By the time you read this article, the Oscars have already passed, the winners have been announced, and their speeches have already been said. This year, I decided to dive a little deeper into what the Oscars really is for all those actors who get nominated. While many actors are amazing on the screen, their story outside of film is even more captivating. Their speeches allow us to understand their processes or struggles on getting to that stage to accept those awards. With that being said, here are some acceptance speeches that I loved and think you should hear to motivate you to reach your goals.

Jamie Foxx, 77th Oscars (2005)

Jamie Foxx won the Oscar for “Best Actor in Leading Role” for the Biopic Ray, which is based on the life of Ray Charles, in which Jamie Foxx played the lead role. Jamie Foxx thanked multiple people throughout his speech, but the most important person mentioned was his late grandmother whom he considers his first acting coach. Jamie recalled how she would constantly tell him how to act whenever Jamie would act out as an adolescent. He shared jokes on his upbringing with her. The speech ended on a more heartfelt note in which Jamie Foxx stated, “And she still talks to me now; only now she talks to me in my dreams. And I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight because we got a lot to talk about.”

Ke Huy Quan, 95th Oscars (2023)

Ke Huy Quan won the Oscar for “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” for his portrayal of Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. His speech is sentimental, yet inspiring. In his speech, Ke Huy Quan started by saying, “My mom is 84 years old and she’s at home watching, Mom I just won an Oscar!” He expressed how much he struggled to reach his award as he suffered challenges as an immigrant who would come to the US as a refugee. Ke Huy Quan also acknowledged how he nearly gave up on his dream of being an Academy winning actor. He goes as far as to consider his award his American Dream.

Angelina Jolie, 86th Oscars (2013)

Lastly, AngelinaJolie delivered what I consider the most impactful speech during the 2013 Oscars for the “Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.” While I would like to break down her speech, I think that everything she said and acknowledged helps speak for itself. “I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had, to have this path in life, and why across the world there’s a woman just like me, with the same abilities and the same desires, the same work ethic and love for her family, who would most likely make better films and better speeches, only she sits in a refugee camp and she has no voice. She worries about what her children will eat, how to keep them safe, and if they’ll ever be allowed to return home. I don’t know why this is my life and that’s hers. I don’t understand that. But I will do as my mother asked, and I will do the best I can with this life to be of use. And to stand here today means that I did as she asked, and if she were alive she’d be very proud. So thank you for that.”

While the Oscars are often seen as just some award show that airs every year, we have to remember how raw every actor’s emotions and experiences are and how close they are to ours. We can apply their vulnerability to our everyday lives and realize how interconnected we are with each other; we are all struggling with something and constantly working everyday to achieve something great.