Cuba Gooding Jr Jerry Maguire
Best supporting actor, 1997
Cuba’s Oscars speech was cut off in its prime. “Poor Cuba has barely jumped on stage to perform before his ‘end’ music starts to play,” says body language expert Judi James. “He begins to rush his speech politely while waving his Oscar like a baton, but he suddenly sees the comic potential in shouting over the music, using chopping hand gestures to list his thanks and then pointing to people in the audience like Tom Cruise. Cuba ends with open delight in his victory, dancing and punching the air in perhaps the most honest body language [of the lot].”
Gwyneth Paltrow Shakespeare in Love
Best actress, 1999
Long before consciously uncoupling and vagina steaming, there was that speech. Gwynnie did her best to look convincing in her bubblegum pink dress, but standing up and thanking Harvey Weinstein couldn’t have been easy. “Gwyneth combines childlike tears with a very adult intention of sticking it out until the bitter end,” says James. “She pauses, takes a deep breath and swallows before she name-checks Harvey Weinstein. She lifts the Oscar as she mentions him then brings it down in an emphatic gesture. She’s breathless and tearful but she holds her Oscar in phallic mode, suggesting underlying confidence and feelings of power.”
Angelina Jolie Girl, Interrupted
Best supporting actress, 2000
Jolie celebrated by planting a smacker on her brother James and grinning a lot. “Hugging, cuddling and thanking her beloved brother shows a trait of modesty,” says James. “Angelina’s facial expression is hugely incongruent as she takes to the stage, with a horizontal split. The top half of her face puckers into the classic Oscar expression of ‘tragic’ tears but the lower half is set in a wide smile of utter delight. Like all Oscar winners she performs the hand-to-chest modesty ritual before cradling the Oscar like a baby, which is symbolic because we now know of her uber-maternal traits.”
Halle Berry Monster’s Ball
Best actress, 2002
“This moment is so much bigger than me,” said Berry, as she became the first black woman to win the Oscar for best actress. “There’s a lot of dry sobbing and breathlessness in the manner of a bereft toddler, and this inconsolable routine seems primed to win a nurturing response from her audience, which is why there’s barely a dry eye in the house,” says James. “Halle holds the Oscar like a precious doll, and her cheeks do finally become streaked with tears, but it’s towards the end of her speech that we get a glimpse of more congruent body language. As her time runs out, she becomes less vulnerable: clear-eyed, adult and focused, Halle is finally happy, dancing and punching the air in celebration.”
Adrien Brody The Pianist
Best actor, 2003
When Brody’s making a speech, don’t even think about starting up the music. “Adrien performs a delightful display of humility and modesty up to the point where the music kicks in to cue him to finish his speech, at which point he suddenly takes control and orders them to stop,” says James. “Before then it’s all about the ‘wow’, with some floppy self-clapping, fingers to his mouth in a partial cut-off of diffidence and the compulsory hand-to-chest modesty ritual. He’s already shown his dominant side as he sweeps Halle Berry into his arms on stage and plants a long, passionate-looking kiss on her mouth.”
