RICHARD GERE: [gesturing to cast to join him] No, no, no, come, come over here. Come, come, come. Come, come, come, come, come, come, come.
I don’t -- crowd in here, don’t do this thing, come on, come on, get in here. [Queen Latifah polishes the statue] [laughter] And I’m going to — I’m not going to — what have you got there?
QUEEN LATIFAH : Sorry, sorry. Sorry, couldn’t help it.
GERE: This is - -look, I’ve been doing this since I was 19 years old. That’s a long time. And it’s like half the people in this room I actually know and have worked with. I’m the old guy. [laughter] I have never, ever had such fun in my life as an actor. I didn’ t know what it meant to really be an actor ‘til I did this. And I think we all feel the same way. [applause]
From day one it was -- we’re a family, we’re just a family doing this -- and it was — I remember that first summer stock job I had in Provincetown, it was the same feeling. Except then I was too shy to talk about it, but now I can. [laughter]
It ... there’s ... we’re all doing this crazy profession, abolutely insane, we play other people, basically because we loathe ourselves, right? That’s the way it is . [laughter] But we are doing this. [laughs] And it’s like you look at your life at whatever point you’re at and you go, well, what am I? I’m an actor . And I’m so deeply proud to be doing this, as a person, for a living, with my family, and this — this family. I’m speaking for all of them, because we say this all the time. We do the junkets and we say this over and over and over again. But it’s absolutely true.
There was such love and affection during this production. We all felt like we were in the Rob Marshall vaudeville and medicine show [laughter] for the entire production. And the one common denominator about it all -- I mean, there was Harvey and there was Meryl, and there was Bill Condon, who wrote it, [applause] and all of our ... and Dion Beebe who made us look so great. And all of that.
But there’s one guy that made this whole thing work, and that’s Rob Marshall. [applause] Never, never have I seen someone so clearly hold the center of a production like that, and bring out the best in everyone, from the guy who swept the floor, from the guys that were singing the songs. So this, my dear friend, belongs to all of us as your family. Thank you so much . All of you. [applause]
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: Thank you so much for this. Forgive me if I ramble a little bit. When I was starting out, we were led to believe quite clearly that our futures, if we were lucky enough to work, were going to be in the theater. And if we did okay at that, if we were really lucky, we might get to do the classic roles. And that was the rite of passage. That was like the fiery hoop through which you had to leap if you were going to be taken seriously.
And I had the right nose for that. [laughter] And there were a few people who had ambitions on my behalf that wanted to dress it up in a, you know, doublet and hose, and have me strutting around.
But I had a guilty secret. Because I’d seen "A Place in the Sun." I’d seen "From Here to Eternity," "On the Waterfront," "A Streetcar…", "Night of the Hunter." I’d seen all of the spaghetti westerns. I’d been to all-night "Dirty Harry" sessions. [laughter] You know, it was like a group of grungy guys would emerge into the half-dawn, bleary-eyed, trying to kind of be loose-limbed and mean and taciturn.
And I’d seen "French Connection," "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "The Godfather." And my secret hope, my great hope, which — and at that time from where I came from, there weren’t many actors getting a chance to do this — but I wanted, if possible, to make a contribution to this tradition. And I’m so grateful that I’ve been allowed the chance to do that.
From the moment I first set foot in this country, my colleagues, my fellow actors, have shown me generosity and friendship and great encouragement. I can’t thank you enough for that. I salute, with the greatest respects, my fellow nominees, both men and women, in all categories. It’s been a wonderful thing to be included amongst you this year. It feels like a fine year.
And I would like to salute the supremely gifted and gracious and sweet Leonardo Di Caprio and Cameron Diaz. [applause] My old friend Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, the great John C. Reilly — where is he? [applause] He’s a terrible man because he has this habit of making all the actors around him look like they’re acting. [laughter]
And Harvey Graham, I’m going to say thank you to later on. I’ll thank you for this. But tonight, I would just like to thank the actors that have allowed me this wonderful life. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh my God! Whew! And a kiss from "Mr. Bond." Jesus. [laughter]
Okay. Whew! [whoops] Okay. Thank you. [laughter] Thank you to my fellow actors in the Screen Actors Guild. When you start out you kind of hope that you’ll get enough work so that you don’t have to schlep the longnecks anymore, but I never imagined that I would stand here tonight in such esteemed company with these ladies that, God, I have admired for so long — hell, my friends who I love and who make me proud. Salma and Julie and, my God, I just .
