Month: March 2025

Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose aged just 28 in 2008, won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Dark Knight at the 81st Academy Awards.

Though he had been previously nominated for Best Actor in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain, he lost out to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of Truman Capote.

Footage of celebrities’ reactions to him winning the Oscar is heartbreaking to look back on now, with several in the room being former co-workers of Ledger.

The star’s award was accepted by his father, Kim Ledger, mother Sally Bell, and older sister Kate Ledger.

Ledger died on 22 January, 2008 after accidentally overdosing on prescription painkillers.

The Joker actor stands as one of only two actors to receive an award posthumously – the first being Peter Finch who won Best Actor for his role in 1976’s Network.

Though many felt it was a foregone conclusion that Ledger would win, he came up against several iconic roles.

Also nominated was Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt, Josh Brolin in Milk, and Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road.

The emotional speech by Ledger’s family

The speech given by Ledger’s family was deeply emotional, with them noting how they felt the Oscar would have been validating for Ledger. Kim said: “I have to say this is ever so humbling, being amongst such wonderful people and such a wonderful industry.

“This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath’s quiet determination to be accepted by you all here, his peers, within an industry he so loved.”

Kate went on to say: “Heath was such a compassionate and generous soul who added so much excitement and inspiration to our lives.

“We have been truly overwhelmed by the honour and respect bestowed upon him by this award.

“Tonight we are choosing to celebrate and be happy for what he achieved.”

While his mother said they would be using the moment to be ‘happy for what he has achieved’, the room full of Hollywood’s brightest lights was clearly struck by sorrow for having lost one of their own number.

The reaction of Hollywood A-list stars

The reaction of major stars like Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, Ben Kingsley, and Kate Winslet to a much-deserved award Ledger didn’t live to receive himself was truly heartbreaking.

Kate spoke to her brother the night before he died and said they were ‘laughing and joking’, while she dispelled any rumours that his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight or his preparation for the role had contributed to his death.

There had been claims that Ledger’s dedication to the role, including locking himself in a hotel room for weeks and keeping a diary of his character’s thoughts had contributed in some way to his death, but his sister refuted those suggestions.

Kate explained that he’d been ‘so proud’ of what he’d done in the movie and was looking forward to appearing in another as he’d ‘had the best time ever’ working on the film.

She said: “He loved working with Chris Nolan and Christian Bale and Gary Oldman.

“When he came home at Christmas, he couldn’t wait to tell us all about it, and he was doing the voice and laughing, showing me all the rushes. We had a great time.”

For many fans, he’s the greatest actor to play the Joker of all time and his performance in The Dark Knight will live forever in memory.

Joaquin Phoenix also won an Oscar for playing the same role in 2019’s Joker and paid tribute to Ledger, saying: “I’m standing here on the shoulders of my favourite actor, Heath Ledger, so, thank you.”

The panel saw presenter Jonathan Ross joined by actor Jason Isaacs, journalist Mariella Frostrup and film expert Elle Osili-Wood.

Ross and his panel were criticised last year, and this year was no different as viewers took to social media to express their distaste with the coverage.

One fan tweeted: “This ITV panel is truly pissing me off. Saying Dune won these awards for ‘sympathy’ cause it won’t do well in the big categories.

“Maybe it actually deserves to win these categories.”

A second said: “Seriously.. give an Oscar to every single member in the audience in the ITV Oscars studio for sitting through this sh*te and the forced laughs.”

A third said: “This #itvoscars coverage is f**king atrocious. Get these people off my screen, so f**king negative and miserable.”

Another complained about one specific moment however, posting: “It’s embarrassing when we’ve waited so long for horror to be recognised by the Academy again, and when it is, a panel sits and mocks a female director’s work for rightfully criticising the industry and how older women are viewed.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

This came after Mariella Frostup and Isaacs were critical of The Substance, which was nominated for several awards, including Best Actress and Best Picture.

