10 Women Who Have Used Their Oscars Speech To Make A Difference

“I would like to thank the Academy…”

And so begins another round of gushing, cliched and sometimes awkwardly tear-stained Oscar acceptance speeches.

With nearly 40 million viewers in the US alone, the Academy Awards is not just a who’s who of designer gowns and razor-sharp tuxedos. It’s a unique experience to speak to great swathes of people around the globe.

While the majority of actors take those precious few moments to thank every person they’ve ever met, reeling off a list of names that no-one outside of Hollywood has heard of, some thespians instead choose to look outside themselves and their privilege, instead using their platform to highlight the real unsung heroes of the world.

Or you could be Matthew McConaughey and thank your hero - yourself in 10 years time.

Here are just some of the women who have used their acceptance speeches to make a difference:

Patricia Arquette, 2015, equal pay

By the time the 87th Oscars rolled around, everyone knew that Patricia Arquette was taking home the Supporting Actress award for her role in Boyhood - including Patricia. The 47-year-old used her speech to make an impassioned call for equal pay for women, which was met by rapturous applause from the audience, not least from fellow actresses Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez.

“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

Julianne Moore, 2015, Alzheimer’s disease

Long time nominee, first time winner Julianne Moore was named Best Actress for her powerful portrayal of an early-onset Alzheimer’s sufferer in Still Alice. Moore used her moment of glory to draw attention to the degenerative disease and it’s victims.

“I’m thrilled that we were able to hopefully shine a light on Alzheimer’s disease. So many people with this disease feel isolated and marginalised and one of the wonderful things about movies is it makes us feel seen and not alone. People with Alzheimer’s deserve to be seen so that we can find a cure.”

Cate Blanchett, 2014, women in film

Multi-award winner Blanchett used her Best Actress acceptance speech to answer vocal critics of films like Blue Jasmine - films starring women, about women - as doomed for failure.

“Perhaps those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the centre are ‘niche’ experiences - they are not. Audiences want to see them and in fact they earn money. The world is round people!”

Mo’Nique, 2007, women of colour

Until 2007, Mo’Nique was widely thought of as a comedic actress until she was cast as the abusive mother of the titular character in the harrowing drama Precious, for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award. Mo’Nique thanked the Academy for recognising “the performance, not the politics” before going on to acknowledge the first African American to win an Oscar - Gone With The Wind’s Hattie McDaniels.

“Sometimes you have to forgo doing what’s popular for doing what’s right”

Nicole Kidman, 2003, Post-9/11

When Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, the world was still reeling from the aftershocks of September 11th and the new War on terror. The ceremony took place just weeks before the US invasion of Iraq. The usually reserved Kidman took the opportunity to explain why at a time of such global chaos filmmaking was not only relevant but worthy.

“Art is important”

Halle Berry, 2001, first woman of colour to win Best Actress

It was a win 74 years in the making. First-time nominee Halle Berry sobbed as she collected the Best Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball, making her the first African-American woman to do so. Fifteen years later and Berry is still the only woman of colour to take home the coveted award, something that will not be changing in 2016 thanks to all 20 acting nominees being white.

“This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It’s for the women that stand beside me - Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox and it’s for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”

Susan Sarandon, 1995, anti-violence

When Susan Sarandon won the Best Actress award for her role as a nun who consoles death row prisoners in Dead Man Walking, she finished her acceptance speech with a call to embrace non-violence.

“May all of us find it in our hearts and in our homes and in our world a way to non-violently end violence and heal”

Emma Thompson, 1992, women in film

British legend Emma Thompson picked up the Best Actress award for her role in the Merchant Ivory classic Howard’s End and chose to dedicate her win to women everywhere - highlighting the lack of strong female characters in film at the time.

“I would like to dedicate this Oscar to the heroism and courage of women and to hope that it inspires the creation of more true screen heroines to represent them.”

Jodie Foster, 1991, feminism

This was the second Oscar for Jodie Foster, who took home the award for her iconic portrayal of everyone’s favourite FBI agent Clarice Starling in the chilling horror The Silence of the Lambs. Foster casually dropped the f-word into her jubilant acceptance speech - feminist.

“I’d like to thank the Academy for embracing such an incredibly strong and beautiful feminist hero that I’m so proud of.”

Jane Fonda, 1978, sign language for the deaf

Famous activist Jane Fonda chose to use sign language for the first half of her acceptance speech when she won in 1978 for Coming Home, which dealt with the aftermath of the Vietnam War for US veterans - namely learning to live with disabilities.

“Over 14 million people are deaf. They are the invisible handicapped and can’t share this evening so this is my way of acknowledging them.”

Image credit: Rex

Words by Sophie Tigue