Making History

The Speeches:

Kathryn Bigelow:

This really is… There’s no other way to describe it, it’s the moment of a lifetime. First of all, this is so extraordinary to be in the company of such powerful, my fellow nominees, such powerful filmmakers who have inspired me and I have admired for, some of whom, for decades. And thank you to every member of the Academy. This is, again, the moment of a lifetime.

I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for Mark Boal, who risked his life for the words on the page and wrote such a courageous screenplay that I was fortunate enough to have an extraordinary cast bring that screenplay to life. And Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty. And, I think the secret to directing is collaborating and I had truly an extraordinary group of collaborators in my crew. Barry Ackroyd and Kalle J√∫l√≠usson and Bob Murawski, Chris Innis, Ray Beckett, Richard Stutsman and if I could just also thank my producing partners, Greg Shapiro, Nick Chartier and my wonderful agent, Brian Siberell, and the people of Jordan, who were, such a… so hospitable to us when we were shooting. And I’d just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world. And may they come home safe. Thank you.

Sandra Bullock: Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down? I would like to thank the Academy for allowing me in the last month to have the most incredible ride with rooms full of artists that I see tonight and that I’ve worked with before and I hope to work with in the future, who inspire me and blaze trails for us. Four of them that I’ve fallen deeply in love with I share this night with and I share this award with.

Gabby, I love you so much. You are exquisite. You are beyond words to me. Carey, your grace and your elegance and your beauty and your talent makes me sick. Helen, I feel like we are family through family and I don’t have the words to express just what I think of you. And Meryl, you know what I think of you and you are such a good kisser.

I have so many people to thank for my good fortune in this lifetime and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I know. To the family that allowed me to play them, the Tuohy family, I know they’re in here and you’ll probably hear her in a minute. Maybe not. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to… the family that made this film that gave me the opportunity to do something different. John Lee Hancock, Gil Netter, Alcon, Warner Bros., the actors, everyone who’s shown me kindness when it wasn’t fashionable, I thank you. To everyone who was mean to me when it wasn’t… George Clooney threw me in a pool years ago. I’m still holding a grudge. But there’s so many people to thank.

Not enough time, so I would like to thank what this film is about for me which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So… if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right. I would’ve done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there’s no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that. And this. And this. I thank you so much for this opportunity that I share with these extraordinary women and my lover Meryl Streep. Thank you.

Geoffrey Fletcher:

I don’t know what to say. This is for everybody who works on a dream every day. Precious boys and girls everywhere. All the cast and crew, anyone who’s kept believing in me. My two brothers, supported me in every way. My role models, my heroes, Buddy and Todd. My mother, Bettye, angel of my world. My father, Alphonse, who spent so much time with us and taught us everything. I’m sorry I’m drawing a blank right now, but I thank everyone.

Christoph Waltz:

Oscar and Pen√©lope that’s an √ºber bingo. I always wanted to discover some new continent and I thought I had to go this way, and then I was introduced to Quentin Tarantino, who was putting together an expedition that was equipped by Harvey Weinstein and Lawrence Bender and David Linde, and he put this script in front of me and he said, “This is where we’re going, but we’re going the other way.”

So Brad Pitt helped me on board and Diane Kruger was there Melanie Laurent and Denis Menochet and Bob Richardson and Sally Menke and Adam Schweitzer and Lisa Kasteler. Everybody helped me find a place. Universal and The Weinstein Company and ICM and Quentin, with his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer, took this ship across and brought it in with flying colors and that’s why I’m here.

And this is your welcoming embrace and there’s no way I can ever thank you enough, but I can start right now. Thank you.

Jeff Bridges:

Oh! Thank you, Academy members! Mom and dad, yeah, look! Whoo!

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for turning me on to such a groovy profession. Oh, my dad and my mom, they loved show biz so much. I remember my mom, getting all of us kids to entertain at her parties. You know, my dad sitting me on his bed and teaching me all of the basics of acting for a role in Sea Hunt.

They loved show biz so much and I feel an extension of them. You know, this, this is honoring them as much as it is me. I wanna, I wanna thank Scott Cooper, our wonderful director, for his knowledge of film and country music and for his ability to instill self-confidence in his actors. I thank you for that. Scott, where are you? Raise your hand, man. Yeah! Scotty! Thank you for that, Scott man! And thank you for assembling such a wonderful cast. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin, wherever he is backstage. And Bobby Duvall, so wonderful you guys brought your heart and soul. I want to thank Barry Markowitz, our wonderful DP, he did such a brilliant job. Judy Cairo, our producer, and Fox Searchlight, our wonderful, our wonderful distributor. Thank you guys for keeping us all together and for making it all happen. T Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton for bringing all of that great music and those wonderful musicians to the party, man.

My wonderful team that’s kept me together. Jean Sievers, David Schiff, Rick Kurtzman, CAA, Bob Wallerstein, Loyd Catlett, Tarra Day and Roger Love, man.

Thank you, guys. And I especially want to thank my gorgeous wife, Sue, we’ve been married 33 years. We have a beautiful family. Three girls, Isabelle, Jessie and Hayley. Thank you, guys. I wouldn’t be up here without you. Thank you so much.

Mo’Nique:
First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics. I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel for enduring all that she had to so that I would not have to. Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey because you touched it, the whole world saw it. Ricky Anderson, our attorney of Anderson & Smith, thank you for your hard work. My entire BET family, my Precious family, thank you so much. To my amazing husband Sidney, thank you for showing me that sometimes you have to forego doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right. And baby, you were so right. God bless us all.