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During the show, Will’s film Emancipation received a special honor — and he and director Antoine Fuqua accepted the Beacon Award on behalf of the cast and crew.
It marked Will’s first in-person awards show speech since the controversial Oscars incident last year.
Although he didn’t acknowledge his previous award show mishap, Will did express his gratitude for all the support he’d been shown.
“Emancipation was the individual most difficult film of my entire career,” Will said, before recounting a story of how a costar spit on him during filming.
He went on to thank the AAFCA and its co-founder Gil L. Robertson IV, as well as everyone in the room who were “keeping our stories alive.”
Will also thanked Apple for their commitment to the film, sharing that the studio never wavered in their support for the project.
“I want to thank Apple, because the budget was one thing. And then the budget was another thing. And then the budget was another thing,” Will said. “And Apple never flinched.”
He continued, “It was the first time I had heard from a studio that the story was more important than how much it costs to get it done…They make iPhones. They can do it.”
In addition to the AAFCA honor, Will also recently won his first major award since the Oscars incident, taking home the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture last month.
Will was not present at the ceremony to accept that award — and it’s yet to be seen if he’ll be attending any other events this season.
Emancipation can be streamed now on Apple TV+.
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