Frostup said of the film: “The Substance is a very strange choice. If you like gore you will love it. If you don’t, not much to take home.

“The reason it is in there is because it feels like it’s important. Its about ageing. It’s about masochism.

“It’s a headline film with very little underneath it. I don’t think it explores anything it sets out to confront and frankly Demi is described as a fading actress but she is absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

“If I looked like her naked I would take my clothes off all the time. If you start to unpick it it makes no sense whatsoever.

“It is not an important film in what it has to say.”

Other posters weighed in, with one posting: “Get this blonde bobbed lady off this sofa. Hating The Substance AND Anora? have some FUN #ITVOscars.”

Another said: “This woman clearly just doesn’t respect the horror genre, saying The Substance has no message??”

Elle Osili-Wood was the sole defender of The Substance, with one viewer tweeting: “There’s a young woman fighting for her life defending The Substance (and the horror genre) on the ITV Oscars panel yesss sister.”

Oscars 2025 results

Best supporting actor

Yura Borisov – Anora

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain – WINNER

Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

Best animated feature

Flow – WINNER

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Best costume design

Wicked – WINNER

Nosferatu

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Gladiator II

Best original screenplay

Anora – Sean Baker – WINNER

The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 – Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David

The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

Best adapted screenplay

A Complete Unknown – Jay Cocks and James Mangold

Conclave – Peter Straughan – WINNER

Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard

Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing – Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best make-up and hairstyling

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez

Nosferatu

The Substance – WINNER

Wicked

Best film editing

Anora – WINNER

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

Best supporting actress

Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande – Wicked

Felicity Jones – The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez – WINNER

Best production design

Wicked – WINNER

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Nosferatu

Conclave

Best original song

‘Never Too Late’ – Elton John: Never Too Late

‘El Mal’ – Emilia Pérez – WINNER

‘Mi Camino’ – Emilia Pérez

‘Like A Bird’ – Sing Sing

‘The Journey’ – The Six Triple Eight

Best sound

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two – WINNER

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best visual effects

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two – WINNER

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked

Best cinematography

The Brutalist – WINNER

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Maria

Nosferatu

Best original score

The Brutalist – WINNER

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best international feature

I’m Still Here – Brazil – WINNER

The Girl with the Needle – Denmark

Emilia Pérez – France

The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Germany

Flow – Latvia

Best actor

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist – WINNER

Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best director

Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker – Anora – WINNER

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

Best actress

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison – Anora – WINNER

Demi Moore – The Substance

Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best picture

Anora – WINNER

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

This isn’t to say they won’t be able to take it home though, as The Brutalist actor will surely be tucked up at home with their golden statue under arm.

Brody won this year after beating out Timothee Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice, and Ralph Fiennes for Conclave.

The actor was awarded the trophy for his performance as László Tóth, an architect who comes to America to rebuild his life.

Brody won’t be the owner of the coveted gold statue.

This is due to the Academy having strict rules about their Oscars – an agreement that every winner will have to sign tonight.

This agreement outlines the fact that actors cannot sell their Oscars.

Some have tried to do this in the past, which has even led to lawsuits, as winners are forced to sign an agreement stating that, if they ever wanted to sell their award, they must first offer it to a measly $1.

While we can never know for certain, as it hasn’t been an option since 1951, the market would likely be incredibly generous when it came to buying certain Oscars.

Imagine how much a collector would pay to hold on to the famous Moonlight Best Picture Oscar?

Or Will Smith’s Best Actor award he collected after smacking the sh*t out of Chris Rock?

Alas, if these actors find strapped for cash, they will have to follow the way of Will Smith and wheel out sequels to their old films.

As such, the film industry stars who win these awards are considered to not actually own them, but instead they’re essentially being lent the statues from the Academy.

There is still, however, a market for Oscar trophies handed out prior to the 1951 rule, as it does not apply to them.

Michael Jackson bought the Best Picture award for Gone With the Wind in 1999 for $1.54 million, while magician David Copperfield owns the Casablanca Best Director trophy.

