Al Pacino’s presentation of the Best Picture winner at Sunday’s Academy Awards was no mix-up, despite the audience’s confusion when the Godfather star announced that Oppenheimer had won the biggest honor of the night.
The star, who won Best Actor for his role in 1992’s Scent of a Woman and has been nominated eight other times, announced the Best Picture winner Sunday by saying, “Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for Best Picture. I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer. Yes. Yes.”
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The speedy and seemingly off-hand announcement appeared to baffle the audience for a moment before the applause began and the cast of Oppenheimer took the stage to accept the award, leaving many to wonder if Pacino’s way of announcing the award was reminiscent of 2017’s La La Land/Moonlight envelope mix-up.
However, in a statement issued Monday by a spokesperson, Pacino said the way he presented the award was simply how he was instructed to do so by the award show’s producers. “There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the Best Picture award,” reads his statement to The New York Times. “I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony.” He continued, “I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.”
This year’s show concentrated on making sure the telecast didn’t run long, airing clips from the Best Picture nominees throughout the broadcast. Prior to Pacino’s statement, one of the show’s producers, Molly McNearney, told Variety Pacino’s presentation was “always supposed to be fast” due to time concerns, and that while his unconventional delivery had “made it a little confusing,” that’s the “excitement of live television.”
Pacino concluded his statement, “I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight, and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement.”
