Soderbergh: Chadwick Boseman Reason for Oscar Night Switch
Steven Soderbergh, the producer of the 93rd Academy Awards, which aired on April 25th, 2021, said that the “controversial” decision to change this year’s show order was in part due to Chadwick Boseman, who tragically died of colon cancer in August 2020.
Soderbergh Talks Shop
From the moment it was announced that Soderbergh would produce the Oscars, there was speculation over whether the producer would change things for the 2021 award season. And, go figure, he did, and it got people talking about his “controversial” decision to change the order of the final awards so that the leading actor categories would go last.
Steven Soderbergh attends a premiere for “The Laundromat” on day five of the Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre, in Toronto 2019. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Soderbergh revealed that he was trying to do something different for this year’s show, adding that the possibility that Boseman could posthumously win for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom further fueled that desire.
In this handout photo provided by A.M.P.A.S., Regina King speaks onstage during the 93rd Annual Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Todd Wawrychuk/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images
While Boseman winning the Oscar wasn’t set in stone, Soderbergh told the LA Times that even the possibility that the actor could win was enough for the show’s producers to move the Best Actor and Best Actress awards to the end.
Taylor Simone Ledward. Photo: SAG
For most of the award show season, Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, has been accepting the awards on the late actor’s behalf, and Soderbergh wanted to account for that possibility, saying:
I said if there was even the sliver of a chance that he would win and that his widow would speak, then we were operating under the fact that was the end of the show. So it wasn’t like we assumed it would, but if there was even a possibility that it would happen, then you have to account for that. That would have been such a shattering moment, that to come back after that would have been just impossible.
Anthony Hopkins Wins Best Actor
Boseman, however, did not win the award for Best Actor. Instead, in a shocking upset, the Oscar went to Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father, which according to some viewers, made the end of the award show “even more anticlimactic when Hopkins was not present to accept the award.”
With Zoom acceptance speeches not allowed at the 2021 Oscars, the show’s Best Actor honoree couldn’t attend, and instead, took to Instagram to release his belated acceptance speech.
Photo: Anthony Hopkins Instagram
Hopkins took the time to highlight the late Boseman’s contributions to cinema during his acceptance speech. “I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early,” Hopkins shared in his speech.
Marvel Studios Big Night
With the surprise win for Hopkins, Marvel Studios alum – as well as their current roster – had a big night at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Peter Spears, Frances McDormand, Zhao, Mollye Asher, and Dan Janvey, winners of Best Picture for “Nomadland,” pose at the Oscars on April 25, 2021, in Los Angeles. Photo: Pool/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
For us here at Marvel Blog, the most exciting win of the night was the Oscar that Eternals director Chloé Zhao took home for her film Nomadland. And, as we already pointed out in our rundown, we know that Marvel is expecting big things from Zhao’s MCU debut! Are you ready for what’s next?
