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Ryan Gosling's face looked like 'absolute thunder' after Moonlight-La La Land Oscars mix up

'Can you imagine the moment of thinking you’d won the best picture, to have it snatched it away from you,' asks Radio Four host

Maya Oppenheim
Monday 27 February 2017 09:36 GMT
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Oscars 2017: Watch the La La Land-Moonlight Best Picture error in full

The Moonlight and La La Land mix-up will go down as one of the most monumental blunders in Oscars’ history.

In case it passed you by, the award for best film was mistakenly handed to La La Land after the award presenters read out the wrong winner. In reality, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, the underdog which was snubbed at the BAFTAs, was granted with the biggest award of the night.

While it might not have been great for the academy, the eleventh-hour plot twist certainly made good TV.

But it seems that Ryan Gosling, who plays a struggling jazz pianist in the critically acclaimed La La Land, was rather less impressed by the cock-up.

According to Martha Kearny, a BBC Radio 4 broadcaster, Gosling did not look happy after the ceremony wound to an end.

“We were waiting in the queue for our limos and I saw Ryan Gosling was standing next to us on the phone and his face looked like absolute thunder,” Kearny said on the Today Programme.

“Can you imagine the moment of thinking you’d won the best picture, to have it snatched it away from you, and the poor people of Moonlight, their moment of glory was a little bit tarnished”.

La La Land wound up having a slightly disappointing night, ceasing to pick up many of the technical awards it was expected to, however, the film did receive Best Director, Best Actress and Cinematography. On the other hand, Moonlight not only got the night's biggest accolade but also nabbed Best Supporting actor for Mahershala Ali, who is the first Muslim actor in history to win an Academy Award, and the Original Screenplay prize.

Although the Oscars cock-up during the finale of the night was initially thought to be the fault of presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, it appears the responsibility lies with a crew member to ensure the correct envelopes make it onto the stage.

In the midst of the speech, the producers of La La Land looked at the right envelope and clocked a massive error had been made.

“This is not a joke, Moonlight has won Best Picture,” Jordan Horowitz announced on stage.

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