. . I have a lot of people to thank so I will apologize ahead of time for talking way too long, but I’m going to anyway. [laughter] I have all my friends at Miramax that I have to say to say thank you to, thank you for making film, because every actor should the opportunity to be in something that they love so much.
Thank you to my "Chicago" family, the naughty kids in church over there. [laughter] Wonderful actors. Catherine, congratulations on tonight and the BAFTA and Las Vegas and et cetera, et cetera.
Beautiful Latifah, it’s your moment. I’m so proud of you, you’re wonderful. Richard Gere, not a bad day at work. [laughter] Go and see your smiling face every day.
Marty Richards, Kander and Ebb, thank you for letting me be part of your dream. Neil Meron and Craig Zadan who were there every single day, every step of the way. Denise Faye, Cynthia Enrouba, Joey Pizzi and John De Luca who gave me the steps.
Bill, who’s a brilliant screenwriter, congratulations on your nomination last night. Paul Matt, Randy Rick, Jeff and Elaine for standing by me at the piano. Dale for stitching up the dresses that Colleen Atwood so beautifully created . My fellas Brant, Bri, Kev, and then my girl Jenny who takes such good care of me along with Nancy and Leslie, who make sure that my purse matches my shoes.
And John Carrabino, my rock, I swear to God I would not standing here without you, because y’all — we all know that it takes so much more than just a little luck, it takes somebody to believe and he always believed.
And Rob Marshall — everybody? [applause] My friend who I love so much. Congratulations on DGA Award, you so deserved it. You’re the most generous person that I’ve ever worked with in my life. I’ve never seen a person multitask like you did, take chances on so many people like you did, and help such a great vision come alive the way that you did, because you were so kind. Thank you for that.
Every single one of you in here needs to get on the phone and get a lunch with Rob Marshall next week. [laughter] And to everybody out there who’s digging through the couch cushions for the change for your SAG dues, keep digging because it’s a great life.
Transcript of Christopher Walken
Catch Me If You Can
I need my notes. [laughter] Thanks to the Screen Actors Guild and to all the actors who voted me this. I love all of us. We are family, and I hope we all work together. [laughter] Soon.
Thanks to Dreamworks and Steven Spielberg. Thanks, Leo and Tom and Natalie, Martin, Amy and all the wonderful actors. Thanks, Tony Howard and Reissa Shapiro. My wife Georgeanne [sp]. Thanks, Mara Buxbaum. And Sue Mengers, I hope you’re watching because I thank you always. [applause]
Danny and I have been corresponding for weeks about our costumes tonight and I think we look gorgeous. What an absolute honor! Thank you so, so much Screen Actors Guild and all my extended family actors who nominated me amongst such fantastic talent. I’m so very honored, just for that alone, so this is just spectacular.
I could never, ever think that I would be with such a wonderful array of people in a movie called "Chicago" on film.
Thank you so much to Miramax for just doing it, and to Harvey there and Meryl and to Neil and Craig, to our fantastic Marty Richards, whose got a bad back -- so no dancing tonight, please, Marty. [laughter] To Rob Marshall — thank you so very much for just the inspiration and the joy of going to work every day.
To my wonderful actors that I had the pleasure of just hanging out with for six months and getting bruised and iced frequently with -- Renee, Richard, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine — everybody — all of my fantastic cell block girls that are here tonight. If I wasn’t pregnant, we’ll do it all over again, I promise you.
Who else? I’d just like to thank my husband who is my biggest, biggest support mechanism and probably my best, favorite actor in the world. I love you. Thank you very much. [applause]
