Academy Award, also known as The Oscars, is easily the most popular and prestigious award in the film industry. Not just in the United States, the awards are considered to be a big thing across the globe. Every year films are submitted from different countries and languages.
In its long history, the Academy has seen its ample share of controversies as well. There have been several wins that were deemed surprising and controversial. So here is a list of the top 10 most unexpected Oscar winners of all time. Keep on reading to know more.
Related: Top 10 Most Controversial Oscar Wins
Most Unexpected Oscar Winners
1) Adrien Brody For ‘The Pianist’
Brody won the Best Actor award for his role as Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski’s ‘The Pianist.’ Both Brody and Polanski’s wins were unexpected in the year 2002. The actor even stirred controversy by non-consesually kissing presenter Halle Berry.
2) ‘Rocky’ Won Best Picture
One of the best sports movie of all time was competing with some of the finest from Hollywood. It was nominated along with ‘Network’, ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘All the President’s Men’, but just like its protagonist, the film triumphed.
3) Juliette Binoche Won Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Lauren Bacall was expected to win the Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘The Mirror Has Two Faces.’ However, Binoche took home the award for ‘The English Patient.’ Her speech denoted that she was also surprised.
4) ‘Crash’ Won Over ‘Brokeback Mountain’
‘Crash‘ is frequently called the worst Best Picture winner. In 2006, everyone wanted Ang Lee’s gay romance drama ‘Brokeback Mountain‘ to win, but their dreams just crashed. No pun intended.
5) Olivia Coleman Winning Best Actress
In 2019, Coleman won the award for Best Actress which sent shockwaves around the arena. It was because Glenn Close was expected to bag the award after being snubbed eight times.
6) ‘Babe’ Beat ‘Apollo 13’
Oscars are unpredictable and this win proves that belief. George Miller’s story of a talking pig beat Tom Hank’s sci-fi drama ‘Apollo 13‘ and won the award for the Best Visual Effects. It still puzzles everyone.
7) ‘Moonlight’ Winning Best Picture
There is no doubt that ‘Moonlight‘ is a great film but people wanted ‘La La Land‘ to win in 2016. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly said ‘La La Land’ as the winner, only to realize they had the wrong envelope.
8) Roberto Benigni Won Best Actor
The 1999 Best Actor race was really stiff and stacked with names like Tom Hanks, Ian McKellan, Nick Nolte, Edward Norton, and Roberto Begnini nominated in the category. However, Begnini made history by becoming the first winner in a non-English-speaking role.
9) ‘Parasite’ For Best Picture
Bong Joon-ho’s black comedy film shock everyone’s expectation by becoming the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture. Before this, no Korean film was even nominated for the Oscars, not even in the foreign language category.
10) 11-Year-Old Anna Paquin Won For Best Supporting Actress
At 11, nearly every kid is clueless about what they want to do in their lives. At that age, Anna Paquin took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘The Piano.’ It was her first film.
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