Copperfield bought this for $232,000 in 2002.

Brody beat out his fellow nominees, talking in his Oscar speech about the honour that was being awarded Best Actor due to how unstable the acting industry is.

This comes as his second win, having previously won for his only other nomination – the lead role in The Pianist.

Oscars 2025 results: the nominees and winners announced so far

Best supporting actor

Yura Borisov – Anora

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain – WINNER

Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

Best animated feature

Flow – WINNER

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Best costume design

Wicked – WINNER

Nosferatu

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Gladiator II

Best original screenplay

Anora – Sean Baker – WINNER

The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 – Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David

The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

Best adapted screenplay

A Complete Unknown – Jay Cocks and James Mangold

Conclave – Peter Straughan – WINNER

Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard

Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing – Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best make-up and hairstyling

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez

Nosferatu

The Substance – WINNER

Wicked

Best film editing

Anora – WINNER

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

Best supporting actress

Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande – Wicked

Felicity Jones – The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez – WINNER

Best production design

Wicked – WINNER

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Nosferatu

Conclave

Best original song

‘Never Too Late’ – Elton John: Never Too Late

‘El Mal’ – Emilia Pérez – WINNER

‘Mi Camino’ – Emilia Pérez

‘Like A Bird’ – Sing Sing

‘The Journey’ – The Six Triple Eight

Best sound

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two – WINNER

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best visual effects

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two – WINNER

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked

Best cinematography

The Brutalist – WINNER

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Maria

Nosferatu

Best original score

The Brutalist – WINNER

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best international feature

I’m Still Here – Brazil – WINNER

The Girl with the Needle – Denmark

Emilia Pérez – France

The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Germany

Flow – Latvia

Best actor

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist – WINNER

Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best director

Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker – Anora – WINNER

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

Best actress

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison – Anora

Demi Moore – The Substance

Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

He then introduced an emotionally charged ‘in memorian’ segment, with names such as David Lynch, Jeff Baena, and Maggie Smith all receiving a tribute.

In addition to this Shelley Duvall was paid tribute, as well as James Earl Jones and other Hollywood legends.

Amid the emotional moments, viewers will be wondering why Freeman was wearing a single black glove.

The celebrity great has spoken out in the past about why he has to wear the glove.

It led viewers to question why he was wearing it.

One viewer tweeted: “What happened to Morgan Freeman’s left hand?”

Another said: “What is with Morgan Freeman’s glove??”

A third posted online saying: “Why he got one glove on.”

Though it may be a great look, there is actually a heartbreaking story behind it.

Freeman was involved in a car crash back in 2008, when he swerved off a Mississippi road and flipped over.

The actor had to be cut free by the emergency services and badly injured his left arm.

A local newspaper editor said at the time: “They had to use the jaws of life [hydraulic cutters] to extract him from the vehicle.

“He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point.”

Despite being told that the pain would subside and he would see some improvement by 2011, Freeman is still unable to use his hand properly.

He now has to wear a compression glove in order to keep the blood flowing.

Speaking previously about the injury, Freeman said: “I suffered nerve damage and it hasn’t gotten better. I can’t move it.

“If you don’t move your hand, it will swell up. Do you know you move your hand about a million times a day?”

During an interview with Esquire a few years ago, Freeman was experiencing some pain in his left arm.

When asked about it, he told the reporter: “It’s the fibromyalgia. Up and down the arm. That’s where it gets so bad. Excruciating.”

Freeman paid tribute to Gene Hackman, who was found dead alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog.

The pair starred together in Unforgiven, the second film for which Hackman won an Oscar.

He said in his speech: “This week our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman.

“He received two Oscars and more importantly he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”

The biggest Oscars snubs ever

Citizen Kane loses to How Green Was My Valley (1942)

Orson Welles’ epic tale of the rise and fall of a media baron topped BFI’s Sight & Sound poll of the best films ever made for 40 years, but this apparently wasn’t enough to win an Academy Award.

