In 1996, Emma Thompson gave one of the most memorable acceptance speeches in the history of the Golden Globes — but it was not for one of her legendary acting performances.
Yes, the ten-time Golden Globe nominee, who won a Best Actress – Drama statuette in 1993 for Howards End, was nominated for Best Actress that night for her work in Sense and Sensibility, but she lost to Casino’s Sharon Stone. Instead, Thompson won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, for her adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel.

The competition in that category — which included two other “names,” one of whom was also known for their onscreen work — was fierce: Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking), Aaron Sorkin (The American President), Scott Frank (Get Shorty), Randall Wallace (Braveheart), and Patrick Sheane Duncan (Mr. Holland’s Opus).
Thompson became only the fourth woman to ever win the Best Screenplay Golden Globe, following Bridget Boland (Anne of the Thousand Days, 1969), Naomi Foner (Running on Empty, 1988), and Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise, 1991).

Upon taking the stage, Thompson quickly teased the star-studded crowd that her speech would be unconventional, beginning that “it occurred to me to wonder how Jane Austen would have reacted to an evening like this.” She promptly pulled out a written speech and then delivered it in the imagined posh accent of Austen herself, recounting the garish goings-on at the Globes and making fashion digs by noting that “the gowns were middling.” Her final comment in the voice of Austen was that she had “managed to avoid the hoyden Emily Tomkins, who has purloined my creation and added things of her own — nefarious creature.”

Jane Austen couldn’t have done it better .