Yahoo Finance Oscars 2020: Joaquin Phoenix wins Best Actor for 'Joker'
Joaquin Phoenix has been named Best Actor at the 92nd Academy Awards in Hollywood for his role in Joker. It’s the actor’s first ever Oscar from four nominations.
He won over fellow nominees Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes).
Joaquin Phoenix said on stage: "I'm full of so much gratitude right now, and I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room because we share the same love, the love of film and this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life - I don't know what I'd be without it."
He talked about gender and equality rights, as well as racism and queer rights in his impassioned speech, in which he called for "the fight against injustice".
Read more: Oscars 2020 full winners list
Phoenix became tearful at the end of the speech as he remembered his late brother, the actor River Phoenix.
He said: "When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, 'Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow'."
The 45-year-old had previously been nominated for an Oscar for Gladiator, Walk The Line, and The Master.
His performance as Arthur Fleck who transforms in the classic Batman adversary over the course of Todd Phillips’ film has already won the star a Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG Award, and Critics Choice Award.
The 92nd Academy Awards took place overnight at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