The gong instead went to How Green Was My Valley, which it’s fair to say has not stood the test of time to quite the same extent.

To add insult to injury, Welles had a falling out with the Academy prior to the ceremony, and the audience booed every time his name was mentioned.

Citizen Kane was nominated for nine Academy Awards, but only took home the statuette for Best Original Screenplay.

E.T. loses to Gandhi (1983)

Even Richard Attenborough, who ended up winning Best Picture for his biopic Gandhi, thought Steven Spielberg’s E.T. should have won.

He is quoted in Joseph McBride’s Steven Spielberg: A Biography as saying of the moment his win was announced: “I didn’t go to the podium, I went over to Spielberg. He got up, I put my arms round him, and I said, ‘This isn’t right, this should be yours’.”

Spielberg’s tale of the bond between a lonely child and a horrifying looking alien remains one of the most beloved films of all time, absolutely dominating the box office following its 1982 release

The Shawshank Redemption loses to Forrest Gump (1995)

While both of these films are pretty much universally adored, The Shawshank Redemption still tops IMDb’s 250 highest rated list and is regularly cited as one of the greatest movies of all time.

While in hindsight, the fact the film failed to win any of the seven Oscars it was nominated for is pretty odd, The Shawshank Redemption was a box office bomb, and in the year of its release was massively overshadowed by Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction.

Nevertheless, one fan admitted they were ‘blown away to find out that the movie didn’t win a single Academy Award’ on Reddit.

Saving Private Ryan loses to Shakespeare in Love (1999)

In yet another upset for Steven Spielberg, his epic World War Two drama lost out to romcom Shakespeare in Love.

This has since been chalked up to the sinister machinations of Harvey Weinstein, who Den of Geek reports started a ‘whisper campaign’ claiming the only good part of Saving Private Ryan was the first 20 minutes, with the rest being ‘sentimental hokum’.

DreamWorks marketer Terry Press recalls Spielberg telling him ‘I do not want to get down in the mud with Harvey’ when he was urged to fight back amid Weinstein’s bullish campaign tactics.

Brokeback Mountain loses to Crash (2000)

The following year saw another shock Best Picture upset, with the widely reviled Crash triumphing over Brokeback Mountain.

A Reddit user called it ‘truly the greatest robbery of all time’.

Director Ang Lee claimed in a 2024 Deadline interview that support for his tragic gay love story ‘had a ceiling’ amid the Academy of the time.

He even recalls being told to stay in the wings of the stage in-between his Best Director win and the announcement of Best Picture, being told by a stage manager: “Everybody assumes you will win.”

It’s clear this one still hurts for many cinephiles, with one calling Crash’s win ‘absolutely criminal’.

Whether it be the Super Bowl halftime show centring around Kendrick’s now iconic diss track ‘Not Like Us’ or it becoming a multi-Grammy award winning track – Drake’s year has just gone from low to low.

Conan O’Brien piled on to this however, firing a shocking joke at Drake that even had viewers questioning whether they had heard him correctly.

O’Brien came out during the halfway point of the awards, joking about the Super Bowl halftime show.

The joke shocked viewers, with one saying: “DRAKE CATCHING STRAYS AT THE OSCARS TOO???????????”

Another said: “Not Drake catching strays at the Oscars as well.”

A third tweeted: “Did Conan just say it’s time to for Kendrick to come up and call drake a pedophile.”

‘Not Like Us’ by Kendrick Lamar was the culmination of a weeks long beef between Drake and Lamar in which each fired shots at one another.

Kendrick’s diss track, however, became a global hit, with the line ‘trying to strike a chord and it’s probably A Minor’ and ‘certified lover-boy, certified paedophile’ both going viral from the song.

Drake initiated a lawsuit following the song going viral, though not aimed at Lamar.

Instead Drake is suing his label Universal Music Group (UMG), which also represent Lamar.

