Anthony Hopkins may have won the best actor Academy Award during Sunday night's ceremony, but when he finally accepted the honor, he made sure to pay his respect to the late Chadwick Boseman, one of his competitors in the category.
Hopkins, who won for his work in "The Father," was not on hand at the ceremony. He posted a video on Instagram hours later to express his surprise and delight, while also acknowledging the "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" star.
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"Good morning, here I am in my homeland of Wales and at 83 years of age I did not expect to get this award. I really didn't," Hopkins said, standing in front of a picturesque countryside.
"And I am very grateful to the Academy and thank you. And I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. And again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honored. Thank you."
Hopkins' victory was considered to be a big upset, since many believed Boseman was the favorite in the best actor field. Instead, Hopkins, who had previously claimed a best actor Academy Award for his legendary performance in “The Silence of the Lambs,” managed to make history as the oldest person to win an Oscar in an acting category.
Hopkins' speech came about because was not awake when his name was announced as winner on Sunday night.
"Tony was in Wales, where he grew up, and he was asleep at 4 in the morning when I woke him up to tell him the news," his agent, Jeremy Barber, told People. "He was so happy and so grateful."
Boseman died last August at the age of 43 from colon cancer, later earning a posthumous Oscar nomination in what was his final film. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” co-star Viola Davis told E! on the red carpet before the Oscars that Boseman got into acting for all the right reasons.
"He absolutely honored the work,” she said. “And a lot people went into this business because they wanted to be famous actors. They don't want to be actors; they want to be famous actors. He entered it because he just wanted to be an artist."
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