 |
"I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all this," Swank said on the podium. "I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream."
She continued, "I am eternally grateful for this honor," and then was careful to thank her husband, actor Chad Lowe, whom she overlooked during her speech four years ago when she won for Boys Don't Cry.
Best Actor, Director and Picture had yet to be announced, but Martin Scorsese's The Aviator was leading the way with wins for art direction, cinematography, costume design, editing and Best Supporting Actress, for Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in the Howard Hughes biopic.
"Thank you to the Academy, who knew Katharine Hepburn so well, and her work," Blanchett said. Paying special acknowledgement to the great, late star, she added: "The longevity of her career is an inspiration to everyone."
On a personal note, in thanking her director Martin Scorsese, Blanchett said, "I hope my son will marry your daughter."
Morgan Freeman was a first-time winner, scoring Best Supporting Actor for Eastwood's boxing drama. "I want to thank everybody and anybody who had anything to do with the making of this motion picture, but I particularly want to thank Clint Eastwood for the opportunity of letting me work with him again, and of working with Hilary Swank," Freeman said. "This was truly a labor of love."
The evening's other early winners were The Incredibles, for Best Animated Feature, and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events for makeup.
Host Chris Rock, whose entrance was greeted with a standing ovation, wasted no time delivering the type of comedy for which he's famous. "Welcome to the 77th and last Academy Awards," he said. Then, quickly noting the number of African-American nominees, he added, "It's kind of like the Def Oscar Jam tonight."
As for the shortcomings of the very show he was hosting, Rock said: "There's no acting at the Oscars. You go to the Grammys, there's singing. You go to the Tonys, there's singing and dancing. You go to the Source awards, there's singing and dancing and shooting. But at the Oscars, there's no acting. Maybe Morgan Freeman could do a shampoo commercial or something."
He wasn't done yet, taking digs at everyone from President Bush to Jude Law. "Who is Jude Law?" Rock asked. "Why is he in every movie I've seen for the last four years? He's in everything. ... Next year he's playing Kareem Abdul Jabar in a movie."
He also said he knew how Jews felt about Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ, because last year there was a movie called Soul Plane. "And I'll trade The Passion of the Christ for Soul Plane any day of the week," he declared.
The ceremony opened with a cinematic montage narrated by Dustin Hoffman, in which he said: "Today's movies look and sound brand new, but they are tied to the past. ... good movies tell us where we came from, and where we're going."
The sequence also helped to unveil the high-tech set for the show, with video monitors reaching up to the ceiling over the audience in the Kodak Theatre.
JOSH & FERGIE: ROCKED BY SCANDAL
Did he cheat with a stripper?
Married less than a year, the couple denies an Atlanta woman’s claims that she and Josh had a fling
Note that this week’s cover of PEOPLE may differ regionally
