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The Best Oscar Acceptance Speeches of All Time: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lawrence and More!

Still winning! To celebrate the Academy Awards, Us Weekly is taking a look back at the best Oscar speeches of all time. From Kate Winslet’s touching remarks at the 2009 ceremony to Jennifer Lawrence’s dramatic upstage fall (and adorable recovery) in 2013, watch some of the awards show’s most touching orations in the video above!

Related: Best Oscar Dresses of All Time

When Winslet took home the golden statuette (after five nominations) for Best Actress for her role in 2008’s The Reader, she told the audience that she was achieving a childhood dream. “And this would have been a shampoo bottle,” she said as she held her award. “Well, it’s not a shampoo bottle now.”

Related: The 17 Hottest Oscars Duos, Dates and Couples of All Time

And when J. Law won Best Actress for her portrayal of Tiffany in 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, she took a dramatic (and very meme-able) tumble in a Dior couture gown before accepting the award. “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that’s really embarrassing, but thank you,” she said at the time. “This is nuts!”

Related: 7 Outrageous Accessories on the Red Carpet

At the 1998 Oscars, then-Hollywood newbies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon took home the award for Best Original Screenplay for their joint project Good Will Hunting. “I said to Matt that losing would suck and winning would be really, really scary,” a fresh-faced Affleck said in his speech. “And it’s really, really scary.”

In 2018, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand used her time in the spotlight to share the much-deserved praise with other women. “If I may be so honored to have all the female nominees in every category stand with me in this room tonight, the actors … the filmmakers, the producers, the directors, the writers, the cinematographer, the composers, the songwriters, the designers,” the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri star told the crowd. “Look around, ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed.”

To see more unforgettable speeches including Sally Field, Halle Berry and Julia Roberts, among others, watch the video above.

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