Wins Oscar

DuJardin wins the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of silent movie star George Valentin in Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist. Natalie Portman presents the award.

Thank you. Ouais! I love your country. Okay. Thank you to the Academy. It’s funny because in 1929 it wasn’t Billy Crystal but Douglas Fairbanks who hosted the first Oscar ceremony. Tickets cost five dollars and it lasted fifteen minutes. Times have changed. So thank you, Douglas Fairbanks . . . . And if George Valentin could speak, he’d say: Wouaou! Putain! Genial! Merci! Formidable! Merci beaucoup! I love you!