Chadwick Boseman's brother has opened up about Anthony Hopkin's Best Actor win.
The Silence of the Lambs actor, 83, won the accolade at the 2021 Oscars on April 25, but this came as a surprise to many, with most expecting the award to be presented to Boseman instead.
Boseman's brother, Derrick, has since told TMZ that the late Black Panther star would have been delighted for Hopkins and his win, explaining that he always thought of the Oscars as a "campaign" and not his ultimate dream.
Hopkins received the award for his performance as an aging man in The Father; Boseman, meanwhile, had been nominated for his last ever performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
However, Hopkins' unexpected win disappointed many of Boseman's fans - particularly as the lineup of the ceremony was changed this year and involved the presentation of the Best Actor award at the conclusion of the evening.
The 83-year-old unsurprisingly did not attend the Los Angeles ceremony in person because of the ongoing pandemic, and instead, he posted a belated acceptance speech to Instagram after the event.
"Here I am in my homeland in Wales. At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award, I really didn't," Hopkins said. "I'm very grateful to the Academy - thank you."
"I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. Again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, I feel very privileged and honored, thank you," he added.
Reacting to the Oscars' decision to keep the win until the end of the ceremony, one Twitter user wrote: "Anthony Hopkins is without fault. Class-act and brilliant performance in The Father. Truly, he, Boseman, and Ahmed were all neck and neck for me.
"Fault is on the Oscar producers who, for ratings, needlessly made the loss of an icon even harder on those anticipating his honor."
Rob Mills, executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, told Variety that the Oscars took a risk in changing its lineup, which usually left the presenting of Best Picture until last instead of Best Actor.
He said: "It was not meant to end on somebody who was not present. It was a calculated risk, that I think still paid off because everybody was talking about it… some people were upset, some people loved it and that was really the point that there was no apathy."
