- Adrien Brody won the Best Actor awards at the Oscars
- His acceptance speech ran for more than five minutes
- Oscar acceptance speeches are usually kept to 45 seconds
Adrien Brody caused a sensation at the Oscars with his acceptance speech – it ran to five minutes, much more than the usual length.
To keep the ceremony moving, the accepted convention is that winners get 45 seconds to thank people, cry or whatever it is they want to do before the music is faded up as a not-so-subtle hint to vacate the stage. Brody, who won his award for his performance in The Brutalist, had other ideas.
When the music started Brody said: ““I’m wrapping up, please turn the music off. I’ve done this before. Thank you. It’s not my first rodeo, but I will will be brief.”
Adrien Brody speech length
However, Brody’s definition of brief differs to some others interpretation of the word. He went on to talk about his gratitude for his life and the opportunities it has afforded him.
He added that this win – his second Best Actor gong, coming 20 years after his first – is a chance to “begin again” and hoped that he would still be worthy of such roles in another 20 years.
When Brody finally vacated the stage, he had spoken for five minutes. But while this was a long speech, it is not the longest that has been made at the ceremony – but you have to go a long way back to find the longest.
The longest speech in Oscars history
At the 1943 Oscars ceremony – 82 years ago – Greer Garson stepped onto the stage to accept her Best Actress award for her performance in Mrs Miniver. It was another seven minutes before she left the stage.
Sadly, no footage exists of Garson’s entire speech. There is newsreel footage that survives but only about four minutes of it.
English actress Garson talked in her speech about her experiences as an immigrant as well as the subjective nature of awards ceremonies.
So it seems like Garson’s record will be safe for another year at least.
Elsewhere at this year’s Oscars, new host Conan O’Brien has received rave reviews for his performance and jokes. Read more here.
