The Oscars are over for another year, the stragglers are being removed from the afterparties, and publicists are likely already gearing up for the next awards season. The 2025 ceremony was, all things considered, pretty solid. Sure, we had to deal with an inexplicable James Bond tribute featuring Doja Cat and Lisa from BlackPink but then there were so many wonderful, passionate, and funny moments. And then there was Adrien Brody.
The Best Actor winner for The Brutalist gave a speech that can generously be described as effing insufferable. It was self-absorbed, rambling, and portentous but without any real substance—and it just kept going.
He tossed his wad of gum to his girlfriend then talked longer than any other Oscar winner in history. That’s no exaggeration. According to Far Out, Brody went on for about five minutes and 40 seconds, beating the decades-long record set by Greer Garson. He even demanded that the orchestra stop trying to play him off so he could go on for a couple extra minutes.
(Note: Garson may have spoken longer; there’s footage of the speech to confirm its exact length.)
And what did he say? Well, he thanked the usual people and asked for a more peaceful world without specifically detailing any major world conflicts that would be good to discuss in that moment. He thanked his partner, Georgina Chapman, and revealed that her kids call him Popsy (which was, admittedly, quite cute.) Mostly, he talked about himself in ways that had people calling him arrogant and exhausting. It was a lot. Certainly, it brought the momentum of the evening to a complete halt.
Viewers weren’t entertained. In an evening with many lovely, attention-grabbing, and charismatic speeches, Brody felt out of step with the tone of the ceremony.
It’s not that being uber-serious about your craft is bad. That’s an admirable quality that his peers certainly respect (see Timothée Chalamet’s SAG Award speech where he talked about wanting to be “one of the greats” in his field.) But it takes real charm and planning to convey that in the moment without descending into smothering smugness. And to do it over the course of close to six minutes?!
So, it wasn’t all that surprising to see some people declare that Brody gave the worst Oscar speech of all-time. But did he? We’re talking about decades’ worth of speeches from thousands of recipients. This is a Hollywood ceremony dominated by people who love the smell of their own farts. Surely, there have been worse ones. Remember James Cameron shouting “I’m King of the World”? Or Angelina Jolie declaring she was so in love with her brother? Or Melissa Leo’s whole thing? This is Hollywood. The cringe can always go deeper.
There are three no-nos to keep in mind when you, dear reader, accept your Oscar. Don’t be conceited, don’t be overlong, and don’t be cringe. You can be dorky and earnest in a cringe-adjacent way (hello, Kieran Culkin), but that requires an element of self-effacement. If you’re going to take yourself seriously, make sure to add an element of humility, or be charismatic enough to sell cockiness as a positive, like Robert Downey Jr.’s speech last year.
When Oscar nerds think of overlong speeches, they immediately think of Greer Garson. One of the biggest stars in the business during the 1940s, Garson won Best Actress for Mrs. Miniver and she talked for well over five minutes. Her speech was so overlong that the Academy implemented a time limit for the following year. Unfortunately, we don’t actually have the full transcript of what she said, so her speech can’t be judged properly.
George Clooney’s Best Supporting Actor win for Syriana is also a frequent contender for Oscar cringe. Clooney is iconic for his suave charm but not even he could pull off a speech wherein he lavished praise upon Hollywood for being a leading force in activism and social change because they gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 (but wouldn’t let her sit at the same table as her white co-stars.) It was so insufferable that it became a joke on South Park. “I’m proud to be out of touch,” he declared.
But, as bad as Brody’s was, it still doesn’t compare to the sheer embarrassment of Will Smith’s Best Actor speech for King Richard. There was really no way he could have followed up slapping Chris Rock with his usual Big Willy Style charm, so instead we got what felt like a combination of a public therapy session and self-justifying lecture.
After claiming that “love will make you do crazy things” and that he was battling bigger forces, he clearly struggled through an emotional whirlwind that felt too raw for public eyes. That he received that grand standing ovation after the slap made the whole evening weirder. Nobody knew how to react, and Smith, having scuppered his own plans, doubled down on his attack while preaching love and acceptance. Discomfort doesn’t cover how it made us all feel.
Brody is a self-serious artiste who likes the sound of his own voice. He’s an actor so that’s part of the job description. I doubt he cares much about the public opinion of his speech since he has two Oscars to his name. Still, it won’t be an acceptance speech any of us are eager to rewatch on YouTube.
