“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Smith said in his acceptance speech. “In this time of my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. I know to do what we do, you’ve got to be able to take abuse. You’ve got to be able to have people disrespect you, and you’ve gotta smile and pretend that’s OK. I want to apologize to the Academy, to my fellow nominees.

“This is a beautiful moment…[but] I want to apologize to the Academy…here I am, being the crazy father, the crazy father…love will make you do crazy things…thank you for this honor, thank you for this moment.” — fragments from Will Smith‘s acceptance speech after winning the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Richard Williams in King Richard.