on stage speeches and backstage interviews of oscar award winners




Onstage Speech Transcript | 85th Academy Awards
Actor in a Supporting Role

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Performance by an actor in a supporting role
SPEECH BY: Christoph Waltz
FILM: "Django Unchained"

Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. De Niro, Mr. Arkin, Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Jones, my respect. My… my unlimited gratitude goes to Dr. King Schultz. That is, of course, to the creator and the creator of his awe-inspiring world – Quentin Tarentino.

And I thank Jamie Foxx and Leo DiCaprio. Sam Jackson and Kerry Washington. I thank Harvey Weinstein and Amy Pascal. Stacey Sher. Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone. I thank Adam Schweitzer and Lisa Kasteler. And I thank my friends Jeff Dashnaw and Bill Clark who saved my neck.

We participated in a hero’s journey – the hero here being Quentin. And you scale the mountain because you’re not afraid of it. You slay the dragon because you’re not afraid of it and you cross through fire because it’s worth it. I borrowed my character’s words so sorry… couldn’t resist. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Supporting Actor
INTERVIEW WITH: Christoph Waltz
FILM: "Django Unchained
"

Q.Two Oscars out of the last three years, how does that make you feel?
A.Guess.  It was, I think, like five minutes ago, I got this, or seven.  I was on a list with greatest actors around, with Robert De Niro, with Alan Arkin, with Tommy Lee Jones with Philip Seymour Hoffman.  How do you think someone feels when all of a sudden his name is called in that context?  I can't tell you.  I'm sorry.

Q.So, this is the second, Best Supporting Actor Oscar that you've gotten for work by Quentin Tarantino.  Has he talked to you about a third role in his revisionist history trilogy?
A.No.  As I said, this is about seven minutes old.  Somehow I failed to catch the moment to remind Quentin that I'm around.

Q.Hello, Mr. Waltz.  It would be great if you can answer, maybe, in German.
A.No.  I answer in English for everybody.

Q.Okay.  Mr. Waltz, one Oscar could be a coincidence.  A second, not.  What does it mean for you personally now, this award?
A.This    well, it really has so much to do with the other actors who were nominated with me, or rather, and I insist on that difference, the fact that I was nominated with them.  It means    actually, I don't know what it can mean more, but if it can, then that's what it does.

Q.Hello, Christopher [sic].  Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.Your second Oscar.  I've been acting 23 years and I've never won an Academy Award.
A.I did it 38, so...

Q.I'm 41.  But you are an incredible actor.  In light of the subject matter of your film, are you excited about the possibility of a black pope?  That's an actual thing.  He's from Ghana.
A.Yeah, well, I have to tell you one thing.  It would be an exciting thing.  I am a very adamant non racist.  I don't care whether the pope is black or white or whatever color.  If we are non racist, then we have to stay non racist all the way.

Q.Over here, Christoph.  Hello, how are you?  Congratulations. Okay.  Here you are, European guy.  You just won an Oscar for the highest grossing western in history.  How does that make you feel?  Western?
A.I'm just an actor, I am not an accountant.  I love this movie, not for being the highest grossing one.  I love this movie because it's a fabulous, exciting piece of entertainment with a really deep message.  So, I'm glad that it's popular because this is what the box office reflects.  But the money, sorry, I do something else.

Q.Hi, Christoph.  Congratulations.  Over here.  And can you talk some more about why Quentin Tarantino brings out the best in you?  What about Quentin made you win another Oscar?
A.I said it just now, and I hope you don't mind my repeating it.  Quentin writes poetry, and I like poetry.

Q.Hi, Christoph.  Congratulations.  I just wondered if you were shocked to win tonight, given    [inaudible].
A.Totally.  I still am.  Literally.  That's why my answers are somewhat incoherent, but I don't care.

Q.Did you prepare a speech?
A.Well, I thought about what one could say in case because, you know, as Seth MacFarlane said in the beginning about a million people are watching.  You don't want to be    you know, you're nominated, there is an off chance that you might have to, you know    I didn't prepare speech, but I thought of something.

Q.Hi, back here.  During the filming of DJANGO UNCHAINED, when did you realize, or did you realize, that there was something special about this film?
A.When I read the script for the first time, I realized that there was something special about this film.  I know Quentin, and I read the pages more or less as they came out of the printer.  Page by page I realized that something special is in the making.

