Cate Blanchett won best actress for Blue Jasmine in a year when the field was particularly stacked with incredible performances. To kick off her acceptance speech, Blanchett touched on a note of unity, sounding like all of us as she praised the other nominees in her category.
"As random and as subjective as this award is, it means a great deal in a year of extraordinary — yet again — extraordinary performances by women. Amy Adams, everything you do, but your performance in American Hustle blew my mind. And Meryl, what can I say? Sandra, I could watch that performance to the end of time, and I sort of felt like I had. Julia, #suckit. You know what I mean? And Judi Dench, I mean, what a career. She's not here tonight because at the age of 79, her film was so successful that she's in India doing a sequel. I mean, what a career that is; if I could hope."