In 2020, it was Anthony Hopkins for The Father. Then, it was Will Smith for King Richard. And now, the Academy has crowned a brand-new winner.
Tonight, the 95th annual Oscars took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, Brendan Fraser took home the statuette for Best Actor for The Whale. The actor gave an emotionally charged speech while accepting the award.
He was up against a slew of worthy nominees, including Austin Butler for Elvis, Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, Paul Mescal for Aftersun and Bill Nighy for Living.
The Academy Award for Best Actor has been around since the Oscars debuted in 1929. Traditionally, the statuette is presented by last year’s Best Actress winner. Smith won the most recent award and was up against Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog and Andrew Garfield for Tick, Tick...Boom!
During last year’s broadcast, Smith was involved in a shocking altercation. At one point, Chris Rock made an insensitive joke about the hair of Smith’s wife, Jada (who has alopecia). This prompted the King Richard star to storm the stage and slap Rock before yelling a few censored words. He referenced the incident in his speech.
Other previous winners include Anthony Hopkins for The Father, Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody, Joaquin Phoenix for Joker, Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour, Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant, Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything, Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jean Dujardin for The Artist, Colin Firth for The King’s Speech, Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, Sean Penn for Milk, Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood and Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland.
Cue the standing ovation.
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