{"id":4240,"date":"2016-05-02T17:22:20","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T11:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4240"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:58:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:28:03","slug":"olivia-colman-best-actress-oscars-the-favourite-glenn-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4240","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Colman\u2019s Best Actress Speech is the Realest Oscars Moment in Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p><\/div>

oward the end of this year\u2019s Oscars <\/a>ceremony when the Best Actress winner was about to be announced, no one was counting on a surprise. Only two awards \u2013 Best Director and Best Film \u2013 were left to cap off the weirdly experimental ceremony that glided along with no hosts, insolent snubs, and its incurable thirst for <\/span>Bohemian Rhapsody<\/span><\/i>. And at the time, Spike Lee\u2019s long overdue Oscar win for <\/span>BlackKklansman<\/span><\/i> that was followed by an exhilarating and politically conscious acceptance speech seemed to be the only plucky choice that the erratic Academy could afford to hand out. Lee\u2019s win was instantly \u2013 and unanimously \u2013 lauded as the one indelible silver lining to the insipid ceremony. <\/span>\n\nSo when Frances McDormand<\/a> and Sam Rockwell took the stage to announce the award for Best Actress, it was implied that the honour would be Glenn Close\u2019s for the taking. Beyond her stupendous turn in <\/span>The Wife<\/span><\/i>, the expectation was further bolstered by the actress\u2019 win at the Golden Globes, a glittering body of work that fetched her seven Oscar nominations through the years, and the anticipation of witnessing Close snag her debut Oscar accompanied onstage with her dog. The actress herself was dressed in a golden, glittery gown that resembled the Oscar statue itself, almost like a little hint. Except, the winner \u2013 as McDormand announced a few seconds later \u2013 turned out to be Olivia Colman. If Lee\u2019s win was the silver lining, then Colman\u2019s felt like reaching the stars itself. <\/span>\n\n\"Olivia\n

\n

The Oscars still continue to appeal because they promise us surprising moments like Olivia Colman’s winning moment<\/p>\n

Image credit: The Academy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\nThe 44-year-old actress\u2019s award felt surreal precisely because it didn\u2019t quite fit the neatly checked labels of either a \u201csurprise\u201d or an \u201cupset\u201d: Not only did her turn as the bonkers Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos\u2019 absurdist <\/span>The Favourite<\/span><\/i> garner widespread acclaim, but it was also a role and a performance deserving of the golden statue. In fact, hers was a win \u2013 like Richard E Grant\u2019s chance at winning Best Supporting Actor for <\/span>Can You Ever Forgive Me?<\/span><\/i> \u2013 that you root for with a secret realisation that it might just be a little out of reach for reality. <\/span>\n\nIn fact, the absolute unpredictability of Colman\u2019s win was reflected in the chaos of the reactions that followed the moment: As soon as her name was announced, Colman let out a squeal of disbelief, covering her mouth with her hands, as she remained fixed on her seat. Her husband landed a kiss on her left cheek, and seated beside her, co-actor and nominee Emma Stone<\/a> kissed her on the right cheek, barely managing to contain her smile and unfiltered elation. Lanthimos, seated at a far end from Colman, rushed to her table and went on his knees to hold her hand and give her a hug \u2013 all three of them clinging to her while leading her up to accept the award. <\/span>\n\n

Olivia Colman started off her speech with \u201cOoh, it\u2019s genuinely quite stressful\u201d and ended with an impromptu air-kissing contest with Lady Gaga.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nAt a time when award ceremonies \u2013 especially the Academy \u2013 are proving to be woefully predictable while striving only for political correctness, the unrehearsed-ness of Colman\u2019s winning moment felt a little too precious. Because even when award bodies seem to be bogged down while straddling the limitations of their legacy and misdirecting their need to adapt by awarding good intent, awards still continue to appeal because they promise moments like Colman\u2019s win. Moments that render an artist impossibly vulnerable. Moments that genuinely surprise, at its perceived impossibility. And Colman\u2019s acceptance speech \u2013 excitedly being regarded as the most endearing awards speech this year \u2013 only cemented the need for it. <\/span>\n\nColman’s speech started off an acceptance, \u201cOoh, it\u2019s genuinely quite stressful\u201d and ended with an impromptu air-kissing contest with Lady Gaga while blowing a raspberry at the infamous timer in between and finding time to apologise to Close<\/a> for defeating her. Colman, who\u2019d already garnered a reputation for endearing acceptance speeches after affectionately calling co-actors Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz \u201cma bitches\u201d at her Golden Globes win a month ago, sobbed, sniffed, cracked jokes, and clung on to her Oscar while giving a speech that didn\u2019t feel designed or even memorised. Instead it unfolded stream-of-consciousness, and felt genuinely reinvigorating for its emotional honesty, all under three minutes. It left the kooky Lanthimos sobbing, Colman\u2019s husband teary, and Stone\u2019s eyes glistening as she kept cheering Colman with a standing ovation. <\/span>\n\nIt’s rare to witness this lack of artifice in a winning moment that doesn\u2019t feel the need to publicise its flawlessness. Maybe that\u2019s why Colman\u2019s win feels like the realest moment the Oscars have had in years. For the moments that encapsulated her win, it didn’t matter that the Academy is terrible with decision-making, that the Oscars came so close to getting Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph host the ceremony, or that they weren’t good enough. Who’d have thought that was still possible?<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when award ceremonies \u2013 especially the Academy Awards \u2013 are proving to be woefully predictable while striving only for political correctness, the unrehearsed-ness of Olivia Colman\u2019s winning moment felt a little too precious. The Oscars still continue to appeal because they promise us surprising moments like these.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":4243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[7601,7645,1425,7646,7647],"class_list":["post-4240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-glenn-close","tag-olivia-colman","tag-oscars","tag-the-academy-awards","tag-the-favourite"],"yoast_head":"\nOlivia Colman\u2019s Best Actress Speech is the Realest Oscars Moment in Years<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At a time when award ceremonies \u2013 especially the Academy Awards \u2013 are proving to be woefully predictable while striving only for political correctness, the unrehearsed-ness of Olivia Colman\u2019s winning moment felt a little too precious. 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