Adrian Brody flocked to the stage at Dolby Theatre on Sunday night and collected his Oscars for Best Actor when it seemed dawning to him that he had forgotten to do something.
So, halfway through the stairs, Mr. Brody paused and removed the chewing gum from his mouth. But what should we do about it? He began to find his girlfriend, Georgina Chapman. He advanced from the front row position as Mr. Brody prepared himself to create a softball style underhand pitch for her.
It wasn't a perfect toss. Chapman had to move to her right to temporarily capture what had become the world's most famous chunk. But she was pleased with the feat and raised her arms in the victory when she just returned to her seat to see Brody accept the award from last year's category winner Cillian Murphy.
Mr. Brody was not asked about gum toss in his backstage interview after his victory, so no further details were available on how he decided to simply swallow it.
This was an unscripted moment for Brody and Chapman. It also served as a bit of lightness before Brody gave a long speech focused on his fierce path, which returned to Hollywood excellence thanks to his role in “The Blutaist.”
Brody's victory – It's come 22 years after winning the Best Actor Award for his role as Holocaust survivor Vladislou Thespielman for playing Las Lotos, an architect who emigrated to the US and Holocaust survivor. The 29-year-old victory became the youngest winner of the youngest actor in Oscar history, but preceded a difficult period in his career when he couldn't take advantage of his success.
“Acting is a very vulnerable profession,” he said. But one thing I got is that I have the privilege to come back here, but I have some perspectives. And no matter where you are in your career, everything you accomplish can go away. And I think what makes this night the most special is the recognition of it and the gratitude I still have to do the work I love. ”
Brody's speech continued. And he refused to be cowed when the show's producers worked on some music to try and play him off stage.
“I'm closing – please, please,” he said. “I'm going to close. I'll put it all together. Please turn off the music. I've done this before. Thank you. It's not my first rodeo.”
Brody spoke for another 90 seconds before listening to the music again. This time he got off the stage.
Among viewers, Brody's speech was just as polarised as his gumtos. This was primarily skewed on social media as sticky or glossy, but there were defenders as well.
Either way, Brody made sure to grab the spotlight after a prolonged absence from awards season. Before the show began, Halle Berry approached him on the red carpet and gave him a big smooch after apologizing to Chapman – a reenactment of their famous stage kiss at the 2003 Oscars.
