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![Best Supporting Actor J.K. Simmons for]()
"Call your mom, call your dad. If you’re lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call ‘em. Don’t text. Don’t email. Call them on the phone. Tell ‘em you love ‘em, and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you, Mom and Dad."![Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette for]()
"To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America."![Best Actress Kate Winslet for]()
"I'd be lying if I hadn't made a version of this speech before, I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror. And this would've been a shampoo bottle. Well, it's not a shampoo bottle now!"![Best Actor Sean Penn for]()
"Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this, but I, and I want it to be very clear, that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often."![Best Actress Marion Cotillard for]()
"You rocked my life … Thank you life, thank you love, and it is true, there is some angels in this city."![Best Director Clint Eastwood for]()
"There's a lot of young guys coming along, but I'd like to say to the various financiers, don't forget the senior guys. The senior guys and gals are there, willing to do their best work for you."![Best Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett for]()
"I don't have a sense of entitlement or that I deserve this. You'd be surprised at the lack of competition between nominees — I think a lot of it's imposed from the outside. Can I have my champagne now?"![Best Actress Hilary Swank for]()
"I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all of this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream."![Best Documentary Feature winner Michael Moore for]()
"We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. We are against this war, Mr Bush. Shame on you. Shame on you!"![Best Actress Halle Berry for]()
"This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me: Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox and it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."![Best Actor Russell Crowe for]()
"For anybody who's on the down side of advantage and relying purely on courage, it's possible."![Best Actress Julia Roberts for]()
"I have a television so I'm going to spend some time here to tell you some things. And sir [to conductor], you are doing a great job, but you're so quick with that stick so why don't you sit? Because I may never be here again".![Best Adapted Screenplay Writer Graham Moore for]()
"When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different and I felt like I did not belong. And now I’m standing here and, so, I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Yes, you do. I promise you do. You do. Stay weird. Stay different. And then when it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along."![Best Supporting Actress Angelina Jolie for]()
"I'm in shock. And I'm so in love with my brother right now, he just held me and said he loved me."![Best Original Screenplay Winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for]()
"I just said to Matt, losing would suck and winning would be really scary and it's really, really scary."![Best Actor Roberto Begnini for]()
"I am not able to express all my gratitude because now, my body is in tumult because it is a colossal moment of joy … I would like to be Jupiter! And kidnap everybody and lie down in the firmament making love to everybody, because I don't know how to express. It's a question of love."![Best Director James Cameron for]()
"I'm the king of the world!"![Best Supporting Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. for]()
"Tom Cruise, I love you brother, I love you man … Everybody who was involved with this, I love you, I love you, I love you."![Best Director and Best Picture Winner Steven Spielberg for]()
"Oh, wow. This is the best drink of water after the longest drought of my life."![Best Actor Tom Hanks for]()
"I would not be standing here if it weren't for two very important men in my life … my high school drama teacher, who taught me 'To act well the part, there all the glory lies,' and one of my classmates … Two of the finest gay Americans, two wonderful men that I had the good fortune to be associated with."![Best Supporting Actress Lupita Nyong'o for]()
"When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid."![Best Actress Jennifer Lawrence for]()
"I know you're only standing up because you feel bad that I fell."![Best Actress Meryl Streep for]()
"When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no. Oh come on. Her. Again. You know? But whatever."![Best Supporting Actor Christopher Plummer for]()
"You're only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?"![Best Adapted Screenplay Winner Aaron Sorkin for]()
"Roxy Sorkin, your father just won the Academy Award. I'm going to have to insist on some respect from your guinea pig."![Best Supporting Actress Melissa Leo for]()
"When I watched Kate [Winslet] win [the same award] two years ago, it looked so f*****g easy!"![Best Actress Sandra Bullock for]()
"Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?"The 27 Most Memorable Oscar Speeches of All Time
This year's Academy Awards is taking place on Sunday, February 28th, and while Hollywood's finest will be honored for their achievements in film, many stars will also be expected to stir headlines with their speeches, which often range from inspiring to downright strange. SEE IT: The 35 Most Iconic Oscar Dresses of All Time And contrary to popular belief, these speeches aren't just about thanking your publicist/manager/stylist/kindergarden teacher. Case in point? Just last year, Best Supporting Actor J.K. Simmons left the world misty-eyed when he reminded us to drop the pesky texting habit, and instead, to give our parents a ring. "If you're lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call 'em," said the 61-year-old. READ: And the Award for Most Awkward Oscar Moment Goes To … But not all Oscar speeches are as heartfelt. Some can be confusing, odd, or even upsetting, or, like the speech from 2000's Best Supporting Actress, they can be, well, on the ick side. Read up on that one and 26 more of the most memorable Oscar speeches below, but keep a box of tissues handy — or at least something to throw at the screen.
Move Forward
- The 27 Most Memorable Oscar Speeches of All Time
