Updated February 10, 2020 3.5k votes 1.2k voters 29.7k views
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Vote up the Oscar speeches that made sitting through all the host's banter worth it.
One of the best parts of the Oscars broadcast each year is the moving and heartfelt acceptance speeches. The Academy Awards are the highest honor a director, actor, or person in the world of film can win. As a result, some of the best Oscar speeches are memorable for the winner's nerves, excitement, and enthusiasm. Which Oscar-winning stars have given the best acceptance speeches?
Especially with the advent of YouTube and social media, Academy Award speeches (and those from just about any awards show) are replayed and enjoyed (or scrutinized) even long after the telecast has aired. But not all Oscar speeches are created equal. Far from it. Winners react with everything from pure excitement (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) to an outpouring of emotion (Halle Berry) to being completely overwhelmed (Jennifer Lawrence).
These are the best Academy Award Speeches of all time! Vote up the speeches you find the most moving, and get ready to feel all the feels.
When Olivia Colman won Best Actress over Glenn Close (who was the frontrunner for her role in The Wife) during the 91st Academy Awards, she gave one of the most memorable speeches of the evening. In her emotional, impromptu-feeling speech, Colman thanked her fellow nominees, apologized to Close for winning, pointed out when her husband was crying in the audience, and recalled her time as a cleaner when she "did spend quite a lot of my time imagining this." Her earnest speech quickly won the internet
Credits (Film): Hot Fuzz, The Iron Lady, Locke, Terkel in Trouble, Cuban Fury
Year: 2014 Film:Dallas Buyers Club Award: Best Actor in a Leading Role
McConaughey manages to hit all of the standard notes in the beginning of his speech, thanking the Academy, his team, his costars, and the other acceptance speech regulars. He then elaborates on his life and his path, in pure poetic McConaughey style.
Credits (Film): Dazed and Confused, The Wolf of Wall Street, Tropic Thunder, Interstellar, A Time to Kill
Birthplace: Uvalde, Texas, United States of America
Year: 1995 Film:Forrest Gump Award: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Tom Hanks is the embodiment of charm. When he thanks you, he means it - really, truly means it. He thanks everyone and you as the viewer feel thanked and loved. Powerful words, powerfully delivered.
Credits (Film): Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 2
Year: 1998 Film:Good Will Hunting Award: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
You knew Robin Williams to be excited and excitable in nearly all of his performances, but to see the late actor near speechless with excitement here is powerful and amazing.
Credits (Film): Aladdin, Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook
Year: 1997 Film: Jerry Maguire Award: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
If you won an Oscar you might be a little too excited also. Gooding went there and managed to handle it beautifully. He doesn't really start his speech in full force until the music plays, then instead of letting it play him off he uses it as a score to underline his love for everyone. Then there's dancing!
Credits (Film): Jerry Maguire, A Few Good Men, As Good as It Gets, Boyz n the Hood, Pearl Harbor
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States of America
Year: 1998 Film: Good Will Hunting Award: Best Writing, Original Screenplay
Want to see two young Boston boys totally lose their sh*t on stage? It's crazy to see how far these two have come over the years, and seeing them here is really something special.
Credits (Film): Good Will Hunting, Dazed and Confused, Field of Dreams, Armageddon, Shakespeare in Love
