- (clears throat)
God, I'm full of so much gratitude right now.
And I do not feel elevated above any
of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room
because we share the same love, the love of film
and this form of expression has given me
the most extraordinary life.
I don't know what I'd be without it.
But I think the greatest gift that it's given me
and many of us in this room is the opportunity
to use our voice for the voiceless.
I've been thinking a lot about
some of the distressing issues
that we are facing collectively,
and I think at times we feel or we're made to feel
that we champion different causes.
But for me, I see commonality.
I think whether we're talking about gender inequality,
or racism, or queer rights, or indigenous rights,
or animal rights, we're talking about the fight
against injustice.
We're talking about the fight against the belief
that one nation, one people, one race, one gender,
or one species has the right to dominate, control,
and use and exploit another with impunity.
(applause)
I think that we've become very disconnected
from the natural world, and many of us what we're guilty of
is an egocentric world view.
The belief that we're the center of the universe.
We go into the natural world and we plunder it
for its resources.
We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow
and when she gives birth we steal her baby
even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable.
And then we take her milk that's intended for her calf
and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.
And I think we fear the idea of personal change
because we think that we have to sacrifice something,
to give something up, but human beings at our best
are so inventive and creative and ingenious
and I think that when we use love and compassion
as our driving principles,
we can create, develop, and implement systems of change
that are beneficial to all sentient beings
and to the environment.
Now I've been--
(crowd cheering)
I've been a scoundrel in my life.
I've been selfish, I've been cruel at times,
hard to work with, and I'm grateful that so many of you
in this room have given me a second chance.
And I think that's when we're at our best,
when we support each other.
Not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes,
but when we help each other to grow,
when we educate each other,
when we guide each other towards redemption.
That is the best of humanity.
(applause)
(stammering)
When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric.
He said, "Run to the rescue with love
and peace will follow."
Thank you.
First I'd like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press
for recognizing and acknowledging the link
between animal agriculture and climate change.
It's a very bold move, making tonight plant-based,
and it really sends a powerful message.
But something I think isn't oftentimes talked about
in the environmental movement or in the conversation
about climate change is that the meat and dairy industry
is the third leading cause of climate change.
And I think sometimes we wonder, what can we do
in this fight against climate change,
and there's something that you can do today, right now,
and tomorrow by making a choice about what you consume.