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Oscars 2015 memorable moments
The 87th Academy Award Ceremony took place at the Dolby theatre in Hollywood
Emotions ran high during this year’s Oscars ceremony, with passionate speeches and heartfelt performances taking centre-stage.
British actor Eddie Redmayne won the Best Actor award for his interpretation of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. In his acceptance speech, Redmayne dedicated his award to all ALS sufferers and to “one exceptional family – Stephen, Jane and the Hawking children.” Redmayne also thanked his wife Hannah Bagshawe, his "staggering partner in crime", co-star Felicity Jones, and his "ferocious but incredibly kind director James Marsh".
Meanwhile, Julianne Moore collected the Best Actress award for her performance in Still Alice, where she plays a 50-year-old woman who has early on-set Alzheimer's. Moore used her speech to raise awareness about the disease saying:
“I'm so happy, I'm thrilled that we were able to shine a light on Alzheimer's disease. So many people who have this disease feel marginalised. People who have Alzheimer's disease deserve to be seen so we can find a cure."
Redmayne and Moore were not the only two to use their speeches to send a powerful message, with Best Supporting actress winner Patricia Arquette using her speech to advocate for gender wage equality. Arquette, who collected her first award for her performance in Richard Linklater's Boyhood, said:
"To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights," Arquette said.
JK Simmons won best supporting actor for Whiplash, in which he played a strict drumming teacher at a music conservatory.
Other memorable moments for the night included John Legend and Common’s acceptance speech for best song wnner Glory from Selma, a Martin Luther King bio pic. The performance of the song left much of the public in tears and their joint speech was seen as extremely powerful:
"Nina Simone said it was an artist's duty to reflect the times we live. Selma may be 50 years ago, but it is now, because the struggle for justice is right now."