Q.Congratulations.  When those names were read, one of yours, of course, it took here for us like a teeny tiny eternity until they called your name.  How did you feel that, and if you could explain that additionally also in German besides English.
A.You know, I have experience with this.  We did that last time and it doesn't work.  How it feels, I say that before.  The list of names is    and I know there is a terrible inflation about this word, but I mean it in the literal sense, "awesome."  It is    I am in awe of the people who work or are in my category.  So, the very fact that I am one of them would have been, you know, would have meant the world, and that's why I keep mentioning them because Robert De Niro, Alan Arkin are role models for me since I started in this profession.

Q.Thank you very much.  Congratulations.  Thank you.  Thanks, very much.  


Onstage Speech Transcript | 85th Academy Awards
Animated Short Film

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Animated Short Film
SPEECH BY: John Kahrs
FILM: "Paperman"

Thanks to the Academy, especially this year they got the shorts out to all the nominees. To everyone at Disney, particularly John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Andrew Millstein who have just been great at revitalizing the studio. To Kristina Reed my producer, the cast and crew, everyone who helped on it. They made it so much better than I could ever have hoped. To my wife, the amazing Gennie Rim. And to my kids, Ben and Johnny, I’ll see you tonight. Bye.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Short Film (Animated)
INTERVIEW WITH: John Kahrs
FILM: "PAPERMAN"

Q.Congratulations.
A.Hi.

Q.You got extraordinary distribution, of course, going out on the Disney print, but what is the life for theatrical animated shorts now as far as the average audience viewer?  Where do they   
A.It's a bit tough, but I mean the Shorts International has been distributing them and that's been gaining steam over the years, but I think John's idea of putting the shorts in front of the features is really, it's the best placement for it, for me personally.  I mean, I feel very lucky to have been riding on the coattails of WRECK IT RALPH.

Q.I want to know, was this a very emotional short?  And also, it has a lot of inspiration of old cartoons and all that, so where is your inspiration in your life to make you do this?
A.Yeah.  My inspiration for PAPERMAN is basically as a commuter, and it's kind of chance connections you make with strangers and wonder who they are and, you know, I just had this idea of like a urban fairytale about people that were perfect for each other but lost their connection.  But someone asked me, how is this short different than other Disney shorts, and I was tongue tied but now I realize it's the same as all other Disney...I mean, it has magic in it, it has appealing characters, it has the plausible impossible; it has all those great things, so sure.

Q.And with all of that, it's a silent film?
A.Right.

Q.So how did you    what was some of the challenges you faced with getting all of those plausible and the implausible and the elements of the film into such a compact time?
A.That is tough, but, yeah, I mean for me the idea of it having no words in it makes it extremely portable, that you can show it all around the world and it communicates.  And the idea there is that it's visual storytelling, and I think the best films to me are the ones that you can understand where the sound is turned off.  But, yeah, it's a tall order to make the audience believe that these two people are a perfect couple from the very first shot.  But I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I have a few    I have amazing people at Disney on my team, especially from a design standpoint and an animation standpoint that do fantastic work.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Okay, it's official.

Q.You just said you have a few more tricks up your sleeve.  You have an opportunity to continue what you started with embracing the legacy and extending it further with the hybrid approach.  Could you talk a little bit about the challenges and the opportunities ahead for you and the studio?
A.Well, Bill is an animation guy, so he's talking about what we did is we took the kind of old 2D animation and the newer CG animation and put them together in a way that I think hasn't been seen before.  But I think, you know, what we did is take the drawn line and the expressiveness and the hand of the artist and bring it into the 21st century.  So I'm really gratified by this and the acceptance of the audience to really look at that technique and that way of seeing animation and just letting the story kind of wash over them.  So, yeah, I do believe that there are different ways that animation can look, and this is one of those ways.

Q.Hi.
A.Hi.

Q.You talked in your speech about working for Disney and how that company has been revitalized.  Could you sort of talk about what it's been like with John Lasseter and Ed Catmull where that studio has come?
A.Sure.  When I had to move to L.A. and I was at Pixar for ten years, and I thought, you know, the deal had just happened with Disney buying Pixar and I thought this is going to become a great studio with this new leadership.  And I was the supervising animator on TANGLED and really swept up in what I said earlier about the revitalization of the studio, what they're doing there is great, and they're really pushing for depth and stories that are going to last generations, you know, films for families that are going to last the test of time.

Q.Congratulations.  I loved your film.
A.Thank you.

Q.I'm an actor, David Arquette.
A.I recognized you.

Q.I do lots of voices.  I can do a low voice.  I can do a high voice.
A.This is my next step, actually, because I didn't use any words so this is the thing I'm terrified of is actually putting voices in the animations.

