Anthony Hopkins has paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman after his unexpected Oscar win.
The actor, 83, received the Acadamy Award for Best Actor yesterday (April 25) at the 2021 ceremony for his role in The Father, in which he portrays an elderly man struggling to come to terms with his memory loss.
Hopkins was not in attendance at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles last night, however, this morning, he shared a belated acceptance video on Instagram from his home in Wales.
"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.
The veteran actor also took the opportunity to thank Sony Pictures Classics, Florian Zeller, UTA, Jeremy Barber, Christine Crais, Mitch Smelkinson, Juan Miguel Arias, Tara Arroyave, as well as his wife and family.
Hopkins is pictured below in The Father:
The 83-year-old is the oldest actor to have ever won the Best Actor award, an accolade previously held by Christopher Plummer, who won the Oscar in 2011 for his role in Beginners, Deadline reports.
It also marks Hopkins' first Oscar since his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs back in 1992.
Boseman had been nominated for the award for his role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which was his last before his tragic passing to cancer back in August 2020.
He is pictured below in the movie:
However, Hopkins was not the only person to make history at last night's ceremony.
As per the Metro, for her Best Director win, Chloe Zhao became the second woman and the first woman of color to win the award.
Ann Roth, 89, also became the oldest woman to ever win an Oscar for her role in costume design in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Minari star Youn Yuh-Jung, meanwhile, was awarded Best Supporting Actress and became the first Korean woman to do so.
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