His lawyers said in a statement: “UMG is masquerading as a champion of artistic freedom by calling its actions merely ‘entertainment,’ but there is nothing entertaining about pedophilia or child abuse in the real world.

“We are confident that the evidence we will ultimately present at trial—including information we’ve already learned and continue to receive since filing the lawsuit—will expose UMG’s gross prioritization of its own corporate profits and executive bonuses over its exclusively signed artists’ well-being and the truth.”

UMG previously released a statement saying: “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical.

“We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.

“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists.

“He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from [Universal] for distributing that artist’s music.”

The most shocking Oscars moments ever

Angelina Jolie locks lips with her brother on the red carpet (2000)

A sweet shoutout from Jolie to her brother James Haven after winning Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted turned into something much more bizarre on the red carpet after the event.

Jolie said during her acceptance speech: “I’m in shock, and I’m so in love with my brother right now.

“He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he’s so happy for me. And, um, thank you for that.”

So far so innocuous, but the pair then went on to lock lips on the red carpet after the ceremony in front of paparazzi.

Reflecting on the incident in 2007, James said: “I did not give Angie a French kiss. It was something simple and lovely. She was about to go off to Mexico to finish filming Original Sin with Antonio Banderas.

“I congratulated her on the Oscar win and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was snapped and became a big thing.”

Adrien Brody surprises Halle Berry with a kiss after winning Best Actor (2003)

The last time Brody was up for Best Actor, he took Berry and everyone else by surprise when he passionately kissed her as she presented him with the award.

Berry said in 2017: “I was like, ‘What the f**k is happening right now?’ That is what was going through my mind.”

She was sympathetic for how the moment may have gone to Brody’s head, however, adding: “I was there the year before and I know the feeling of being out of your body, I just f**king went with it.”

On the campaign trail for The Brutalist this year, Bordy said of the moment in an interview with Variety: “We live in a very conscious time, which is a wonderful thing.

“And nothing that I ever do or have done or would’ve done is ever done with the intention of making anyone feel bad.”

John Travolta absolutely butchers Idina Menzel’s name (2014)

Most people would have no trouble pronouncing Frozen star Idina Menzel’s name, but John Travolta isn’t most people.

The Grease legend ended up calling her Adele Dazeem when welcoming to her onstage to perform. Quite how he arrived at that pronunciation is anyone’s guess.

Travolta later apologised, saying in a statement: “I’ve been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … what would Idina Menzel say? She’d say, ‘Let it go, let it go!’

“Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy Frozen took home two Oscars Sunday night!”

The La La Land and Moonlight fiasco (2017)

Back in 2017, the most prestigious award of the night, Best Film, was about to be announced.

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the gong had gone to La La Land, the Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone musical which was widely considered the favourite to win.

Two and half minutes later, when the La La Land team were midway through their acceptance speeches, a producer on the film Jordan Horowitz was shown another envelope that revealed they hadn’t won after all.

There’s a mistake,” he said. “Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke.”

It turned out Beatty had somehow been handed the envelope for Best Actress, which went to Emma Stone for La La Land earlier in the evening.

It turned into a mortifying experience for all involved. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins said afterwards: “I noticed the commotion but I was speechless when the result was altered. I’ve never seen that happen before.”

The slap heard around the world (2022)

Easily the most dramatic thing to ever happen at the Oscars, Smith strode on stage and walloped presenter Chris Rock, after he made an ill-advised joke about the Men in Black star’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Rock said on stage: “Jada, can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2,” a reference to her shaved head. Jada has been open about her struggles with alopecia, which made this a low blow in many people’s eyes.

Cue Smith striding on stage and smacking Rock, later yelling at him: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”

The upside of all this was that Smith was banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years, although he did awkwardly go on to pick up the award for Best Actor later that evening.

Smith apologised for his behaviour several times in the months following, saying: “One of the things about that moment, I just didn’t realise, I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment.”

