The line up for the Critics' Choice Awards got a surprise update when host Chelsea Handler decided to go “rough” and invited Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie to the stage.
Gerwig and Robbie's “Barbie” took home several awards during the evening, but several were presented during commercial breaks, including best comedy. It wasn't going to work for Handler, who spent a good portion of his monologue saluting “Barbie” for its $1.4 billion box office record and cultural relevance amid “The Year of the Girl.”
“I'm going to go rogue because Greta and Margot deserve the chance to give an acceptance speech,” Handler said. “Would you like to come and accept the award?”
The camera cuts to Gerwig and Robbie, who come excitedly from their desks to the stage.
“Thank you, Chelsea. We love you so much,” Robbie said on stage. “You know, everybody's like, 'Oh, it's so unexpected. It was really unexpected and not out of the show. We were very grateful though, and I love Greta talking.
The filmmaker began by thanking Handler as well: “We were excited in our chairs. And it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks to everyone who helped make the film. I laughed during most of the scenes. Our beautiful cast – Margot and Ryan and America – should be as brilliant as they are.
Gerwig later thanked the companies behind the film – Mattel “for allowing us to take their beloved icon and make something that doesn't hold back” and Warner Bros. “for standing behind us every step of the way”. She saved her final shout-out for her co-writer and new husband, Noah Baumbach. “We wanted to make everyone laugh, and we made the world laugh.”
At this point, “Barbie” won awards for original screenplay (Gerwig and Baumbach), original song (“I'm Just Ken”), production design (Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer), costume design (Jacqueline Duran) and hair and hair. Makeup. Taking home the best comedy prize, the film won six of a record 18 nominations — including best picture, director, actress (Robbie), supporting actor (Ryan Gosling), supporting actress (America Ferrera) and three for original film. Song.
Also, Ferrera was honored with the Critics' Choice Seeher Award and gave a powerful speech evoking her viral monologue from the film, looking back on her two-decade career and dedicating the award to “every kid who wants to break in.”
“I am deeply grateful for this recognition and this honor for my contributions to authentic portrayals of women and girls,” Ferreira began. “Growing up as a first-generation Honduran American girl and falling in love with television, film and theater, I desperately wanted to be a part of an invisible storytelling tradition.”
He continued: “Of course, I could feel myself in strong and complex characters, but these characters were strong and complex, but these characters were rarely, if ever, like me. I longed to see people like me as whole people on screen. When I started working 20 years ago, It seemed impossible.
But thanks to writers, directors, producers and executives — like Robbie and Gerwig — “who have had the courage to rewrite outdated narratives and challenge deeply entrenched biases,” Ferreira and her Latino colleagues are “so blessed to bring some fierce life. And amazing women.”
It's about carving a path for a new generation of talent, like Ariana Greenblatt, who played Ferrera's daughter in “Barbie,” Jenna Ortega and Selena Gomez.
“This is the best and highest use of storytelling: affirming one another's full humanity. Establishing the truth. Black, brown, Indigenous, Asian, trans, disabled, any body type, any gender — we all deserve to be seen. We all deserve to reflect on our lives richly and authentically.”
