Emma Stone was named best actress at the Oscars for the surreal comedy Poor Things, based on the book by Glaswegian artist and writer Alasdair Gray about a woman who is given the brain of a baby.
She appeared visibly overwhelmed and wept as she said: “I don’t know what I’m saying.”
She added: “The other night I was panicking, as you can see it happens a lot, that something like this could happen.”
Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic Oppenheimer swept the Oscars, winning seven awards.
The film about J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist described as the father of the atomic bomb, was named best picture while Irish star Cillian Murphy won best actor and Nolan took the best director award.
US star Stone, who already has an Oscar for her performance in La La Land, revealed she was battling a wardrobe malfunction as she walked up on stage to collect her prize, and blamed Ryan Gosling’s rousing performance of the Barbie song I’m Just Ken.
She said: “My dress is broken, I think it happened during I’m Just Ken.”
After thanking her family, she saved her final thanks for “my daughter, who is going to be three in three days and who turned our whole lives technicolour”.
She added: “I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl.”
Before exiting the stage, she said: “Don’t look at the back of my dress.”
Robert Downey Jr was named best supporting actor for his turn as Lewis Strauss, head of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The film was also celebrated for its editing, score and cinematography.
READ MORE: Poor Things nominated for 11 Oscars including Best Picture
The best picture prize, the final trophy of the night, was handed out by veteran actor Al Pacino, 83, who announced the winner in an unconventional manner without the customary fanfare.
He looked at the card and said: “I see Oppenheimer.”
Collecting his directing trophy, Nolan thanked his wife and producer of the film, Emma Thomas, as well as Murphy.
Cillian Murphy with his Oscar (Image: (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP))
Nolan said: “Thank you for those who have been there for me and believed in me my whole career.”
He added: “To the Academy, just to say movies are just a little bit over 100 years old, I mean imagine being there 100 years into painting or theatre.
“We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think that I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me. Thank you very much.”
Irish actor Murphy, 47, kissed his wife, the artist Yvonne McGuinness, before heading to the stage, where he said making the film had “been the wildest, most creatively satisfying journey”.
“I am a very proud Irishman standing here tonight,” he added.
READ MORE: Glasgow is missing from film of Alasdair Gray's novel
Acknowledging that “we are all living in Oppenheimer’s world now”, he added: “I would like to dedicate this to the peacemakers of the world.”
At the end of his speech, he spoke in Irish, saying “go raibh maith agat” which means thank you.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for her role as a grieving cook in The Holdovers, about a grumpy teacher who stays at school over the holidays.
The highly publicised battle between Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s film about the Mattel doll, and Oppenheimer, failed to materialise as Gerwig’s film won only one award – the best original song prize for What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell.
Killers Of The Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s western about the murders of wealthy members of the Osage tribe in the 1920s, was completely shut out.
The Zone Of Interest won the best international feature Oscar for the United Kingdom.
Jonathan Glazer (Image: PA)
British director Jonathan Glazer accepted the award and said: “All of our choices were made to confront us in the present. Not to say ‘Look what they did then, but look what we do now’.”
He added: “Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst – it’s shaped all of our past and present.
“Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.
“Whether it’s the victims of October 7 in Israel or of the ongoing attack on Gaza, all are victims of this dehumanisation.”
The Academy Award for original screenplay was presented to French filmmakers Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall.
Cord Jefferson won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for American Fiction, about a black author who writes the kind of book he despises.
The ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, saw a string of past winners take to the stage to honour this year’s nominees.
There was also excitement when Ryan Gosling reprised his role of Ken from Barbie for a rendition of the nominated original song, I’m Just Ken, from the film.
He was joined by co-stars including Ncuti Gatwa, Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir for the high energy number, for which he donned a pink glittery suit and gloves and was joined by Guns N’ Roses star Slash for a guitar solo.
The full list of winners for the 2024 Academy Awards
Best picture – Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven and Emma Thomas
Best directing – Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan
Best supporting actress – The Holdovers’ Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Best supporting actor – Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr
Best actor – Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy
Best actress – Poor Things’ Emma Stone
Documentary feature film – 20 Days In Mariupol’s Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath, Michelle Mizner
Documentary short film – The Last Repair Shop
Animated feature film – The Boy And The Heron’s Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
Animated short – War Is Over! Inspired By The Music Of John & Yoko’s Dave Mullins, Brad Booker and Sean Ono Lennon
Live action short film – The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar’s Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
Original screenplay – Anatomy Of A Fall’s Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
Adapted screenplay – American Fiction’s Cord Jefferson
Music (original score) – Oppenheimer’s Ludwig Goransson
Music (original song) – Barbie’s Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell for What Was I Made For?
Film editing – Oppenheimer’s Jennifer Lame
Production design – Poor Things’ Shona Heath, James Price and Zsuzsa Mihalek
Costume design – Poor Things’ Holly Waddington
Makeup and hairstyling – Poor Things’ Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
Sound – The Zone Of Interest’s Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers
Cinematography – Oppenheimer’s Hoyte van Hoytema
International Feature Film – The Zone Of Interest’s Jonathan Glazer for the UK
Visual effects – Godzilla Minus One’s Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here