Oscars Flashback: Naomie Harris Thought ‘Thank God’ When She Didn't Win forMoonlight(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Naomie Harris at the Oscars in 2017.Photo:VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

Ahead of Sunday’s 2025 Oscars,PEOPLEis looking back at past ceremonies and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from Hollywood’s most prestigious event.

WhenNaomie Harrisattended the 2017 Oscars as a Best Supporting Actress nominee forMoonlight, she didn’t have a speech prepared.

“Because Viola Davis, up to that point, had won everything going. So I was like, ‘Viola’s going to win,’” Harris, now 48, recalls thinking of theFencesstar, who swept awards season. The other three actresses filling out their category:Octavia Spencer(Hidden Figures),Nicole Kidman(Lion) andMichelle Williams(Manchester By the Sea).

Naomie Harris at the Oscars in 2017.George Pimentel/FilmMagic

George Pimentel/FilmMagic

“I said to her, ‘I don’t have a speech.’ And she was like, ‘No, no, no, you need a speech.’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to win, so it’s fine.’ She was like, You don’t know that. Anything is possible,’” Harris recalls.

“And so suddenly I went from being like, ‘It’s okay. I’m just going to sit back’ to like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t have a speech,’” continues Harris, now starring in the spy thrillerBlack BagwithCate Blanchett,Michael FassbenderandRege-Jean Page.

In the moments before her category was called, Harris remembers feeling “so nervous” adding, “your heart is literally beating out of your chest.”

Naomie Harris in ‘Moonlight.'.A24

A24

She says she felt the “terror” of several questions: “How am I going to get up to walk up those stairs in my high heels and this dress? Am I going to be able to make it on my own? And then what kind of speech am I going to give?” says Harris.

But Davis — who had already won the Golden Globe, the Critics Choice Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award forFences— was called when actorMark Rylanceopened the envelope to reveal Best Supporting Actress.

In the moment, Harris remembers feeling a bit of relief. “There’s this first moment of like, “Thank God. I don’t have to go up there and speak,’” she says.

After that faded, she realized she’d hoped she had won. “Then you get that moment of like, ‘Oh, If only it were me’ of course.”

Naomie Harris in 2024.Mike Marsland/WireImage

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Harrisdidget to walk up to the stage whenMoonlightwon Best Picture —after the massive confusion whenLa La Landwas wrongfully named Best Picture.

A producer came and collected her so she could join the triumphant moment with the rest of theMoonlightteam. He dragged me out of my seat. Otherwise, I would’ve still been there, not knowing what to do.”

source: people.com