Frances McDormand Wins Best Actress

HOLLYWOOD, CA — The Best Actress honor at the 2018 Academy Awards went to Frances McDormand, for her fierce portrayal of a mother desperate to bring her daughter's killer to justice in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

McDormand's rousing acceptance speech earned the biggest applause of the night.

"If I may be so honored to have all the female nominees in every category stand with me in this room tonight," she said. As the women stood she called on everyone to "Look around, ladies and gentlemen because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed. Don't talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office or you can come to ours, whichever suits you best. And we'll tell you all about them."

McDormand -- speaking backstage at the Dolby Theatre Sunday evening after her Oscar win for best actress -- predicted real long-term changes in Hollywood.

"The whole idea of women trending, no, the whole idea of African- Americans trending, no," McDormand said. "It changes now. And I think the inclusion rider will have something to do with that."

The actress described the contract rider, which she said she had just learned about recently, despite spending 35 years in the film business.

"(It) means that you can ask for and/or demand at least 50 percent diversity in not only the cast but also the crew," she said.

McDormand pointed to last year's best picture win for "Moonlight" as the beginning of a shift in attitudes, even before the "Me Too" movement.

The actress has declined in the past to take a political stance, but seemed energized by this issue.

"I don't do everything, as you know, I don't show up all the time ... I only show up when I want to," she said.

And she's showing up now because she sees more than talk happening.

"I think $21 million in the legal defense fund is a good way to start," McDormand told reporters backstage. "We actually started a conversation that will actually change things."

ELIZABETH MARCELLINO of City News Service and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

Photo: Frances McDormand in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" (Photo Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures)