The Best Actor moment showed palpable tension, even in a roomful of top notch performers. Leonardo DiCaprio clenched hands, Peter O'Toole looked straight ahead... And as the award was announced for Forest Whitaker, Ryan Gosling covered his face and Will Smith grinned.

"When I was a kid, the only way that I saw movies was from the backseat of my family's car. At the drive-in. And, it wasn't my reality to think I would be acting in movies, so receiving this honor tonight tells me that it's possible," gushed Whitaker in his heartfelt acceptance speech. "It is possible for a kid from east Texas, raised in South Central LA in Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them, and to have them happen.

Because when I first started acting, it was because of my desire to connect to everyone. To that thing inside each of us. That light that I believe exists in all of us. Because acting for me is about believing in that connection and it's a connection so strong, it's a connection so deep, that we feel it. And through our combined belief, we can create a new reality."

Don't Miss: Video spotlight: Best Actor Forest Whitaker

Special Section: Oscars 2007

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