OSCAR/ARCHIVE
Speeches Archive

Iconic
Acceptance
Speeches

Ninety-seven years of gratitude, grief, defiance, and spectacle. The moments the podium became the whole show.

01Greatest Speeches of All Time

The Canon
01
1973

Marlon Brando Refuses

Best Actor — The Godfather
"I am not going to come. I have asked Sacheen Littlefeather to say what I would have said."

Brando sends Apache activist Sacheen Littlefeather to decline on his behalf — a protest against Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans. The room hisses and applauds simultaneously. The industry never fully recovers its comfort with itself. Brando never apologizes. See how this moment shaped the Notable Moments record permanently.

02
1999

Roberto Benigni Climbs the Seats

Best Foreign Language Film — Life Is Beautiful
"This is a terrible mistake — I used up all my English in the film."

He leaps onto the backs of seats in front of him. He thanks his wife using every word he knows. He weeps before the microphone even touches his lips. Pure, uncut joy — the kind that embarrasses everyone in the best possible way.

03
2010

Kathryn Bigelow Stands There

Best Director — The Hurt Locker
"There's no way to really prepare you for the reality of war."

First woman to win Best Director. She doesn't make a speech about being first. She talks about soldiers. The restraint is the statement. Oscars Legends tracks her full Academy history.

04
1994

Tom Hanks Outs His Teacher

Best Actor — Philadelphia
"The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight."

Hanks names his high school drama teacher and his real-life partner — quietly confirming both men are gay on live television during the height of the AIDS crisis. Three minutes of television that become something else entirely. Inspired the character in In & Out.

Most Emotional Speeches

Grief & Gratitude
1997

Cuba Gooding Jr. — Jerry Maguire

He screams. He hugs the presenter. He thanks people so fast the orchestra can't cut him off. Best Supporting Actor. Unbridled. Unforgettable. Rewatchable forever.

2003

Adrien Brody Kisses Halle Berry

Best Actor for The Pianist. He dips the presenter before she can finish the introduction. What follows is a speech about surviving — a real one, not a metaphor.

2022

Troy Kotsur — CODA

First deaf man to win Best Supporting Actor. Accepts entirely in ASL. The room gives a standing ovation by raising their hands and waving — the Deaf community's form of applause. A genuinely unprecedented minute of television.

2002

Halle Berry — Monster's Ball

First Black woman to win Best Actress. She can barely speak. When she does, she names Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. The speech is about a door, finally opened.

2019

Olivia Colman — The Favourite

Audibly shocked. Refers to Glenn Close in the audience by name. Briefly forgets her acceptance. The most genuinely startled winner in recent memory — and the most charming.

2023

Ke Huy Quan — Everything Everywhere

Child actor. Disappeared for twenty years. Found his way back through The Daniels. Cries throughout. The speech functions as a testimonial to second chances — an honest one. Check the 2022 Nominations for full context.

Controversial & Unexpected Speeches

The Combustible Ones
—
1978

Vanessa Redgrave — Julia

Best Supporting Actress
"I thank you for this tribute to our film about… Zionist hoodlums."

Redgrave calls out what she calls a campaign against her pro-Palestinian activism. Paddy Chayefsky responds from the same stage hours later. The Oscars telecast becomes a political arena in real time — not for the last time.

—
2022

Will Smith — King Richard

Best Actor
"I want to be a vessel for love."

Minutes after the incident that dominates every recap of the 2022 ceremony, Smith wins. He weeps. He quotes Richard Williams. The Academy lets him speak for four minutes. Context rewrites everything. This cannot be separated from what preceded it. Documented in full at Notable Moments.

—
2003

Michael Moore — Bowling for Columbine

Best Documentary Feature
"We are in fictitious times — we have a fictitious president."

Three weeks into the Iraq War. The Shrine Auditorium boos and cheers in equal measure. Moore calls it "shame" and walks off. The orchestra plays him out. He had more to say.

