MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The 94th Academy Awards will go down in history for a huge upset for the Best Picture winner, and for a slap that nobody saw coming. On a night when Will Smith was poised to win Best Actor for his dramatic turn in King Richard, he will more likely be remembered on this evening for slapping Chris Rock in an unbelievable moment that left millions wondering if it was scripted or real.
Heading into these Oscars, New Zealand director Jane Campion was heavily favored to win Best Director and Best Picture for her cowboy film, The Power of the Dog. With Benedict Cumberbatch nominated for Best Actor, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons both nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and Kirsten Dunst in the running for Best Supporting Actress, the Netflix film was a looming juggernaut.
Director Jane Campion's Best Original Screenplay Oscar has gained a new friend.
SponsorJane Campion with her Best Director Oscar for her film 'The Power of the Dog.' #Oscars
Photography by: Luis Alberto Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/K1WowdI7Po
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 29, 2022
Instead, however, Campion won the film’s lone Academy Award. It was still a major achievement for Campion, becoming the first woman nominated twice for Best Director 28 years after earning a nomination for The Piano. Campion topped Kenneth Branagh for Belfast, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car, Steven Spielberg for West Side Story, and Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza.
In a stunning upset, CODA, the small comedy-drama distributed on Apple+ about a child of deaf adults and her family, won Best Picture. The feel-good vibes of CODA apparently moved Academy voters over the admittedly slow and deliberate pace of The Power of the Dog. The other films nominated for Best Picture were Drive My Car, Belfast, Dune, Nightmare Alley, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, Don’t Look Up, and King Richard.
Best Picture goes to 'CODA' – Congratulations! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/X2feIYmC6d
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
Ariana DeBose also made history with her win for Best Supporting Actress. She becomes the first openly gay Afro-Latina actress to win an acting Academy Award. Sixty years after the legendary Rita Moreno won Best Supporting Actress for playing Anita in Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise’s film adaptation of West Side Story, DeBose did the same. Moreno herself was at the ceremony cheering her on.
https://twitter.com/ArianaDeBose/status/1508596783819247616?s=20&t=Pc1QDkZyaISTLUFaPe2o7g
Other nominees were Dunst, Jessie Buckley for The Lost Daughter, Aunjanue Ellis for King Richard, and Dame Judi Dench for Belfast.
Adding to the haul of CODA was another landmark win. Troy Kotsur, who portrayed deaf fisherman and head of the family Frank Rossi, became the first deaf actor to win an acting Oscar as he was named Best Supporting Actor. Kotsur’s nuanced and sensitive performance allowed him to top fellow nominees Plemons, Smit-McPhee, JK Simmons for Being the Ricardos, and Ciaran Hinds in Belfast.
Blessing your feed with this pure moment between Best Supporting Actor winner Troy Kotsur and last year's Best Supporting Actress winner Youn Yuh-jung. 💛 #Oscars
Photography by: Luis Alberto Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/dumE5otRYe
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 30, 2022
For bringing to life the mascara-wearing, Bible-preaching 80s icon Tammy Fae Bakker, Jessica Chastain was named Best Actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. It was a bit of an upset as many predicted that Kristen Stewart’s own biographical performance as Princess Diana in Spencer would earn her the prize. The other nominees in the category were previous Oscar winners in the form of Olivia Colman for The Lost Daughter, Nicole Kidman for Being the Ricardos, and Penelope Cruz for Madres paralelas.
It was supposed to be a mere formality that Smith would finally win Best Actor for playing Richard Williams, the loud and brash father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard. Smith was sweeping other award shows and the Oscars would be the culmination. Instead, prior to winning, he reacted badly to a joke Chris Rock made at the expense of wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. The slap one man gave to another will go down in infamy as one of the most unforgettable moments in Oscar history.
Best Actor in a Leading Role goes to Will Smith for his incredible performance in 'King Richard' Congratulations! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/y0UTX48214
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
The other nominees for Best Actor were Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos, Andrew Garfield for tick, tick… BOOM!, and Cumberbatch.
Another feel-good story emerged as a winner with Disney’s Encanto being named Best Animated Feature. The musical story of the magical Madrigal family topped Luca, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Flee.
The Oscar for Best Animated Feature goes to 'Encanto.' Congratulations! #Oscars @EncantoMovie pic.twitter.com/0hp0cYfa3d
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
Perhaps because the catchy “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” was not submitted for Best Original Song, Encanto and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda did not win the Oscar. Instead, Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS took home the Oscar for the title track to the James Bond film, “No Time To Die”.
Congratulations to @BillieEilish and @Finneas for winning Best Song by @TheAcademy for #NoTimeToDie. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/PSNWQO11yO
— James Bond (@007) March 28, 2022
Kenneth Branagh’s very personal semi-autobiographical story for Belfast won Best Original Screenplay. He topped Licorice Pizza, King Richard, Don’t Look Up, and The Worst Person in the World. Director and screenwriter Sian Heder took home another honor for CODA in the form of Best Adapted Screenplay. It edged out Dune, The Lost Daughter, Drive My Car, and The Power of the Dog.
Kenneth Branagh WINS the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for #BELFAST! 🏆
Thank you to @TheAcademy and huge congratulations to Ken! pic.twitter.com/BnyTb4GDZO
— Belfast (@BelfastMovie) March 28, 2022
Siân Heder, director of Best Picture winner #CODA. #Oscars
Photography by: Luis Alberto Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/xsJgaSSsgw
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 30, 2022
The very emotionally gut-wrenching Drive My Car did not go home empty-handed, however. It won Best International Feature Film. Denis Villeneuve’s epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune took home Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, and Best Sound.
Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi after winning the Oscar for Best International Feature for 'Drive My Car.' #Oscars
Photography by: Luis Alberto Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/28yYhQfeQ0
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 29, 2022
Greig Fraser, with the Oscar for Best Cinematography for his work on Denis Villeneuve's #Dune, and presenters Rosie Perez, Woody Harrelson, and Wesley Snipes. #Oscars
Photography by: Luis Alberto Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/VN9gmSBc0B
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 30, 2022
