Emma Stone's reaction to her own name being called was pretty darn charming, too.
Rest assured, no one looked more stunned than the Poor Things star, now a two-time Best Actress Oscar winner thanks to her all-in performance as Bella Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos' hard-R bildungsroman, in which she plays a woman who was literally brought back to life by a brain transplant and sets out on a tumultuous, frequently hilarious journey of self-exploration. (See all the winners from the 2024 Oscars.)
But once Stone made it to the stage of Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, seven years after winning in the same category for La La Land, she of course met the moment. (Even if a little worse for wear, her Louis Vuitton dress having split in the back. "I think it happened during 'I'm Just Ken,'" she quipped.)
Echoing her Golden Globes speech, Stone—also a nominee tonight in the Best Picture category as a producer on Poor Things—made sure to thank her husband of three-plus years, Dave McCary. But in the rarest of comments about her home life, she also shouted out their daughter Louise.
"I know I have to wrap up, but I really want to just thank my family, my mom, my brother Spencer, my dad, my husband Dave, I love you so much," she said, increasingly hoarse with emotion. "And most importantly, my daughter, who's going to be 3 in three days and has turned our lives technicolor. I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl."
No surprise, she also paid tribute to her fellow nominees—Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Sandra Hüller and Carey Mulligan—for their moving, gutsy and world-class performances.
"The women on this stage, you are all incredible," Stone said, first addressing the presenting quintet of past winners: Michelle Yeoh, Charlize Theron, Jessica Lange, Sally Field and her dear friend Jennifer Lawrence. "The women in this category—Sandra, Annette, Carey, Lily, I share this with you. I am in awe of you. It has been such an honor to be able to do all this together."
Leading up to Hollywood's biggest night, Stone and Gladstone were considered the favorites, each winning a Golden Globe (Stone for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, and Gladstone for Motion Picture, Drama, for Killers of the Flower Moon), while Stone picked up the BAFTA and Gladstone got the SAG Award (much to her co-frontrunner's delight).
So it was anyone's Oscar when the night finally arrived.
"The other night," Stone said, "I was panicking, as you can kind of see happens a lot, that maybe something like this could happen, and Yorgos said to me, 'Please take yourself out of it.' And he was right. Because it's not about me. It's about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. And that is the best part about making movies, is all of us together."
She beamed. "I am so deeply honored to share this with every cast member," Stone continued, "with every crew member, with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film. And Yorgos, thank you for the gift of a lifetime in Bella Baxter."
Stone's win makes her the 13th woman to have two Best Actress Oscars, the 35-year-old joining a club that includes Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Jodie Foster (who was also a Best Supporting Actress nominee this year). The only performers with more are Katharine Hepburn with four and Frances McDormand, who has three.
Aside from her Best Picture nod and her two Best Actress wins, Stone has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress twice, for Birdman in 2015 and The Favourite (also directed by Lanthimos) in 2019.
Poor Things had 11 nominations and was also a winner for Costume Design, Production Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling.
Keep reading to see the complete list of winners at the 2024 Oscars:
Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening, NYAD
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
WINNER: Emma Stone, Poor Things
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
WINNER: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, NYAD
WINNER: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Best Directing
Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese
WINNER: Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan
Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
Best Animated Feature Film
WINNER: The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best International Feature Film
Io Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teachers' Lounge, Germany
WINNER: The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom
Best Documentary Feature Film
Bobi Wine: The People's President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
WINNER: 20 Days in Mariupol
Best Documentary Short Film
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
WINNER: The Last Repair Shop
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó
Best Live Action Short Film
The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
WINNER: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Best Animated Short Film
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
WINNER: War Is Over! Inspired by The Music of John & Yoko
Best Production Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
WINNER: Poor Things
Best Original Song
"The Fire Inside," Flamin' Hot
"I'm Just Ken," Barbie
"It Never Went Away," American Symphony
"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)," Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: "What Was I Made For?," Barbie
Best Original Score
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
WINNER: The Zone of Interest
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
WINNER: Poor Things
Society of the Snow
Best Costume Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
WINNER: Poor Things
Best Original Screenplay
WINNER: Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives
Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best Visual Effects
The Creator
WINNER: Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Best Film Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Cinematography
El Conde,
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Poor Things