From the empowering to the hilarious to the downright controversial.
It’s nearly time for the 96th Academy Awards, and we’re all excited to see which of the 2024 nominees will end up bringing home the gold. But aside from judging looks on the red carpet and anticipating who’ll win big, there’s plenty of fun to be had in watching the actual speeches. After all, when a star delivers an Oscars speech, they’ve got the undivided attention of the film industry (and a hefty slice of the viewing public). And there’s no telling exactly what an actor will do with that power…
If you think the acceptances are a snoozefest, allow us to remind you of some pretty game-changing Oscars speeches. Some include empowering words from trailblazing performers who want you to know that they’ve made history. Other actors use their time onstage to promote a political cause that needs more exposure. Then there are the total hams, who add some levity to a sometimes-dreary ceremony. And of course, there are the outliers that are just plain weird. So take a walk down memory lane and remember — at the Oscars, anything can happen.
The Most Memorable Oscars Acceptance Speeches
Shirley MacLaine
When Shirley MacLaine accepted the 1984 Best Actress Oscar for Terms of Endearment, she opened her tearful, heartfelt, and sassy speech with, “I’m going to cry because this [ceremony] has been as long as my career.” (An iconic line, to say the least.) “I have wondered for 26 years what this would feel like,” she continued. “Thank you so much for terminating the suspense.”
Continuing her hilarious and bitingly honest repartee, she explained her take on manifestation (she was ahead of her time!), success, and her “middle-aged joy” at being able to do a raunchy scene with Jack Nicholson. She wrapped it up by saying, “I deserve this. Thank you.” We just can’t get enough of that confidence.
Marlon Brando
At the 45th Academy Awards, silver screen legend Marlon Brando won Best Actor for his performance in The Godfather. Unlike most actors, however, Brando wasn’t thrilled to receive the trophy. He was so ambivalent, in fact, that he sent Sacheen Littlefeather — an Apache woman and president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee — in his stead. Littlefeather refused the award at Brando’s request because of “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.” The speech was controversial at the time — she was both booed and applauded as she spoke. Plus, her words have remained contentious in the 21st Century, thanks to Littlefeather’s disputed Native ancestry.
Jane Fonda
If you know anything about actress and activist Jane Fonda, then you know that she doesn’t shy away from controversy. In her 1979 acceptance speech for Best Actress (she won for her performance in Coming Home), Fonda spoke while delivering her entire speech in sign language. “I’m signing part of what I’m saying tonight because while we were making the movie, we all became more aware of the problems of the handicapped. Over 14 million people are deaf. They are the invisible handicapped and can’t share this evening. So this is my way of acknowledging them.” The Academy Awards lacked closed captioning back then, so Fonda’s gesture was inclusionary and forward-thinking for the time.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Though they’re both famous actors, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won Best Original Screenplay together in 1997 (to jog your memory, they penned Good Will Hunting). Their speech was an immediate mess of chaos, as the pair shouted out thank yous, talking over each other and yelling at an increasingly quick pace. After thanking the whole city of Boston, the pair stumbled over one another to scream, “Whoever we forgot, we love you!” Hey, we admire their awareness of those infamous speech time limits.
Halle Berry
In 2002, Halle Berry accepted the Best Actress award for her performance in Monster’s Ball. She was the first Black woman to win this prize; in her gripping speech, she tearfully acknowledged the rich history of the Black actresses who had come before her. “’This moment is so much bigger than me,” she said, before listing Black screen icons who’d paved the way for her success. “It’s for every faceless, nameless, woman of color who now has the chance because this door tonight has been opened,” she sobbed.
Hattie McDaniel
Speaking of groundbreaking actresses, in 1940, Hattie McDaniel won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Gone with the Wind. She was the first Black actor to win an Academy Award. “This is one of the happiest moments of my life,” McDaniel said while accepting the trophy.
It’s notable, however, that McDaniel’s presence in the room wasn’t necessarily exemplary of Hollywood’s progressive values: The ceremony was held at a segregated hotel, and producer David O. Selznick had to request that McDaniel be allowed into the hotel’s nightclub to receive her hard-won award. And at the event, McDaniel was seated separately from her co-stars. The film industry clearly had a long way to go — and remains troubled by a legacy of discrimination in the 21st Century.
