like this is all part of their jobs. So let's be sure to take that into consideration before judging them for not being more focused on each other than the task at hand.
