Academy Alumni

In 1985, actress Sally Field made an Oscar® acceptance speech that has gone down in award show history. After being handed her statue for Places in the Heart—her second Academy Award win—Sally said, "The first time, I didn't feel it. But this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me."

For years, Sally says she's had to answer questions from people who seem to be offended by her speech. "Of course it wasn't planned. It wasn't terribly articulate, but it certainly was the truth, and I kind of like that," she says.

Sally says the speech was "terribly misinterpreted." "People who don't perform don't understand what that feeling is like to have your work work," she says. "They attribute it to low self-esteem or all sorts of things that it really isn't about."