The best and worst Oscar speeches of all time

After you’ve seen all the films and the votes are all counted, the most entertaining parts of the actual Academy Awards are the speeches. With limited time, a global audience, and a million people to thank, actors and actresses step out of the safety net of carefully crafted lines to speak their own words, which can be a delightful extension of their on-screen personas, or a completely cheesy and wildly uncomfortable mess.

Check out this gallery to see the best and worst acceptance speeches in Oscars history.

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And the best speeches are... Halle Berry, 2002 - After receiving a standing ovation for being the first African-American woman to win Best Actress, an emotional Berry gave one of the best speeches ever. "This moment is so much bigger than me ... it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."

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Olivia Colman, 2019 -

Many people felt Colman deserved an Oscar for the endearing, funny, and incredibly humble speech she made while accepting Best Actress for 'The Favourite.'

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Tom Hanks, 1994 - Tom Hanks won Best Actor for his role in 'Philadelphia,' and after winning gave an eloquent speech supporting and paying tribute to those affected by AIDS, which had a greater amount of stigma attached to it back then.

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Kate Winslet, 2010 - Winslet only ever took home one Oscar out of seven nominations, but when she took home Best Actress for 'The Reader,' she spoke of how many times she'd practiced making the speech holding a shampoo bottle. From her dad whistling to let her know where he was sitting, to telling Meryl Streep to suck it up because none of the actresses could believe they were nominated alongside her, it was perfect.

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Viola Davis, 2017 - Winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in 'Fences,' Davis highlighted the importance of acting to her: "People ask me all the time, 'What kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?' And I say 'Exhume those bodies.' Exhume those stories—the stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition, people who fell in love and lost." Host Jimmy Kimmel rightfully joked that Davis "just won an Emmy for that speech."

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Julie Andrews, 1965 - Receiving the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in 'Mary Poppins,' Andrews began, "I know you Americans are famous for your hospitality, but this is really ridiculous." She essentially thanked America for making her feel welcome.

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Lupita Nyong'o, 2014 - Nyong'o paid tribute to the woman she played in '12 Years a Slave' when accepting her Best Supporting Actress award by stating, "It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's... When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid.”

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Jennifer Lawrence, 2013 - If anyone was going to trip on their way to accept the award for Best Actress, at least it was the hilariously bold Lawrence. She openly laughed at herself and said, "You're all only standing because I fell and that was embarrassing."

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Common and John Legend, 2015 - John Legend and Common won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'Glory' from 'Selma,' and their emotionally- and politically-charged speech feels even more relevant and important today. Legend highlighted the fact that America has more black men under correctional control than were under slavery in 1850.

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Meryl Streep, 2012 - Winning Best Actress for 'Iron Lady,' Streep joked that she could hear half of America whine when they called her name, but then delivered a compelling speech brimming with gratitude for the people around her and the industry she gets to be a part of.

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Cuba Gooding Jr., 1997 - Taking home Best Supporting Actor, Gooding Jr. didn't hide a drop of joy, delivering most of his speech yelling over the music and making the entire audience smile by literally jumping for joy.

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Patricia Arquette, 2015 - Calling out the wage gap in and out of Hollywood, Arquette took her chance while accepting Best Supporting Actress for 'Boyhood' to make an essential statement “to every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation.”

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Louise Fletcher, 1976 - Fletcher's acceptance speech for Best Actress for her role as the nurse in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' made everyone laugh—from claiming that they hated her so much that they're giving her an award for it, to thanking the cast for making being in a mental institution feel like being in a mental institution—but it was also incredibly heartfelt. She ended by thanking both her parents in sign language.

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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, 1998 - Winning Best Original Screenplay for 'Good Will Hunting,' the childhood friends' voices cracked as Affleck attempted to thank as many people as possible in the small amount of time they were given, and as Damon decided to start shouting out people's names at the same time in a hilarious, endearing mess.

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Robin Williams, 1998 - The cherished late actor received the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 'Good Will Hunting,' delivering a speech that was as endlessly entertaining as himself. He poked fun at Damon and Affleck's age, the Hollywood monarch Harvey Weinstein, and his late father's advice when he told him he wanted to act: "have a backup profession like welding."

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Matthew McConaughey, 2014 - Taking home the Best Actor award for his performance in 'Dallas Buyers Club,' McConaughey said he needs three things every day: something to look up to (God), something to look forward to (his family), and a hero to chase (himself in 10 years). Of course, he ended it with his trademark "all right, all right, all right."

