Sam Rockwell picks up first 2018 Oscar for Three Billboards

Sam Rockwell picked up the first Oscar at this year’s (18) Academy Awards when he landed the Best Actor in a Supporting Role prize for his portrayal of a racist police officer in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The star beat out Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Christopher Plummer, and Woody Harrelson to claim the honour for a film that is the favourite to win the ceremony’s top honour, the Best Picture prize.
Rockwell raced through his acceptance speech, joking about winning the jet-ski host Jimmy Kimmel offered to the winner who gave the shortest speech at this year’s Academy Awards.
The comedian kicked off the 90th Oscars by offering up the fun water toy as actress Dame Helen Mirren presented it to the audience at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
Sam said, “Run the clock, Jimmy. I wanna get that ski jet or whatever…”
He then thanked his fellow nominees, stating, “You guys rock!”
He ended his speech by holding his Oscar in the air and declaring, “This is for my old buddy Phil Hoffman.”
Sam paid tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died in 2014 following an accidental drug overdose, in a DazedDigital interview in January (18), stating, “Phil didn’t like to phone it in, you know? And I guess that’s why you would destroy a chair before a scene, because you’re trying to be genuine in the scene. You don’t want to do a dishonest moment in a film or on stage. So there’s an expression, ‘phoning it in’, and Phil would refuse to do that.
“That’s why Phil was an amazing director -he directed me in a play – and Phil was an amazing actor: he could walk the walk and talk the talk. He demanded so much of himself and it does take its toll. And he had a huge appetite for life, you know? A huge appetite for life. He was a beautiful guy. A beautiful, beautiful man. I miss him very much. But yeah, great f**king actor, Phil. In my generation, he was the best.”