Q.So put nice actors but, you know, because you have to stay in the room with them.  But what are you most excited about in your Oscar gift basket?
A.Actually, the Oscar gift basket was very modest.

Q.But there were condoms in there.  If you don't use them, I can use them, bro.

Q.Hi.
A.Hi.

Q.I know there was a sort of a groundswell for this movie, but is it still a surprise when they call your name and can you tell me what that moment is like?
A.Yes.  Yes, it is.  I mean, I've been managing my expectations all evening so, yeah, I forgot to thank my parents.  What can I say?  So mom and dad, thank you.  This is the place to do it?  I've been trying to call them, but they have a busy signal.  When is the last time someone got a busy signal?  They live way out in Vermont and there's more cows than people up there.

Q.Congratulations on your award.
A.Thank you very much.

Q.Just to congratulate you for using old school animation in the short.  And I just want to ask you, why did you incorporate older animation in it, because I think it's best that new computers, that you have to get into it?
A.Okay, yeah.  The reason that I drew that hand drawn line back into the animation, it really comes from    I mean, I'm a computer animation guy, I'm actually not very good at 2D animation.  I can't really draw that well.  But when I was working with Glen Keane on TANGLED I think I was really transfixed by the drawings he was doing every day and it felt like such a shame to leave those drawings behind when we go to the final image when that line has a history of being so expressive, and I think there's something universal about the hand drawn line being a way    still a relevant way of telling stories.  So I thought, can't there be a way that we can bring these two things together again but in a 21st century way that uses new technology.

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Animated Feature Film
SPEECH BY: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
FILM: "Brave"

MARK ANDREWS: I just happened to be wearing the kilt; I didn’t plan any of this. I’d like to thank the Academy for this incredible honor. Making a movie has its own story. I’d like to thank John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Jim Morris, Andrew Stanton, Pete  Docter, Brenda Chapman, Katherine Sarafian for making the making of Brave an exceptional story. My wife and my four kids: Maeve, Jack, Hayden and Ford.

BRENDA CHAPMAN:  I’d like to give a shout-out to my wonderful, brave, strong daughter Emma, who inspired Brave into being. So thank you to her and my husband, and our incredible cast and crew. Thank you.


BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Animated Feature Film
INTERVIEW WITH: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
FILM: "BRAVE
"

Q.You wrote in the New York Times earlier this year that you were devastated when you were taken off of this film, and I was wondering if this win now makes good for everything you've been through?
A.(Brenda Chapman) Absolutely.  Yeah.  It just really is.  It says a lot for me.  So, thank you.

Q.Brenda, it didn't end up the way it started out, but it was very ambitious and complicated and wonderful and brave story, and, Mark, you came in and helped out, and the two of you created a synergy that maybe is unexpected.  Talk about that.
A.(Mark Andrews) Wow.  That's interesting.  I think a magic in animation and filmmaking is how much of a collaborative process it is, where either if you're working side by side together the whole time or if it was like BRAVE where there was one director and then another director, you know.  The thing that I loved about Brenda's story was the thing that everybody loved about Brenda's story, and I wanted to honor that when I came on board for my part of it, so.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Which I feel very much he did.  And, you know, I told Mark when he    when he, you know, stepped in that I was very happy that it was him who took my place because I know he has a daughter with two sons and I  
A.(Mark Andrews) Three.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Three sons.
A.(Mark Andrews) Three.
A.(Brenda Chapman) And I knew he would understand, but also he has a love of Scotland, as well.  I wasn't sure about his fairytale sensibility, but it's not a real fairytale anyway.

Q.Congratulations.
A.(Mark Andrews) Thank you.

Q.I see you're wearing your lucky kilt.
A.(Mark Andrews) that's it, Dun Broch Tartan.

Q.Yeah, can you talk about this journey were you expecting this?
A.(Mark Andrews) absolutely not.  Getting the nominations for BRAVE has been a very exciting ride and I think has paid off for the both of us, just that journey of making a movie.  I mean making these things is a struggle.  You know, it's a battle.  It's a war.  So to have the recognition not just from the Academy but from all the different organizations for your work on BRAVE has just been a remarkable and thrilling surprise.  So, we're evened out.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Yeah.

Q.Hey, Mark, congratulations.  So what's next for you?  What are you working on?  Any current projects or coming projects?
A.(Mark Andrews) Yes.

