British actress Olivia Colman has hearts and minds of millions with a witty and humble acceptance speech after taking home the Academy Award for Best Actress at the Oscars in Los Angeles.
Colman seemed delighted but shocked as she took to the stage to accept the award for her role in the Irish co-production, ‘The Favourite.’
She told the audience that her win was “genuinely quite stressful” – before delivering an acceptance speech that took in her children, her husband, her early life as a cleaner and her childhood acting dreams.
She apologised to the stage to legendary actress Glenn Close – who was overlooked for the seventh time – and promised to “snog” anyone she forgot to thank.
Watch Olivia Colman's endearingly shell-shocked acceptance speech for Best Actress #Oscars pic.twitter.com/l1RI0pIf3t
— The A.V. Club (@TheAVClub) February 25, 2019
This morning, Screen Ireland congratulated Colman and Irish producers Element Picture on their success.
Screen Ireland CEO James Hickey said: “Huge congratulations to Olivia Coleman on taking home the Best Actress prize for her wonderful performance in The Favourite.”
“The success of The Favourite this awards season has been a remarkable feat and I would like to congratulate Ed, Andrew, Yorgos, and all the team at Element following last night’s Academy Awards.
He said it was “wonderful” to see two Irish companies – Element and Cartoon Saloon animation studio – with such a “high profile at the Oscars.”
“It’s fantastic to see that Ireland has had feature films in contention at the Academy awards every year for the last five years, with nominations for Song of the Sea, Room, Brooklyn, The Lobster, The Breadwinner and The Favourite, which highlights the enormous growth and world-class talent working in the Irish film and animation industry in recent years,” he said.
Whew! All this #BlackExcellence tonight🙏🏾 #MahershalaAli accepts the #Oscar for “Best Supporting Actor.” #Oscar2019 #GreenBook #OscarsSoBlack #PowerStarLive🌟pic.twitter.com/pYd6YB6RvM
— PowerStarLive (@PowerStarLive) February 25, 2019
Oscars
Green Book was the surprise winner of the best picture award – beating out the challenge of Netflix’s Roma.
The film, about a black jazz musician and a white driver travelling through the segregated US Deep South, also won the best supporting actor Oscar for Mahershala Ali – as well as best original screenplay.
Rami Malek was named best actor for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
It was one of four awards for the Queen biopic, which took home the biggest haul of trophies.
Alfonso Cuaron was named best director for Roma, which also won the awards for best foreign film and best cinematography.
And it was a history-making night for Black Panther, which also won three prizes - two of which went to black winners for the first time ever.
Regina King won best supporting actress for If Beale Street Could Talk.
Rami Malek: "We made a film about a gay man, an immigrant, who lived his life just unapologetically himself. And the fact that I'm celebrating him ... is proof that we're longing for stories like this." #Oscars pic.twitter.com/WXqpg1qKCx
— Ali (@SeekingFun69) February 25, 2019
Awards
Another standout moment from the night was BlacKkKlansman's win for best adapted screenplay, which saw veteran director Spike Lee receive a standing ovation as he finally picked up his first competitive Oscar after 40 years in the industry.
Lee jumped into the arms of award presenter Samuel L Jackson after his name was called, and said, "Do not turn that motherf****** clock on," to make sure he could make the most of the allotted time for his speech.
However, he was not happy after losing out in the best picture category to Green Book, saying after the ceremony that "the ref made a bad call."
FULL VIDEO: Lady Gaga & Bradley perform "Shallow" together! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/cRkmQ9oRUu
— Lady Gaga Updates (@LGTourNews) February 25, 2019
Star
A Star Is Born missed out on acting awards, but its standout song, Shallow, was named best original song, following a performance by stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Gaga addressed her director and co-star Cooper as she collected the prize, saying: "Bradley, there is not a single person who could have sang this song with me but you. Thank you for believing in me."
In her speech, the singer said: "I've worked hard for a long time. This is not about winning, what it's about is not giving up. If you have a dream fight for it.
"It's not about how many times you are rejected and how many times you fall down, it's how many times you stand up and keep going."
Additional reporting from IRN
