Adrien Brody says please turn the music off
At the recently held Academy Awards, Adrien Brody was prepared with his acceptance speech for the Best Actor award for 'The Brutalist'. He went way over the 45-second time limit as he accepted the award and it’s been confirmed that he actually broke the record for the longest acceptance speech in Oscars history.
“They're already counting me down. OK, thank you, God. Thank you for this blessed life. If I may just humbly begin by giving thanks for the tremendous outpouring of love that I felt from this world and every individual that has treated me with respect and appreciation, I feel so fortunate. You know, acting is a very fragile profession — it looks very glamorous, and in certain moments it is, but the one thing I've gained, having the privilege to come back here, is to have some perspective. And no matter where you are in your career, no matter what you've accomplished, it can all go away, and I think what makes this night most special is the awareness of that and the gratitude that I have to still to do the work that I love.”
As he continued with his speech, he said, “I share this with my amazing partner Georgina, who has not only reinvigorated my own self-worth, but my sense of value and my values and her beautiful children Dash and India, I know it's been a rollercoaster, but thank you for accepting me into your life and Popsy's coming home a winner.”
As the music began playing in the background, he said, “I’m wrapping up, I will wrap up. Please turn the music off. I’ve done this before — thank you. It’s not my first rodeo. I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas, and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression, and of anti-semitism, and racism, and of othering, and I believe that I pray for a healthier and happier, and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it's a reminder to not let hate go unchecked. Let's fight for what's right, keep smiling, keep loving one another, let's rebuild together. Thank you.”
The slap that Echoed around the world
This certainly will be remembered in Oscar history for eternity. In 2022, presenter for the night, comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. “Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” he said, as the cameras panned to her husband and actor Will Smith at first laughing and then Jada rolling her eyes. Seconds later, Will walked up to the stage and slapped Chris hard across the face on live TV before returning to his seat.
While many at first wondered if it was a joke, Will yelled from his seat, “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth,” making it clear it was not a joke.
Will went on to win that night’s Best Actor award but was later banned from attending the ceremony for 10 years.
The first moment of protest
at the Academy
During the 45th Academy Awards in 1973, Marlon Brando won the Best Actor award for his role in ‘The Godfather’. But it was a native American actress and activist, Sacheen Littlefeather, who took to the stage, clutching a letter written by Marlon, and read, “He very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award and the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in movie re-runs, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.”
One of the most controversial and memorable political moments in Oscars history, Littlefeather became the first person to use the Oscars stage for such a statement. Her speech was met with a mixture of claps and boos, but she became the subject of racism and threats of violence as a result, and was blacklisted from Hollywood. She finally received an apology from the Academy over her treatment in 2022, and died that same year.
Recreating that iconic kiss
In 2003, the then 29-year-old Adrien Brody became the youngest actor to win the Best Actor for ‘The Pianist’, a record he still holds. But that night, he did something even more shocking. After walking on stage to receive his Oscar, he grabbed actress Halle Berry and planted a kiss on the shocked presenter. “I bet they didn’t tell you that [kiss] was in the gift bag,” Brody joked before launching into his acceptance speech.
This year was time for payback as Adrien was nominated for Best Actor for ‘The Brutalist’. Halle Berry, caught Adrien on the red carpet and planted a kiss on him in front of shocked fans and his girlfriend.
Jennifer Lawrence falls at the Oscars
In 2013, Jennifer Lawrence became the second youngest actress to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘Silver Linings Playbook’. However, her fall at the Oscars while walking up to accept her award made her mark in Oscar history. Jennifer clambered up onto the stage and jokingly told the cheering audience, “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell, and that’s really embarrassing.” The following year, she slipped and fell on an ice cream cone on the Oscars Red Carpet.
The Best Film mix-up
During the 2017 Oscars, everything went smoothly until the Best Picture award was announced by presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. “La la land’ was overjoyed to win the award and after more, and later one of the film’s producers, Jordan Horowitz, announced to the audience, “Guys, I’m sorry there’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture.”
The presenters had been handed the wrong envelope by PriceWaterhouseCoopers – the accounting firm that tabulates the votes.
Walking on chairs
Roberto Benigni shot into the international limelight when ‘Life is Beautiful’ which he directed, wrote, and starred in, won two Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and later in the evening for Best Actor. Benigni’s real life wife Nicoletta Braschi was by his side when he started dancing on the tops of chairs as he won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. He hopped around with both his feet to jump up each step to retrieve his award from legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren. He bowed to the audience before delivering a powerful speech recognizing the victims of the Holocaust who inspired the film. When he won the Best Actor award, he said, “This is a terrible mistake because I used up all my English. I don’t know!”