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And now, the worst speeches: Angelina Jolie, 2000 - Jolie made headlines after she kissed her brother, James Haven, on the red carpet, and then started her Best Supporting Actress acceptance speech for 'Girl, Interrupted' by saying, "I'm just so in love with my brother right now." It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

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Gwyneth Paltrow, 1999 - Accepting the Best Actress award for 'Shakespeare in Love,' Paltrow delivered the standard-fare gush until about three minutes in when she lost control and started sobbing so much that cameras cut to her mother, actress Blythe Danner,
who also looked visibly uncomfortable.

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Adrien Brody, 2003 - Winning Best Actor for 'The Pianist' should have been a fantastic moment, but Brody took presenter Halle Berry by surprise and mashed his face against hers for an uncomfortable amount of time, which certainly would not fly in this age.

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Anne Hathaway, 2013 - Hathaway only garnered more Hathahate following her lackluster hosting experience with James Franco, during which time she also accepted Best Supporting Actress for 'Les Misérables.' "It came true," she said, as if to herself, referencing the song she sang in the film. The moment felt corny, like an insincere attempt at sincerity, and the rest of the speech wasn't much better.

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James Cameron, 1998 - There are few moments in Oscars history more cringeworthy than the 'Titanic' director holding his Best Director award in the air and screaming into the microphone, "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" Leave it to Leo, please.

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Sally Field, 1985 - Field's acceptance speech for Best Actress for 'Places in the Heart' is often remembered for the line, "You like me, you really like me!" But she never actually said that, even if the real thing wasn't much better.

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George Clooney, 2006 - Accepting Best Supporting Actor for 'Syriana' should have been a moment of gratitude, but Clooney famously delivered a self-congratulatory speech that seemed to place Hollywood on the forefront of activism for queer people affected by AIDS, for civil rights, for black representation, and more.

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Melissa Leo, 2011 - Winning Best Supporting Actress for 'The Fighter' after reportedly personally paying for her own Hollywood trade ads in a shameless tactic that actually worked, Leo was cheesy right from asking Kirk Douglas to pinch her all the way to using his cane and exiting the stage pretending to be an old lady. Her fake shock and “accidental” F-bomb were uncomfortable additions.

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Sean Penn, 2004 - Penn admitted that his kids told him it would be presumptuous to prepare a speech, but the excruciatingly awkward silences littered throughout his Best Actor acceptance speech (for his role in 'Mystic River') might've changed their minds.

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Hilary Swank, 2000 - The Best Actress winner, for her role in 'Boys Don't Cry,' delivered a standard speech accompanied by notes to make sure she didn't forget anyone, and everything was going fine until she "last but certainly not least” thanked Brandon Teena (whom she played in the film), and the cameras zoomed in on her then-husband Chad Lowe.

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Joe Pesci, 1991 - When Joe Pesci took home Best Supporting Actor for his performance in 'Goodfellas,' his speech was short and not that sweet: "It was my privilege. Thank you."

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Sacheen Littlefeather for Marlon Brando, 1973 - Brando sent Native American actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather to the stage to reject his award for Best Actor in protest against the treatment and stereotyping of American Indians by the film industry and on television. The cause was highly respectable, but Brando wrote a speech too long for her to read, and the few insolent audience members who booed gave the entire night a sour taste.

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'La La Land' / 'Moonlight,' 2017 - Who could forget the colossal screw-up where 'La La Land' was incorrectly named Best Picture? Director Barry Jenkins and the 'Moonlight' team handled it so gracefully, despite the fact that their completely deserving moment should have been theirs and theirs alone. After embarrassing speeches from the 'La La Land' team, the folks behind 'Moonlight' accepted the award with such gratitude that even Samuel L. Jackson shed a tear in the audience.

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George C. Scott, 1971 - The actor chose not to accept his Best Actor award for 'Patton' as a stand against the Academy itself. Instead, the Academy had the film's producer accept the award on his behalf and discuss just how great and generous the Academy is...

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Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, Patricia Dehaney-Le May, 2019 -

The winners of Best Hair and Makeup, for their work on 'Vice,' were the subject of much online criticism after they attempted to take turns reading off a sheet of paper, quickly losing track of who was reading what. It was cringe-worthy at best.

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The best and worst Oscar speeches of all time -