Andrew Garfield dedicates Tony Award to LGBT community in emotional speech
"Let's just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked."
By Will Stroude
Andrew Garfield has dedicated his award to the LGBT+ community as he was named ‘Best Actor’ at the Tony Awards last night (June 11).
The British actor, 34, appeared visibly emotional as he paid tribute to those who’ve fought for LGBT+ rights after winning the prize for his role as a gay man living with AIDS in Tony Kushner’s stage epic Angels in America.
“At a moment in time where maybe the most important thing that we remember right now is the sanctity of the human spirit, it is the profound privilege of my life to play Prior Walter in Angels in America because he represents the purest spirit of humanity, and especially that of the LGBTQ community,” said during his acceptance speech at theatre’s biggest night of the year.
“It is a spirit that says no to oppression. It is a spirit that says no to bigotry, no to shame, no to exclusion. It is a spirit that says we are all made perfectly.”
#TonyAwards: Andrew Garfield wins Best Actor in a Play for ‘Angels in America’ saying, “Let’s just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked.” pic.twitter.com/nbKhRWK8TC
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 11, 2018
Garfield, who played Walter during the London revival of Angels last year before taking the role to Broadway, also made a pointed reference to the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to side with a baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple based on religious grounds.
“We all belong, so let’s just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked!” Garfield told the audience at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
“We all belong. So I dedicate this award to the countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died to protect that spirit, to protect that message for the right to live and love as we are created to.”
Angels in America picked up three awards over the course of the night, including Best Play Revival, while Harry Potter and the Cursed Child picked up six awards.
There was less good news for the Mean Girls musical, however: Tina Fey’s stage adaptation of the hit 2004 comedy walked away empty-handed after missing out in all 12 categories it had been nominated in.