Anthony Hopkins couldn'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, the 93rd Academy Awards concluded in a somewhat abrupt fashion, after producer Steven Soderbergh led the charge to make some big changes to the program. Rather than end on Best Picture like every year, the show gave the award to Nomadland third-to-last, then proceeded with Best Actress and Best Actor.
The race between Hopkins and the late Chadwick Boseman, who was nominated posthumously for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, came to a surprise end last night when Hopkins received the award for his performance in The Father. The only problem? Hopkins wasn’t actually in attendance at the Los Angeles show and his award was accepted by last year’s winner Joaquin Phoenix on 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 late Christopher Plummer who won at age 82 for his role in the 2010 film Beginners. 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’s The Silence of the Lambs. While his role in The Father could 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 can watch Hopkins' acceptance speech below. The Father is now available on VOD.