UPDATED with video from speech: Joaquin Phoenix, known for not being a fan of Hollywood awards shows, got in a dig tonight during his Golden Globe acceptance speech for the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Joker.
“There is no f*cking best actor,” Phoenix said in an expletive-laden speech.
After paying tribute to his fellow nominees, Phoenix said: “We all know there’s no f*cking competition between us. I’m your f*cking student. I can’t believe the beautiful mesmerizing, unique work that you’ve all done this year. … But I really do feel honored to be mentioned with you.”
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t want to rock the boat, but the boat is f*cking rocked,” he said at one point.
In his thank you to Joker director Todd Phillips, Phoenix said: “I’m such a pain in the ass. I cannot believe you put up with me.”
He continued, “It’s really nice that so many people have come up and sent their well-wishes to Australia, but we have to do more than that, right? Such a beautiful gesture, and I am a, uh, I have not always been a virtuous man. I’m learning so much so many of you in this room have given me multiple opportunities to get it right.”
Phoenix also told those in the crowd that they need to do “more” than simply express their support for Australia amid the deadly wildfires and “make some changes,” amid multiple bleeps that NBC edited out of the live broadcast.
Phoenix was honored tonight for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck, aka iconic DC Comics supervillain Joker, in the stand-alone origin movie. The film, set in a very dark and unforgiving Gotham City in the 1980s, dives into a world of madness in the character of Arthur Fleck as he eventually morphs into Joker.
Joker received four Golden Globe nominations, also winning for best original score.
This is Phoenix’s sixth Golden Globe nomination and second win. He first won the best actor nod for 2005’s Walk The Line.
The other nominees in the category were Christian Bale for Ford v Ferrari, Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory, Adam Driver for Marriage Story and Jonathan Pryce for The Two Popes.
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