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The best Toronto-centric moments from last night’s Academy Awards

By Jean Grant
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Last night’s Academy Awards included plenty of memorable (and meme-able) moments: there was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s swoon-worthy duet, Spike Lee jumping on Samuel L. Jackson after winning his award and, of course, Jason Momoa’s pink velvet scrunchie. But the ceremony also had plenty of nods to the Six. Here’s a look at some of our favourite Toronto moments:

Stephan James’s Oscar debut

The 25-year-old Toronto actor—and star of the critical hit If Beale Street Could Talk—made a serious impression at his first Oscars, where he presented an award. His custom three-piece velvet tux from Etro earned him a spot on best-dressed lists everywhere (including a nod from GQ). And he was pretty darn charming on the red carpet. In an interview with Giuliana Rancic, he talked about how starring in Beale Street taught him how to understand love from a new perspective.

Bao‘s big win

Toronto director and writer Domee Shi (right) and producer Becky Neiman-Cobb won Best Animated Short for her beloved Pixar film Bao, a tale about a Chinese-Canadian empty-nester who gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings comes to life. In her acceptance speech, she gave a shout-out to other self-proclaimed nerdy girls and encouraged them to share their stories. “You’ll probably freak people out, but you’ll connect with them, too, and that’s an amazing feeling to have,” she said.

Awkwafina’s fabulous outfit

American actor and rapper Awkwafina, who co-presented Shi’s award with John Mulaney, sported a glamorous sparkly pink suit made by the Canadian design duo Dsquared2.

An appearance from Guillermo del Toro

Honorary Torontonian Guillermo del Toro stole last year’s show with the locally shot Shape of Water, scoring four wins (including Best Picture) and 13 nominations. This year, del Toro presented Best Director (which he also won in 2018) to his long-time friend Alfonso Cuarón, the filmmaker behind Roma. 

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A Wayne’s World reunion

Dana Carvey and Mike Myers were greeted by a standing ovation when they came on stage to introduce Bohemian Rhapsody. Myers a fictional record exec in the Best Picture nominee, setting himself up for a cheeky Wayne’s World reference. In the film, he claims that “No one’s going to be head-banging in the car to Bohemian Rhapsody.

The duo made another nod to Wayne’s World last night. After Carvey said he was going to hurl from the nerves, Myers said “Don’t hurl, because if you honk I’ll spew.”

Another Canadian win

Bohemian Rhapsody stole the show with four Academy Awards last night, including Best Sound Mixing. Canadian sound engineer Paul Massey accepted the award (it was his eighth Oscar nomination). Massey has also worked on Walk the Line, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men’s Chest and The Martian. 

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