‘Saltburn’ filmmaker Emerald Fennell brought the laughs during 2021 Oscar speech: ‘He’s so heavy … and he’s so cold’ [WATCH]
There weren’t many laughs at the Covid Oscars in April 2021. The ceremony was a much smaller affair than usual because of the worldwide pandemic, and it ended up becoming the least-watch broadcast in Academy Awards history. But one moment early in the ceremony had viewers cackling at home: Emerald Fennell‘s Best Original Screenplay speech for “Promising Young Woman” (2020). On the heels of her new psychological thriller “Saltburn,” starring Barry Keoghan as a young man who becomes infatuated with his wealthy college friend, let’s revisit Fennell’s hilarious 2021 Oscar speech. Watch the video above.
“They said write a speech, and I didn’t cause I just didn’t think this would ever happen,” Fennell breathlessly proclaimed after beating out co-nominees Will Berson and Shaka King (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”), Abraham Marder and Darius Marder (“Sound of Metal”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Referencing the evening’s Academy Award producer, she joked, “I’m gonna be in trouble with Steven Soderbergh. I’m so sorry. I don’t want him to be cross with me.”
Looking down at the golden statue clutched in her palms, she declared, “He’s so heavy … and he’s so cold,” before setting it down on the table beside her. Fennell then mentioned how “the only speech” she ever wrote was to “Saved by the Bell” character Zack Morris, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar. “He was my very supportive husband,” she recalled. “Unfortunately, he hasn’t been as much a part of my life as I’d hoped, so that speech is not that useful.”
“I’m trying very hard not to cry, which is very difficult as an English person, because I don’t cry ever,” she stated as the audience chuckled. Fennell then went on to thank the “Promising Young Woman” cast and crew, “who made it in 23 days.” She noted, “I feel mortified that I’m here [on stage] by myself.” And she gave a special shout-out to her lead actress Carey Mulligan, who now has an unforgettable cameo role in “Saltburn.”
The filmmaker capped her Oscar speech by thanking her son, “who did not arrive until a couple of weeks after shooting, thank God,” she giggled, “because I was crossing my legs the whole way through.” As Fennell left the stage, she blurted out, “Steven, I hope that was all right!”
Besides winning the Oscar for writing “Promising Young Woman,” Fennell also cleaned up at the Critics Choice, BAFTA, Independent Spirit and Gold Derby Awards. She lost her two additional Oscar bids for producing and directing to “Nomadland” and its helmer Chloé Zhao.
Fennell could receive three more Oscar nominations this year for producing, directing and writing “Saltburn.” The Amazon Studios picture debuts in theaters on November 17 with a high-profile cast including Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe and Mulligan.
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