Whether it be skits involving Conan O’Brien pulling himself out of Demi Moore’s body or Adam Sandler running up to Timothée Chalamet, there are massive names in every part of the awards.

The most constant presence, however, is the voice that announces the nominees and order of awards between each category.

If you heard the booming voice letting you know what or who was up next and thought ‘wait a minute aren’t they familiar’, you were not alone.

One fan tweeted about the American actor who is lending their voice-over to the awards tonight, posting: “is…… is that nick offerman doing the winner voiceovers for the oscars.”

If the name rings a bell but you’re struggling to place it, Offerman is the iconic actor who played Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation.

In addition to this, Offerman starred in The Last of Us season one as Bill in a heartbreaking role (which personally left me on the floor in a puddle of tears).

Another said: “Honestly loving Nick Offerman’s conviction and authority in the room tonight as the ‘voice of god.’

“Fingers crossed he gets pulled into a bit tonight, or we at least see him on camera.”

One viewer tweeted: “I just realized Nick Offerman is the announcer. If this is the Academy’s way of getting a newer generation of viewers, it’s working for me.”

A fan also took to Twitter to ask: “wait why is Nick Offerman narrating the Oscars.”

The role is one not always taken by actor, though he is the second successive one to play the part.

The first ever was Ronald Reagan, and last year the role was taken on by David Alan Grier.

Randy Thomas, who has taken on the role at the Oscars ten times, said of the position: “There are some things that might happen during the course of our live show, but mostly we have prepared for it in advance by creating alternate announcers for me.

“If this happens, then I say this; if this doesn’t happen, then I say that. I work the show with the script supervisor, who writes all of the winner walk-up copy.

“That’s my job, to give you the little information about the winner from the minute they say, “And the Oscar goes to….” I escort them from their seat to the stage vocally in sharing a tidbit or two about them.”

It doesn’t get any better for an actor than for their entire peers to decide that, of all the performances from the last year, they are the greatest.

Tonight’s Academy Awards will have Timothee Chalamet, Colman Domingo, Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, and a number more all vying to be the next winners of the golden statue.

Kieran Culkin is one of those actors for whom tonight may be the culmination of their career, as the A Real Pain actor won his first Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category.

His speech was hilarious and emotional as he shared that his wife had joked they could only have a fourth kid when he wins an Oscar.

As such, Culkin’s life will be sky high, and you’d imagine tonight would be totally carefree.

Rather than being 100 percent free sailing however, Culkin will have to sign a very strict legal agreement due to his Oscar win.

This agreement means that the A Real Pain actor will have incredibly specific rules about what can happen once they’ve been given the award and run off into the sunset.

It entirely revolves around selling an Oscar, and it explains why you never see skint celebs hawking their trophy for cash.

This is all laid out in the ‘regulations’ section of the Oscars’ website, and states that winners are banned from selling their awards unless first meeting a certain criteria.

This section reads: “Award winners must comply with these rules and regulations.

“Award winners shall not sell or otherwise dispose of the Oscar statuette, nor permit it to be sold or disposed of by operation of law, without first offering to sell it to the Academy for the sum of $1.00.”

Basically, if an actor wanted to sell their award, they’d need to first offer it to The Academy for just $1, which is the equivalent of 78p.

The website adds: “This provision shall apply also to the heirs and assigns of Academy Award winners who may acquire a statuette by gift or bequest.”

Ultimately, this also applies to people who may inherit an award from a family member or receive it as a gift.

The rule has been in place for decades and has even led to lawsuits in the past.

After first becoming a strict policy in 1951, The Academy actually sued one man after he auctioned off an Oscar that his uncle, Joseph Wright, had won in 1943.

In 2014, Joseph Tutalo sold the trophy for $79,200 (£62,000).

The Academy later sued Tutalo and the auction house for breach of contract.

Michael Jackson, however, did pay $1.5m (£1.1m) back in 1999 for a Best Picture Oscar, originally awarded to producer David Selznick in 1939 for Gone With the Wind.

