Naomie Harris was relieved at not winning Oscar
Naomie Harris looked back at the experience of attending the Oscars in 2017
Naomie Harris had attended the Oscars in 2017 as a nominee in the Best Supporting Actress category for the film, Moonlight.
Looking back on the experience with People, she remarked that she did not have a speech prepared, “Because Viola Davis, up to that point, had won everything going. So I was like, ‘Viola's going to win.’”
Other women in the category included Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Nicole Kidman (Lion) and Michelle Williams (Manchester By the Sea).
“I said to her, ‘I don't have a speech.’ And she was like, ‘No, no, no, you need a speech.’ And I was like, ‘No, I'm not going to win, so it's fine.’ She was like, You don't know that. Anything is possible,’” she recalled, discussing a conversation she had with another actress.
“And so suddenly I went from being like, ‘It's okay. I'm just going to sit back’ to like, ‘Oh my God, I don't have a speech,’” the actress added.
Quickly spiraling, she went over her concerns, “How am I going to get up to walk up those stairs in my high heels and this dress? Am I going to be able to make it on my own? And then what kind of speech am I going to give?”
Ultimately, Davis ended up taking the win, “There's this first moment of like, "Thank God. I don't have to go up there and speak.’”
However, she later realized that she had wanted to win, “Then you get that moment of like, ‘Oh, If only it were me’ of course.”
Remarking on the confusion over the Best Picture win, she said, “It was a debacle, but made for great TV. It's a very memorable moment. But I was just so in shock by what happened. I really sat in my seat and even when they said ‘You won Best Picture’ — no one told me that everyone's supposed to go on stage as well.”
