Naomie Harris was "shaking" when she went on stage to collect the Best Picture Oscar with her ‘Moonlight’ castmates following ‘La La Land’ mistakenly being announced as the winner.
The 40-year-old British actress was as stunned as everyone else who worked on the drama movie when ‘La La Land’ producer Jordan Horowitz declared from the stage at the ceremony on Sunday night (26.02.17) that Barry Jenkins’ film was the real winner and a mistake had been made due to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway being handed the wrong envelope which contained the information that Emma Stone was the winner of the Best Actress prize for her role in the musical movie.
Naomie has admitted she was actually left shaking in shock and she was sure when she was on the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles that Moonlight’s win was an error.
She said: "It was more than a little awkward to be honest, I was stunned and shocked and shaking. It was a very strange moment."
Although Naomie is very proud to be have been part of the 2017 Best Picture Academy Award winning film, the chaotic manner in which ‘Moonlight’ received the golden statuette did detract from what should have been a very special moment for everyone involved in the project.
Speaking on the red carpet as she entered the Vanity Fair Oscars party, she said: "It was awkward and it was a shame, because in a moment when it was supposed to be celebratory but we were all just, like, stunned. I was on stage with this gormless expression and then I thought someone was going to say they had got it wrong again."
Naomie had been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress prize for her performance as drug-addicted mother Paul in ‘Moonlight’ but she lost out to Viola Davis who took home the precious prize for her role as Rose Lee Maxson in ‘Fences’.
Following the Best Picture farce, Price Waterhouse Coopers – the accounting firm that tallies the Oscars votes – took responsibility for the envelope mix-up and issued an apology.
The statement read: "We sincerely apologise to ‘Moonlight’, ‘La La Land’, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and the Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for best picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation."
Naomie Harris was ‘shaking’ on Oscars stage