So if Culkin – or any of tonight’s other winners, try and stick their Oscar on eBay, the litigious Academy lawyers will be coming for them.

Oscars 2025 results: the nominees and winners announced so far

Best supporting actor

Yura Borisov – Anora

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain – WINNER

Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

Best animated feature

Flow – WINNER

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Best costume design

Wicked

Nosferatu

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Gladiator II

Best original score

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best make-up and hairstyling

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez

Nosferatu

The Substance

Wicked

Best adapted screenplay

A Complete Unknown – Jay Cocks and James Mangold

Conclave – Peter Straughan

Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard

Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing – Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best original screenplay

Anora – Sean Baker

The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 – Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David

The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

Best supporting actress

Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande – Wicked

Felicity Jones – The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

Best original song

‘Never Too Late’ – Elton John: Never Too Late

‘El Mal’ – Emilia Pérez

‘Mi Camino’ – Emilia Pérez

‘Like A Bird’ – Sing Sing

‘The Journey’ – The Six Triple Eight

Best international feature

I’m Still Here – Brazil

The Girl with the Needle – Denmark

Emilia Pérez – France

The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Germany

Flow – Latvia

Best film editing

Anora

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

Best production design

Wicked

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Nosferatu

Conclave

Best sound

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best visual effects

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked

Best cinematography

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Maria

Nosferatu

Best actor

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best director

Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker – Anora

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

Best actress

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison – Anora

Demi Moore – The Substance

Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

O’Brien is hosting the Oscars for the first time tonight as he leads proceedings for the 2025 Academy Awards.

While his opening monologue fired shots at Karla Sofia Gascon and her offensive tweets and made jokes about every Best Picture nominee.

What freaked fans out in particular though was his opening skit, which saw him break out of Demi Moore’s body in the style of The Substance.

This led to major reactions from fans, with one saying: “Yeah soooo this opening substance monologue is actually offensive but ok #Oscars2025.”

A second replied to a video of the skit saying: “Bad taste”.

One viewer tweeted: “the oscars did not need to introduce conan that way.”

This was not unanimous though, as some found the opening skit fun and enjoyable.

One fan tweeted: “Conan doing the substance… it’s so wild and fun having an oscars host who actually watches the movies.”

Another said: “That The Substance opening was funny! I’m having fun!”

O’Brien’s opening skit and monologue went on to feature a moment with Adam Sandler which has since gone viral, in which he chastises the comedic actor for coming in his typical baggy hoodie and shorts look.

The actor went up and joked around with Best Actor nominated Timothee Chalamet, yelling ‘Chalamet!’ in his face.

O’Brien’s shot at Gascon saw him saying: “Little fact for you, Anora uses the F word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist.”

Gascon’s racist tweets resurfaced after becoming the first ever openly Trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar acting role.

The actor ended up attending The Oscars tonight and smiled along as O’Brien poked fun at her.

She spoke to The Hollywood Reporter after it was announced that she would be attending, as she skipped the red carpet.

She said: “I’m not sure how I feel, but I’m grateful to be back.

“I’m grateful to all those who’ve believed in me — to Netflix, the production company and my colleagues.

“We can close this beautiful and difficult path that began three years ago.”

She also gave an apology in a televised interview, saying: “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt.

“As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.” 

Many are often shocked to find out that not only have actors actually been involved in unsimulated sexual scenes in films, but some are actually quite well-known.

Here is a list of every Oscar nominated actor to have been involved in an unsimulated sex scene.

Mark Rylance

Rylance appeared in a 2001 film called Intimacy in which he took part in an unsimulated sex scene. He played one half of a pair of strangers who meet once a week in order to have emotionless sex.

Thankfully, it didn’t hold back Rylance’s career – as he went on to develop a legendary resume of films.

The actor is not just Oscar-nominated either; he actually won an Academy Award back in 2016 for his part in Bridge of Spies.

