At the Academy Awards every year, after the winners receive their Oscar, they are herded into a photograph room for their official photos and then into the press room where international press have an opportunity to "talk" with the winners.
Best Actor Oscar award winner Forest Whitaker (L) and his wife Keisha (R) arrive at the Vanity Fair post-79th Academy Awards party at Morton's in West Hollywood on February 25, 2007. (UPI Photo/Gary C. Caskey)
Following is the official Academy transcript for Forest Whiaker:
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That was the most exciting moment.
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And you start covering them up with the darker things, sure, but you start off, like, with this little child who, like, you are trying to figure out and you are making choices and you are going along, and slowly, slowly it gets covered up with all the monstrous things that people think about him, but in the beginning, he was just a little kid running around at the plantation trying to pick sugar cane.
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Those were tougher. Those characters were tough to live with and wake up in the morning, and you think I don't feel like doing this. You know what I mean? But this was so much intensity it was some ways at times did....
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So it was extremely well received. They talked about it was one of the biggest events that had happened in Uganda in a long time.
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For me, that's my ancestors speaking to me. We are with you. We are walking with you. And it's something that helps me in all my work. It's not something -- I'm not going into alone. I'm standing up with shoulders before me. I stand up on people's shoulders that guided me to that position, and at times, I'm trying to figure it out.
I'm directing and acting and stuff. I stand still and I listen and I just hope that one of them is going to whisper in my year. So because they always inspire me, I feel it's important to acknowledge them too.
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I really wasn't even sure if I should continue acting. I would like try and figure out if I could be good enough to do it. It was like 10 or 12 years into my career before I felt like maybe I can do it. It was such a different time than now.
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And then later, I -- I -- it was like trying to make a part out of something that wasn't there. You would look on the page and try to create something, hopefully special. So it's really great when you get to play a character that's like on the page, when I was in Bird, it was on the page. And you know, it was you on the page. So, I get to elevate that.
So that's the movement to move even better and better material because I got to work with some amazing directors so far, amazing, amazing people. But I think it's just that opportunity to really to do my work.
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A. It's an amazing statement I hope what's going on. I think we have to be connected as a planet. When you see this year, you see people from all over the world, and you know, from Spain, from Germany, from Mexico, you know, artists from Japan, you know what I mean.
Stories that are like you know, reflecting the diversity of humanity, and I think right now, we need that, because we need to understand that this over here is connected to this over here. And it's so that's what -- that's what this has done for me. And that's why it's happening because we have to pay attention. We have to pay attention and understand that I affect you and you affect me.
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I was talking about those, and then last night, I just started like trying to figure it out. And then I was hoping it wasn't going get too self indulgent and boring. Trying my best. Or presumptuous because you really don't know. I really didn't. Whatever everybody says.
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And so, hopefully, you know, when people understand that the beauty of that place is, it will bring more people there, bring more attention what it is, bring more attention to what occurs when people are stepping into those places and forcing is things to happen. So many different things, but I know for a fact because they told me over and over and over again, that this movie was very important to them as a people to tell this part of history.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
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