Anthony Hopkins wins the 2021 Best Actor Oscar award
The winner of Best Actor at the 93rd Academy Awards was Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father, with the 83-year-old becoming the oldest winner in Oscars history.
Anthony Hopkins has won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in “The Father”, Florian Zeller’s emotional drama. Hopkins picks up his second Oscar for Best Actor after winning the award in 1994 for his role in the iconic “The Silence of the Lambs.”
The 83-year-old was the oldest nominee at the 93rd Academy Awards but was not able to be there in person to collect his award from last year’s winner, Joaquin Phoenix. In his place, his co-star and fellow Oscar winner Olivia Coleman received the award on his behalf.
Hopkins becomes the oldest ever Oscar winner, claiming that distinction from Christopher Plummer, who won an Academy Award for "Beginners" in 2011.
The late Chadwick Boseman had been the outright favourite to pick up the Oscar for his role as Levee in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, which would have made him just the second posthumous winner of the award.
Viola Davis, who plays the eponymous Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, said of Boseman’s performance: “For me it spotlights his legacy beautifully, because his legacy was about excellence. But what you’re going to see is Chadwick as an artist. So it’s very fitting. A very fitting denouement.”
Who was nominated for the 2021 Oscars Best Actor?
The prestigious Academy Awards Best Actor prize has been awarded to some of the biggest names in the history of cinema. This year’s nominees formed a five-man shortlist with two former Oscar winners, Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman, included.
Those nominees were:
Chadwick Boseman - "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Anthony Hopkins - "The Father"
Riz Ahmed - "Sound of Metal"
Gary Oldman - "Mank"
Steven Yeun - "Minari"
Who won the Best Actor award in 2020?
The 92nd Academy Awards saw Joaquin Phoenix named Best Actor for his portrayal of the eponymous lead in the psychological thriller "Joker". His performance as Batman’s nemesis made him the overwhelming favourite before the winner was finally announced, beating Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).
Speaking after receiving the award at the 2020 ceremony Phoenix gave an emotional speech, saying: “I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room, because we share the same love – that’s the love of film. And this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life. I don’t know where I’d be without it.”