After a long awards season, thankfully without much of an Oscar villain to speak of, the 96th Academy Awards were held last night, and Academy trophies were bestowed on all the winners. Those victories obviously came with a fleet of emotional and earnest acceptance speeches (see below). While many acceptance speeches were quick or casual, some others, like Jonathan Glazer (“Zone of Interest”) and documentary director Mstyslav Chernov of “20 Days In Mariupol” were more political, using their speeches to make stands against the wars in both Gaza and Ukraine, respectively, with a sentiment of peace behind both.
One of the more surprising movements was Emma Stone’s Best Actress win for “Poor Things” as she was seemingly shocked herself and ready to lavish praise on her fellow nominees, including the favorite for that category, Lily Gladstone (“Killers of The Flower Moon”).
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“The Holdovers” breakout actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph got emotional even before her win and reached the stage, giving one of the more inspirational speeches about believing in yourself.
Robert Downey Jr. was quick to thank his “terrible childhood” after finally winning a Best Supporting Actor statue for “Oppenheimer” after two previous Oscar nominations. Speaking of “Oppenheimer,” it was a big night for the Christopher Nolan-helmed biopic as it also won Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor for longtime muse Cillian Murphy, Best Score for Ludwig Göransson, Best Cinematographer for Hoyte Van Hoytema, Best Film Editing for Jennifer Lame. Many of those wins were expected and unsurprising for the most part.
You can watch all the major wins and speeches below.