He won Best Supporting Actor in the Spielberg espionage thriller, saying on stage: “I’ve always, I’ve always just adored stories. Hearing them. Seeing them. Being in them.

“So for me to have the chance to work with, I think, one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Steven Spielberg, has just been such an honour.”

Chloë Sevigny

The Oscar-Nominated American actress appeared in a deeply controversial film called Brown Bunny in which she performed oral sex on her co-star Vincent Gallo, who was also the director and writer of the film.

In 2004 when it came out, the fact she had done this was so controversial that there were even unfounded rumours her agency had dropped her as a client. It did not, as many predicted, ruin her career – as she just last year starred in the highly successful Monsters season based on the Menendez Brothers.

In 1999 however, five years prior to her unsimulated sex scene, she actually was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Boys Don’t Cry. The film was a dramatization of the real-life transphobic murder of Brandon Teena, with Brandon’s girlfriend Lana Tisdel portrayed by Sevigny.

She said in a later interview of the film: “I feel like it was important to the world. Not even one community in general.

“As far as building tolerance and acceptance and educating people and portraying a person and seeing the violence acted out against them and how heart-wrenching it is and humanizing a story, it was a really important thing to be a part of.”

Willem Dafoe

Yes, the great Willem Dafoe was involved in an unsimulated sex scene (kind of).

Dafoe appeared in Antichrist, a bizarre Lars Von Trier film that sees a couple horrified after their infant son falls out a window in a nearby room while they both have sex.

While Von Trier wanted the pair to have actual sex, he stated that he wasn’t able to use Dafoe in the scene due to his sizable penis, believing it would have been distracting.

Dafoe meanwhile simply said it was a bit more to do with himself and his scene partner Charlotte Gainsbourg both being married.

The solution came however, when body doubles were used for the unsimulated parts of the sex scene, cut together with a simulated sex scene Dafoe and Gainsbourg filmed.

Dafoe has been nominated for four Oscars but never won, with nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Platoon, Shadow of the Vampire, and The Florida Project, and Best Actor for At Eternity’s Gate.

From what Von Trier said about Dafoe though, I can’t imagine he’d be too sad.

You only have to look as far as this year’s Grammys debacle involving Kanye West and Bianca Censori to see why you’d think celebs basically have free reign.

The truth is actually far from this, as everyone from Timothee Chalamet to Cynthia Erivo will have to follow certain rules or risk being thrown out.

Of those film stars attending the Oscars today, here are some of the rules they will actually have to follow, as found by researchers at Northerner.

In reality many of the bigger names would probably be fine to get around this, but if they want to follow the letter of the law or you don’t have the sway of a big name, you’d better remember your wristband.

Oscar winning speeches

Now this goes beyond the Will Smith debacle, as the rules saying you can’t walk up and slap someone mid-speech is more so just common sense.

The rules around speeches are actually that they have to be kept under 45 seconds.

If you go over that amount of time, there is a real and clear chance those running the event will simply start playing music over you until you bugger off.

The longest ever speech? Four minutes, all the way back in 1943 by Greer Garson.

Though not explicit rule, the content of your speeches can also get you in hot water, as Richard Gere was banned for 20 years after ignoring his script to speak about China’s occupation of Tibet.

Rules for seat-fillers

Believe it or not, not everyone at the Oscars is a celebrity, as the awards pick 300 people to be ‘seat-fillers’.

Their role is simple – when Christopher Nolan goes for a pint at the bar or to the little director’s room for a wee, someone is plopped in his seat to give the audience the appearance of being full on the broadcast.

These select people have to arrive at 10.00am for the ceremony, have to have their outfits approved, and even have to wear badges saying they are a seat-filler.

In addition to this, they are asked not to speak to those around them unless spoken to.

While I’m sure they don’t have snipers on the ready in case a member of the public tries to say hi to Greta Gerwig, I wouldn’t be surprised.