The 90th Academy Awards has come and gone. This year, there was no shortage of powerful moments mixed in with all the supremely silly and truly uplifting ones. Some of the most powerful moments came in the form of activists taking to the stage during the performance of a song. Another came in the opening monologue when host Jimmy Kimmel got in his jabs at everyone, from the predatory figures taken down in the wake of the #MeToo movement to President Trump’s administration to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company that may or may not have contributed to the bungled Best Picture announcement in 2017.
And then there were the powerful moments that occurred during the acceptance speeches.
While the speeches were overall fairly tame compared to other years, there were some notable exceptions during the 90th Academy Awards. These exceptions were the speeches that made calls for change, celebrated those who made the big wins happen and shined a light on those whose differences helped them stand out in a good way. In short, these speeches left us smiling because they were so meaningful.
Keep reading to see just what was said during these powerful speeches.
Sebastián Lelio
Lelio directed the Chilean film A Fantastic Woman, which focused on the story of a transgender woman attempting to process the grief of the death of her boyfriend. The film's win was a surprise not only because it competed against a lot of great foreign films, but also because it focused so clearly on the story of a transgender woman, a subject we rarely see in films. As such, Lelio gave a heartfelt speech of thanks while accepting the award for Best Foreign Language film.
"Thank you so much. This is an amazing gift. Thank you to the academy. I want to thank my dear friends and producers […] I want to thank the cast of the film, especially the brilliant actor Francisco Reyes and the inspiration for this movie, Daniela Vega. This film was made by a lot of friends and artists; I share this all with you tonight."
Allison Janney
Janney nabbed the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in I, Tonya. While thanking her peers, she was able to sweetly express her gratitude for the opportunity to play her attention-getting I, Tonya character and subsequently win the Oscar.
"Thank you to the academy. Thank you to my fellow nominees. You represent everything that is good and right and human about this profession. You are all extraordinary. Steven Rogers [I, Tonya's screenwriter], look what you did. You're a brilliant writer. Thank you for the gift of LaVona [Harding, Janney's character]. I did not see this coming; you did. You give new meaning to the word 'friend.'"
Kobe Bryant & Glen Keane
While accepting the award for Best Animated Short Film, both Keane and Bryant were able to say a few words of gratitude that marked the specialness of the occasion for them both.
Keane: "Thank you, Academy. […] And to Kobe, [thank you] for writing Dear Basketball. It's a message for all of us. Whatever form your dream may take, it's through passion and perseverance that the impossible is possible."
Bryant: "Oh, I don't know if [that's] possible. As basketball players, we're really supposed to shut up and dribble, but I'm glad we did more than that. Thank you, Academy, for this amazing honor. Thank you, John Williams, for such a wonderful piece of music."
Adrian Molina, Darla K. Anderson & Lee Unkrich
The creative minds behind the Disney-Pixar film Coco — Adrian Molina, Darla K. Anderson and Lee Unkrich — couldn't help but express their thanks and make darn sure everyone understood what a momentous occasion it was for Coco to win Best Animated Feature Film.
Anderson: "Thank you to the academy. We're so happy. Coco is proof that art can change and connect the world, and this can only be done when we have a place for everyone and anyone who feels like an 'other' to be heard."
Unkrich: "[….] The biggest thank-you of all to the people of Mexico. Coco would not exist without your endlessly beautiful culture and traditions. With Coco, we tried to take a step forward to create a world where all children grow up seeing characters that look and talk and live like they do. Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters."
James Ivory
Veteran filmmaker, producer and screenwriter James Ivory nabbed his first Oscar for penning the Best Adapted Screenplay, Call Me By Your Name.
"My rule No. 1 for a screenwriter who adapts a novel is first to thank the author. André Aciman, who wrote this story about first love and who's here tonight, a story familiar to most of us whether you're straight or gay or somewhere in between. We've all gone through first love — I hope — and come out the other side mostly intact."
Jordan Peele
Peele's speech, which he gave after winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Get Out, was an inspiring one for writers everywhere.
"This means so much to me. I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible. I thought it wasn't going to work. I thought no one was ever going to make this movie. But I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie, that people would hear it and see it. So I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie."
Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
Married songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez won the award for Best Original Song for "Remember Me" from Coco. While giving thanks, Anderson-Lopez made an empowering remark.
Anderson-Lopez: "Thank you, Academy. I really want to take a minute to look at this category of incredible nominated songwriters tonight. Not only are we diverse, but we are close to 50-50 for gender representation. When you look at a category like ours, it helps us imagine a world where all the categories looked like this one."
Guillermo del Toro
After accepting the award for Best Director for his work on The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro delivered a truly heartwarming speech.
"I am an immigrant, like Alfonso [Cuarón, director] and Alejandro [Iñárritu, director], my compadres. Like Gael [Garcia Bernal, actor], like Salma [Hayek, actor] and like many, many of you. And in the last 25 years, I've been living in a country all our own. Part of it is here, part of it is there, part of it is all over the world. And I think the greatest thing our art does and that our industry does is to erase the lines in the sand. We should continue doing that."
Gary Oldman
While accepting the award for Best Actor for his performance in Darkest Hour, Oldman gave a somewhat long but still meaningful speech. Here is a portion of it.
"Thank you for this glorious prize. I owe this and so much more to so many. I've lived in America for the longest time, and I am deeply grateful to her for the loves and the friendships I have made and the many wonderful gifts it has given me: my home, my livelihood, my family and now Oscar. The movies, such is their power, captivated a young man from South London and gave him a dream. […] I would just like to salute Sir Winston Churchill, who has been marvelous company on what can be described as an incredible journey and my wife, Gisele, for traveling that road with me and being at my side."
Frances McDormand
By far the most charming speech of the night was also one of the most rousing, and it came courtesy of Frances McDormand, who won the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Here is a portion of it.
"Hey, I'm hyperventilating a little bit, so if I fall over, pick me up because I've got some things to say. So, I think this is what [Olympian] Chloe Kim must have felt like after doing back-to-back 1080s in the halfpipe. Did you see that? OK, that's what this feels like.
"I want to thank Martin McDonagh [director of Three Billboards]; look what you did. We are a bunch of hooligans and anarchists, but we do clean up nice. I want to thank every single person in this building and my sister, Dorothy. And I especially want to thank my clan. Joel and Pedro Cohen: these two stalwart individuals were well-raised by their feminist mothers. They value themselves, each other and those around them. I know you're proud of me, and that fills me with everlasting joy."
Leave a Comment