Oscars 2021 – live: Winners, acceptance speeches and highlights from the Academy Awards
Chloé Zhao wins Best Director while Frances McDormand earns Best Actress prize
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Your support makes all the difference.Road movie Nomadland won the top prize at the 93rd Academy Awards, which fulfilled many expectations but threw in a couple of surprise wins in an unusual ceremony.
The film’s director Chloe Zhao also made history, becoming the first woman of colour to win the award for directing, and the second woman in history — and the film scooped the Best Actress prize for its star Frances McDormand.
Sir Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar — his first since The Silence of the Lambs in 1992 — for his performance in The Father, about a man slipping into dementia, defeating presumptive favourite Chadwick Boseman, who died last year aged 43 following a private four-year battle with colon cancer.
Daniel Kaluuya, who was born in London to Ugandan parents, is the first black British winner of the best Supporting Actor prize for his turn as community organiser and member of the Black Panther Party Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.
There were a number of surprise wins. David Fincher’s Mank led the pack with 10 nominations, but ultimately won two.
Due to coronavirus, the Oscars moved out of their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre, and were based out of Los Angeles’s Union Station instead. The ceremony’s format was overhauled too, with attendees observing social distancing and some joining via video link from other parts of the world.
Nomadland had been a favourite to win Best Picture; it fulfilled that expectation, beating The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Minari actor Youn Yuh-jung also won over the crowd in her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress, which was presented to her by Brad Pitt. “Mr Brad Pitt, finally, nice to meet you!” she told him after making her way onto the stage. She then proceeded to acknowledge the ways in which her name has been mispronounced throughout the awards season, telling the crowd: “Tonight, you are all forgiven.”
With her win, Youn became the first Korean actor to take home an Academy Award.
Follow our liveblog for highlights from the ceremony and the buzz-worthy aftermath.
Film critic Clarisse Loughrey takes to task this year’s Oscars – namely, that controversial decision to switch-up the ceremony’s running order...
This year’s Oscars were felled by the Academy’s arrogance
This could have been one of the best ceremonies in recent memory, writes Clarisse Loughrey. Then the Academy made the deeply cynical, and ultimately exploitative, decision to switch up its running order
There’s no doubt celebrities have a pre-Awards routine, but it’s Alan Kim’s that has captured the internet’s heart.
The eight-year-old star of Best Picture nominee Minari won over fans with a snap of himself looking smart in a tuxedo as he took his dog, Cream, for a pre-Oscars stroll.
People are obsessed with 9-year-old Oscar star walking his dog before the awards
Minari’s adorable young star Alan S Kim is all ready for the 93rd Academy Awards Oscars award ceremony. But first, he has to walk his sweet pup, Cream.
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Longtime fans of the Oscars will notice an unexpected venue change-up.
For the last two decades, the Academy Awards have taken place at the Dolby Theatre in LA – but given the need for social distancing this year, yesterday’s ceremony broke tradition and was held at Union Station instead.
Chloé Zhao won big last night, with her phenomenal drama Nomadland picking up three awards.
The Asian American director – who was born in Beijing – became the first woman of colour to win the Best Director Oscar.
Her success, however, has reportedly gone unreported by Chinese media despite many locals celebrating her win. Here’s more on why:
Chloe Zhao’s Oscars win not reported in China as hashtags are censored
Filmmaker is first woman of colour to win Best Director award
Anthony Hopkins has delivered a belated acceptance speech for his Best Actor win.
Speaking from the beautiful Welsh countryside, the Welsh actor said: “At 83 years of age I did not expect to get this award.”
He also paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who featured in the same category alongside Riz Ahmed and Steven Yeun.
Anthony Hopkins pays tribute to Chadwick Boseman in Oscars acceptance speech
Actor delivered his belated speech from Wales
Ricky Gervais is no stranger to awards ceremonies, having hosted the Golden Globes five times – but the controversial comedian is apparently not welcome at the Oscars.
The Afterlife star took to Twitter in true Gervais fashion to poke fun at the ceremony before it aired.
Ricky Gervais says he wasn’t invited to Oscars and responded in the perfect way
Comedian Ricky Gervais brings the funny to everything he does, from onscreen performances to hosting the 2020 Golden Globes. Now, he is celebrating the 93rd Academy Awards in true fashion— by poking fun at being snubbed by it.
He wrote: “It’s The Oscars tonight! I wasn’t invited. Was it something I said?”
The 59-year-old accompanied his tweet with a clip of his contentious turn hosting last year’s Golden Globes during which he came for the “perverts” in the audience and joked about Felicity Huffman’s college admissions scandal.
This year’s Academy Awards veered from the sublime to the ridiculous, with moments varying from passionate speeches and bizarre dance interludes – and so obviously, there’s going to be endless memes
To save you sorting through the garbage to find the great, here’s some of our favourites.
Oscars 2021: All the best memes and reactions to the 93rd Academy Awards
It all looked like the stars had aligned - the best actor award was moved to the last part of the night, leading many to speculate that a touching posthumous gong for Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was in the works.
While conversation around the Best Original Song category was dominated by Eurovision’s entry, it was H.E.R. who ended up taking home the prize for her song in Judas and the Black Messiah.
Her collaboration with Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas “Fight For You” beat out tracks from The Trial of the Chicago 7 (“Hear My Voice”), Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (“Husavik”),The Life Ahead (“Io Sì (Seen)”), andOne Night in Miami (“Speak Now”).
We’ve compiled the best star’s-eye views of the event throughout the night, and the most revealing behind-the-scenes shots that show what it’s really like at the Oscars.
Behind the scenes pictures that show what the Oscars are really like
Things looked a little different at the Oscars this year due to Covid-19 safety protocols. But, despite the restrictions, instead of Zoom awards shows we’ve witnessed so far, we got a full-on red carpet event.
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