As expected, Sam Rockwell won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
At the end of the speech, Rockwell lifted his statue in the air and concluded, “For my old buddy Phil Hoffman!” Hoffman died in 2014 at the age of 46. Rockwell had previously said Hoffman was a friend of his, and both actors were members of the Labyrinth Theater Company.
During his speech — a rushed one, as Rockwell joked he was trying to win the jet ski that host Jimmy Kimmel teased in his monologue — Rockwell thanked his fellow nominees and “Three Billboards” co-stars Woody Harrelson and Frances McDormand.
He also related a charming memory of his parents’ love of film while he was growing up: “When I was 8 years old, I was sent to the principal’s office and my father was saying, ‘We have to go. It’s Grandma,’” I said, ‘What’s wrong with Grandma?’ He said, ‘Nothing, we’re going to the movies.’”
Rockwell had previously won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), British Film Academy awards, the Golden Globe, and the Critics’ Choice prize, among others.
“Three Billboards” received six other Oscar nominations, including best picture.
The other supporting actor nominees were Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), Woody Harrelson (“Three Billboards”), Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”), and Christopher Plummer (“All the Money in the World”), the oldest (89) contender this year.
