Octavia Spencer, Morgan Freeman among the most grateful Oscar winners, study finds

They’re the most thanks-giving stars in Hollywood.Morgan Freeman, Octavia Spencer and Brie Larson are among the most grateful Oscar winners in last 30 years, according to a new study.Ahead of the 97th annual Academy Awards show Sunday, gambling news site Play USA analyzed the last three decades of acceptance speeches given across eight major categories to determine who dedicated the largest chunks to giving thanks.Researchers tallied how often recipients used words such “appreciate,” “acknowledge,” “indebted” and “credit.”Michel Hazanavicius topped the list for dedicating a whopping 9.8% of his speech after winning Best Director for the French flick “The Artist” to expressing gratitude.

The silent comedy-drama, which was shot in black and white, had five wins and 10 nominations.Sliding into second was Finneas O’Connell, the singer-songwriter brother of Billie Eilish.O’Connell used 8.7% of his speech for Best Original Score to give thanks two different times, the first for the 2021 James Bond film “No Time to Die” and again in 2023 for the blockbuster “Barbie.”In third was Octavia Spencer, who dedicated nearly 8.5% of her 2011 speech for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in “The Help” to giving thanks.The 2011 Oscars saw the most gratitude with an average of 4.3% of speeches given to it.Next up was composer Justin Paul, who dedicated 7.8% of his speech to saying thanks after winning Best Original Song in 2016 for his work on “City of Stars” in “La La Land,” which starred Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.After being named Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film “La Vie en Rose,” 7.6% of Marion Cotillard’s speech was reserved for appreciation.Morgan Freeman was sixth most thankful, dedicating 6.45% of his Best Supporting Actor speech to appreciation after starring alongside Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby,” which won four Academy Awards in 2005.Actress Rachel Weisz, composer Steven Pric...