First time nominee and winner opens up on suicidal past

Feb 23, 2015 13:58 GMT  ·  By
Graham Moore wins Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars 2015 for “The Imitation Game”
   Graham Moore wins Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars 2015 for “The Imitation Game”

One of the most unexpected moments at the Oscars 2015 was also included in an acceptance speech: first time nominee and winner Graham Moore, who took home the Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Imitation Game,” opened up on his suicidal past to raise awareness.

Video of his acceptance speech is available below.

Moore skipped the usual, never-ending thank-yous and went straight to the point: he found it sad that Alan Turing took his own life after years of prosecution for being gay, and never got the chance to know real happiness, when he (Moore) could sit in the same room with so many amazing people, enjoying the best moment of his professional life.

He thought it was even sadder that many people battling depression would probably never experience as great a moment as the one he was having, because there was no one around to tell them that, yes, it does get better.

“I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere: Yes, you do. I promise you do. You do. Stay weird, stay different,” he urged them.

Soon, this became one of the most talked about moments from the Oscarcast, together with Common and John Legend’s “Glory” performance and Patricia Arquette’s feminist message, also included in her acceptance speech.

BuzzFeed caught up with Moore backstage and asked him what had prompted this unusual speech, and he explained that, despite what people were saying online, he wasn’t gay. The only reason he spoke about his suicidal past was that he wanted to shed more light on depression and how dangerous it was.

Mission accomplished.