Regina King was the first winner of the night at the 91st Academy Awards as she was named best supporting actress.
The If Beale Street Could Talk star fended off competition from The Favourite’s Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, as well as Marina de Tavira for Roma and Amy Adams for Vice.
Collecting her gong for her role in the adaptation of the novel by James Baldwin, adapted and directed by Barry Jenkins, King said: “To be standing here representing one of the great artists of our time – James Baldwin – it’s a little surreal.
“James Baldwin birthed this baby and Barry (Jenkins) you nurtured her, you surrounded her with so much love and support, so it’s appropriate for me to be standing here because I’m an example of what it looks like when support and love is poured into someone.
Speaking to her mother who had accompanied her to the ceremony, King said: “Mom, I love you so much. Thank you for teaching me that God is always, always has been leaning in my direction… God is good all the time”.
Well said, @ReginaKing pic.twitter.com/GuE3oNrL3g
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 25, 2019
The ceremony, which does not have a host this year after the Academy’s pick Kevin Hart stepped down following a row over historic homophobic tweets, opened with a performance by Queen and Adam Lambert.
The band, who are the subject of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, performed a medley of We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.
They were followed by Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler, who took to the stage to poke fun at the drama that has surrounded the ceremony this year.
Fey welcomed viewers to the “one millionth Academy Awards”, adding: “We are not your hosts but we are going to stand here a little too long so the people who get USA Today tomorrow will think we are.”
Rudolph added: “So just to update you, there is no host tonight, there won’t be a popular movie category and Mexico is not paying for the wall.
Poehler continued: “We wont be presenting awards during the commercials, but we will be doing commercials during the awards.”
The second prize of the night was handed to Free Solo, which was named best documentary feature.
Roma and The Favourite went into the ceremony with the most nominations, with 10 apiece.