Anthony Hopkinscouldn’t be present to give an Oscars acceptance speech after his surprise victory in the Best Actor category, but the 83-year-old legend still gave a speech on Monday morning.
Last night, the93rd Academy Awardsconcluded in a somewhat abrupt fashion, after producerSteven Soderberghled the charge tomake some big changes to the program. Rather than end on Best Picture like every year, the show gave the award toNomadlandthird-to-last, then proceeded with Best Actress and Best Actor.
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The race between Hopkins and the lateChadwick Boseman,who was nominated posthumously for his performance inMa Rainey’s Black Bottom, came to a surprise end last night when Hopkins received the award for his performance inThe Father. The only problem? Hopkins wasn’t actually in attendance at the Los Angeles show and his award was accepted by last year’s winnerJoaquin Phoenixon his behalf. Then, just like that, the show was over.
Despite all the confusion around the abruptness of the conclusion of the show, a clearly surprised Hopkins posted a gracious early morning acceptance speech on his Instagram where he also honored Boseman.
“Good morning, here I am in my homeland in Wales. At 83 years of age I did not expect to get this award, I really didn’t and I’m very grateful to the Academy and thank you. I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. And again thank you all, very much. I really did not expect this. I feel very privileged and honored, thank you.”
With the award, Hopkins became the oldest actor to win at 83 years and 115 days old on Sunday. The previous oldest winner was the lateChristopher Plummerwho won at age 82 for his role in the 2010 filmBeginners. It was likely due to concerns around age that Hopkins opted not to be in attendance as there were worries about him traveling during the pandemic.
Hopkins had previously won Best Actor for playing Hannibal Lecter in 1991’sThe Silence of the Lambs. While his role inThe Fathercould not be more different in the type of character he played, Hopkins was still remarkable with a committed performance in what is essentially a horror film about a man slowly succumbing to dementia.
There certainly will be countless pieces about why the awards show decided to take the risk in changing the order of awards,without knowing for certain it would pay off, though for now, it is nice to see Hopkins give a classy and humble speech. It was short and simple, paying tribute to the larger-than-life Boseman with an appropriate degree of respect.
you may watch Hopkins' acceptance speech below.The Fatheris now available on VOD.
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