16 of the most iconic Oscar speeches of all time

As the 95th Oscars ceremony arrives, there are all sorts of things we’re looking forward to. The fashion, the ‘gracious loser’ smiles and those most iconic of Oscar speeches, where a beaming Hollywood celeb makes their way onto the stage to deliver a tearjerking, hilarious or just downright authentic acceptance monologue of epic proportions. In fact, serving lewks aside, that’s the main reason we all tune in, right?

Winners are given a max of 90 seconds to thank their close ones and throw in a punchy and memorable line (of which some will go over, but the Academy’s orchestra team have been notoriously known for stepping in to get things moving). Many choose that time to make a real impact and send political messages, cryptic jabs at the academy and it’s lack of diversity or hot-button cultural conversations such as climate change and gender equality.

Now more than ever, this climate has been brewing social activism from the most unexpected people, so we’re excited to see what this year’s class will bring to the stage. Although we may not be the ones displaying the gold statue on our floating shelves, we are all keen to tune in for a hint of inspiration, and of course, to be entertained.

So in true celebration, from Jennifer Lawrence tripping on her way to claim her Oscar, to Kate Winslet’s dad’s iconic whistle, here are the best Academy Award speeches of ALL time according to a mix of YouTube reviews and, quite frankly, how much we cried while watching them. 

Ariana DeBose (2022)

Kicking things off with a nice recent one, this speech comes from West Side Story star Ariana DeBose who won Best Supporting Actress at the last Academy Awards (aka the 94th, keep up!). The actor gave an empowering and heartfelt speech on accepting the award from Daniel Kaluuya and H.E.R, where she spoke about being an “openly queer woman of colour” and told the audience, and indeed those watching from home that, “there is indeed a place for us”.

Referring to her early days in the business, she said: “Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus, look into her eyes. “You see an openly queer woman of colour, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength in life through art. And that is, I think, what we’re here to celebrate.”