Video archive — full speech transcripts available via the Academy's official library. Links forthcoming.
Video Archive

Funny & Lighthearted Speeches

Levity Wins
2015

Graham Moore — The Imitation Game

Adapted Screenplay. Reveals he tried to kill himself at 16 for being different. Tells every young person who feels that way: "Stay weird. Stay different." Laughter turns to silence turns to something heavier.

2000

Björk's Swan Dress

Not a speech per se — the outfit was the speech. Best Original Song nominee. She pretended to lay an egg on the red carpet. The Academy has never fully recovered.

2016

Mad Max: Fury Road Wins Six

Six technical Oscars. Six short, bewildered speeches. Each winner more surprised than the last. George Miller watches from his seat. The film wins more than The Revenant. This is funny for reasons that compound.

1974

David Niven & The Streaker

A naked man runs across the Oscars stage mid-presentation. Niven, without missing a beat: "Probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life by showing his shortcomings." The audience erupts. Niven doesn't flinch once.

Recent Memorable Speeches

2020–2025
—
2024

Da'Vine Joy Randolph — The Holdovers

Best Supporting Actress
"I have been trying to be what people needed me to be. I'm ready to be what I need me to be."

Clean, direct, devastating in its simplicity. No notes. No list of agents. Just one sentence that the whole room needed to hear. The speech of 2024, by acclamation.

—
2023

Everything Everywhere All at Once — Sweep

Multiple Categories
"Please keep your hearts open." — Michelle Yeoh

Yeoh becomes first Asian woman to win Best Actress. She holds the Oscar up and says she never gave up. Daniel Kwan weeps. Daniel Scheinert weeps. The whole category weeps. Seven wins total. See the full record in Best Picture Winners.

—
2021

Chloé Zhao — Nomadland

Best Director
"People are good."

A pandemic ceremony. She holds the Oscar up to empty seats at the Union Station venue. Quotes a line she memorized as a child in China. Three words for a thesis statement. No speech has used fewer to say more. Browse the full 2020 Nominations.

Submit Your Favorite

A speech we missed. A moment that stayed with you. A quote you've been repeating for twenty years. The archive is never finished.

Frequently asked questions

Who was the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director, and how did she handle the historic moment?
Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win Best Director, receiving the award for The Hurt Locker in 2010. Rather than making her speech about being a historic first, she focused her remarks on soldiers and the reality of war. The restraint of that choice was itself considered a powerful statement.
Who was the first deaf man to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and how did the audience respond?
Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win Best Supporting Actor, accepting the award for CODA in 2022. He delivered his entire acceptance speech in American Sign Language. The audience responded with a standing ovation expressed by raising and waving their hands, which is the Deaf community's form of applause.
Why did Marlon Brando send someone else to accept his Best Actor Oscar in 1973?
Marlon Brando declined to accept his Best Actor Oscar for The Godfather as a protest against Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans. He sent Apache activist Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the award on his behalf. The room simultaneously hissed and applauded, and Brando never apologized for the gesture.
What made Tom Hanks's 1994 Best Actor acceptance speech for Philadelphia historically significant?
During his 1994 Best Actor speech for Philadelphia, Tom Hanks named his high school drama teacher and his real-life partner, quietly confirming both men were gay on live television. The speech aired during the height of the AIDS crisis, making the moment far more significant than a typical acceptance, and it later inspired a character in the film In & Out.
What did Halle Berry's 2002 Best Actress win represent, and what did she say in her speech?
Halle Berry's 2002 Best Actress win for Monster's Ball made her the first Black woman to win that award. Visibly emotional and barely able to speak, she named predecessors Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, and Diahann Carroll in her speech, framing the moment as a door that had finally been opened.
How did Da'Vine Joy Randolph's 2024 Best Supporting Actress speech stand out from typical Oscar acceptance speeches?
Da'Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers in 2024 and delivered a notably stripped-down speech. She spoke without notes and without thanking agents, centering her remarks on a single personal statement about being ready to be true to herself rather than what others needed her to be. It was widely regarded as the standout speech of that year's ceremony.

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