British actress Olivia Colman stunned Hollywood on Feb. 24 when she won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in ‘The Favourite,’ beating acting heavyweight Glenn Close and fan fave Lady Gaga in the process.
British actress Olivia Colman, 45, pulled off a stunning upset at the Oscars on Feb. 24 when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Favourite, swiping the title from the Tinsel Town’s favorite to win, Glenn Close. Olivia – who played Queen Anne in the black comedy – looked genuinely stunned to beat the 71-year-old who had scooped up the Golden Globe and the SAG for her role in The Wife and looked set to cruise home with the Academy Award too. Industry insiders thought that she was a shoo-in to win, even though A Star Is Born fans wanted Lady Gaga to pick up the Oscar.
Instead a crying, shaking Olivia took to the stage and said, “It’s genuinely quite stressful. This is hilarious. Got an Oscar. I have to thank lots of people.” She added, “If, by the way I forget anybody, I’m going to find you later and give you a massive snog…” (For those who don’t know, a “snog” is British slang for French kissing.) Understandably, as a result, the audience burst out laughing.
Olivia did give a nod to the shocking turn of events, telling her fellow nominees, “To be in this category with these extraordinary women and Glenn Close, you’ve been my idol for so long and this is not how I wanted it to be and I think you’re amazing. I love you very much. I love you all.”
Olivia also mentioned her two children. The actress, who has two children (sons Hall, 12, and Finn, 14) said, “My kids who are at home and watching, look… well if you’re not well, kind of well done, but I sort of hope you are. This is not going to happen again.” Given the eight-hour time difference between London and Los Angeles – and that it was nearly 4 o’clock in the morning in the U.K. at the time of her win – it would indeed have been impressive if they were still awake watching their mom pick up the Oscar thousands of miles away.
Perhaps Olivia’s funniest moment, however, was when she blew a raspberry at the show’s organizers when she could see someone behind-the-scenes motioning to her during her speech to “please wrap up.” At the end the shocked actress was the ultimate fan girl, saying before she left the stage, “Love Lady Gaga.”
The Twitter reaction to Olivia’s speech was amazing. One person tweeted, “Some people end their speeches thanking God. Olivia Colman ends hers thanking Lady Gaga. That feels right.” Another person joked, “I could have listened to Olivia Colman for another 20 minutes, so delightful.”
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