Q.And?
A.(Mark Andrews) Yes.  I'm in development working on the next thing, and like Brenda, we want to stay busy making films because we're story tellers, and that's what we've got to be doing.  So the more the better, the sooner the better.  So just staying busy.  I can't tell you what it is.  It's a secret.

Q.Wonderful movie.  I loved it.  My daughter did, as well.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Thank you.

Q.Who are you most excited about seeing tonight?
A.(Brenda Chapman) George Clooney.
A.(Mark Andrews) George Clooney.  No, no, not really.  No, George is cool.  Anybody.  I mean, I know Russell Crowe's in the house, and he's a very intimidating fellow.  So I like to stand up face to face with Russell Crowe.

Q.Hey, congratulations.  Linda with the Red Carpet Record.  Could you talk about your creative process and how long it took to create BRAVE?
A.(Mark Andrews) Good one.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Well, the firm took actually eight years from begin to go end, and I can talk about the beginning of it.  Mark can talk about the end of it.  But it took a lot.  I was a year in a room all by myself writing and coming up with the basic story plot, but then you start bringing on the people who start looking at the look of the picture and help with the story, and you keep working and re working the story, but you start bringing on people who start being able to build it.  And then Mark.
A.(Mark Andrews) So once everything's kind of built you put it all together, and you start shooting it, and you've got your voice talent and then your other actors, your animators, putting together these performances, and, I mean, it's this huge organic process.  And it's a fragile, delicate process on every step of the way.  And there's a lot of plates to spin, and by the end if you just stick with it and you're passionate about it, hopefully, by the end you have something that's really special, and I think in BRAVE's case I think we managed to pull that off.  

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Live Action Short Film
SPEECH BY: Shawn Christensen
FILM: "Curfew"


A big thank you to the Academy for supporting short films. This has been wonderful and I only have T-minus 2 seconds to do this so I’m just going to go for it. My producer in crime, Damon Russell, I love you man, we would not be here without you, brother. My co-star, 12-year-old co-star, Fatima Ptacek, her performance was so incredible. Nobody even remembers I’m in the film because of you, you are incredible. Mara Kassin, Andrew Napier, thank you so much. The incredible cinematography from Daniel Katz and putting together that wonderful crew, thank you so much. All of our friends, family, crew in New York and in France. Ouat Media, Caliber Media, Verve Talent, my beautiful mother, my devilishly handsome father, and the center of my universe, my dearest Nina. Thank you. I love you all.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Short Film (Live Action)
INTERVIEW WITH: Shawn Christensen
FILM: "CURFEW"


A.All right.  You can scream it.

Q.So, we often hear that the Oscars is a life changing experience but for some people it's not.  What are you hoping to get out of having this Oscar, and what did the nomination mean for you in terms of career and new opportunities?
A.Well, I would love to get a job.  That would be the first thing that would be nice to get, and I think it would be nice to get into feature films and stay in short films because there's something amazing about the pressure in short films that I kind of enjoy on a torturous level.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.I saw your film.
A.Oh, in Short Shorts?

Q.Yes.
A.Oh.

Q.And did you go through the particular experience?  It was very, kind of, dark, but funny.
A.Can I just say that that awards ceremony was so daunting for that festival.  I literally was shaking in my boots on that one.  It was an incredible festival you guys put on over there.

Q.It's not Academy big, but...
A.Yes.  This is also on that, yeah.  What was the question?  Sorry.

Q.No.  I said, like, was that particularly your experience that    because the film was pretty dark.
A.Yes.

Q.You know, it was like a suicidal man, but it was funny, as well.  Is that like something based on your own experience to a certain extent?
A.Well, I'll plead the Fifth a little bit on that one, but I will say that I just tried to find the sense of humor in the darkest moments.

Q.Hi, Shawn.  Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.The Academy has really embraced the short films this year more so than any year before.  How do you feel about that and also what kind of hope does it give you for the short films categories in the future?
A.One thing that's incredible about what the Academy is doing for short films is even though we have all these avenues, VOD, Internet and everything, what's incredible is they release the films theatrically for an audience to enjoy all over the world internationally, and that, I have to really give them a big thank you for because to watch these films, these short films in theaters, there's nothing    there's nothing like it.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.How does it feel now finally to be there at these Awards?  I saw five of them altogether.  What are you going through right now in your head, and is this all that you ever wanted since you were little?
A.I'm thinking about all my friends and family right now, you know.  I'm thinking about hugging them and giving them a call after this thing and saying thank you for your support.

Q.Thank you and congratulations.
A.Thank you.


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