EMMA THOMPSON:
I don’t really know how to thank the Academy for this. And if I try we’ll be here till Christmas, so I better get on. Before I came I went to visit Jane Austen’s grave in Winchester Cathedral to pay my respects, you know, and to tell her about the grosses. And I don’t know how she would react to an evening like this but I do hope, I do hope she knows how big she is in Uruguay. Profound thanks to Columbia Pictures and the lovely forms of Lisa Henson, Gareth Wigan, and Mark Canton for hiring a first-time writer. To James Schamus, for his rare intelligence. And to Sydney Pollack, for asking all the right questions like, why couldn’t these women go out and get a job? Why, indeed! And to the cast and crew, for being impeccable. To my friend and my teacher, Lindsay Doran, for being the single, most frustrating reason why I can’t claim all the credit for myself. And finally I would like, with your permission, to dedicate this Oscar to our director Ang Lee. Ang, wherever you are, this is for you.
Emma Thompson is my patronus.