Roberto Benigni
When most performers win an Oscar, they try to ascend to the stage with stoic grace. When Roberto Benigni won the Best Actor award for Life is Beautiful in 1999, he did not stick to the program. The Italian performer enthusiastically hugged whoever was in reach, a beaming grin plastered to his face (a momentary, light bout of jogging was also involved).
Once onstage, Benigni effused, “This is a terrible mistake because I used up all my English!” He then proceeded to stammer a heavily accented deluge of joyful exclamations that include something about the planet Jupiter and “a mountain of snow.” If you want to experience true gratitude in its purest form, look no further than this speech.
Michelle Yeoh
In 2023, Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. She was the first Asian woman to win it — a full 96 years after the first Academy Award ceremony (which, wow). Given the historic moment, Yeoh fittingly proclaimed that her win was bigger than herself: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.” As a 60 year-old actress, she also added, “Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re past your prime.” Hear, hear!
Ke Huy Quan
Also at the 95th Oscars, Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor — also for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. A sobbing Quan ascended the stage and delivered a rousing speech, proclaiming that “My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies, I cannot believe that it’s happening to me. This is the American dream.” If your family has its own American dream story, you’ll appreciate this one.
Olivia Colman
In 2019, Olivia Colman nabbed the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in The Favourite. She started her speech with a cheeky line: “It’s genuinely quite stressful. This is hilarious. I’ve got an Oscar.” She rattled off a long list of thank yous — and when signaled to “wrap it up,” she stuck her tongue out at the teleprompter and blew a raspberry. Overwhelmed, she then pointed into the crowd and sputtered, “Lady Gaga!” at the songstress herself. If you think you’d dither under the pressure onstage at the Oscars, you’ll definitely relate.
Daniel Kaluuya
If you love a mix of heartfelt emotion and slightly sordid comedy, look no further than Daniel Kaluuya accepting the Best Supporting Actor award for Judas and the Black Messiah. In his speech, he thanked his mother — a classic, no? Well, Kaluuya took a…different spin on that expected sentiment when he mused, “My mum and my dad…they had sex. It’s amazing! I’m here!” Well, you can’t say he’s wrong about the logistics.
Heath Ledger
Here’s a sad one: In 2009, Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for his star turn in The Dark Knight. But the actor had passed away the year prior. The award was received on Ledger’s behalf by his father, mother, and sister. The trio, understandably, ascended the stage very stoically. Ledger’s mother said, “Tonight we are choosing to celebrate and be happy for what he has achieved.” They accepted the award on behalf of Matilda, the daughter Ledger shared with actress Michelle Williams.
Barry Jenkins
Here’s a pick that isn’t awarding a particular performer — that said, it included an emotional speech given truly on the fly. The year was 2017, and the Best Picture award was clearly either going to the upbeat and fun musical, La La Land, or the very serious and touching Moonlight. Presenter Faye Dunaway announced that La La Land had won — but a couple of minutes (and a bit of commotion) later, producer Jordan Horowitz corrected the mistake: “Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke.”
Moonlight director and writer Barry Jenkins took to the stage and proclaimed, “Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true. But to hell with dreams, I’m done with it, because this is true. Oh my goodness.” It was a cinematic moment — and one that still inspires talk of conspiracies (though that’s a whole separate article).
Tilda Swinton
Very few acceptance speeches mention nipples, but at least one does. In 2008, Tilda Swinton accepted the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Michael Clayton. After wryly comparing the “buttocks” of her new statue to those of her American agent, she thanked George Clooney for “the seriousness and the dedication to your art. Seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from Batman & Robin, the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch. You rock, man.” Well, that’s one way to accept a once-in-a-lifetime award.
Viola Davis
Can you really assemble an awards show speech list without including Viola Davis? (It feels both immoral and illegal.) In 2017, Davis won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Fences. She started her speech by saying, “There is one place that all the people with the greatest potential are gathered. One place. And that’s the graveyard.”
She went on to clarify her desire to tell the stories of those people who had passed away without seeing their dreams come to fruition. “People ask me all the time, ‘What kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?’ And I say, ‘Exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories.’” Davis explained that part of the joy of being an actor is getting to enact the lives of ordinary people. Since these speeches usually revolve around the honorees, it’s amazing that someone of Davis’ reputation and talent drew attention to those we don’t see on Hollywood stages.
