British actress Olivia Colman has been my idol for so long. A hard-working, incredibly talented, down-to-earth actress who, so it is said, treats everybody with huge respect, and is just the nicest person to be around.
That, of course, could be seen in Olivia Colman’s Oscar speech last night which will make you cry and make you laugh, because she really is that wonderful.
Colman, of course, won the Oscar for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite. An Oscar she was not expected to be awarded by most, as Glenn Close for The Wife was thought to be a shoe-in. A huge shock in fact, as Close now holds the record for the living person with seven nominations and no wins.
But win the actress did and, when she finally took the stage to receive her award after at first looking like she may just faint, Olivia Colman’s speech was brilliant.
She began with a wipe of her nose and the oh so British comment “Ooh, it’s genuinely quite stressful”, which of course drew a huge laugh from the Oscar audience.
Colman then went on in a shell-shocked manner to mumble “This is hilarious”, and then to thank director Yorgos Lanthimos and co-stars Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz — “The two loveliest women in the world to fall in love with, and to go to work with every day. I mean, you can imagine. It wasn’t a hardship”.
But it was when she thanked Glenn Close that I began to cry, because it was so obvious she had always wanted to get to the heights Close has been at for decades, but maybe never believed she would actually get there.
“And Glenn Close. You have been my idol for so long. And this is not how I wanted it to be (at which point, Glenn Close laughed), and I think you’re amazing, and I love you very much”.
Soon after she was obviously told to finish her speech as she suddenly said “Oh please wrap up. Okay” and then blew a raspberry at the camera, which drew howls of laughter from the audience.
Olivia Colman’s Oscar speech finished off with her thanking her husband — “My husband Ed. My best friend, I love you so much. 25 years and you’ve been my best supporter, he’s gonna cry… I’m not”.
And blurting out “And Lady Gaga. Love Lady Gaga”, and blowing her kisses.
Watch Olivia Coleman’s brilliant Oscar speech in the ABC video below. And a huge congratulations to her from Leo Sigh, as this was an Oscar so well-deserved and given to such an amazingly lovely woman.
Related Reading: Watch Olivia Colman’s BAFTA acceptance speech (hint, it’s just as good as her Oscar speech!)
I am a Brit-American journalist, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I’m also obsessed with music, anime, manga, and K-dramas. Help!