Although the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards didn’t go as originally planned after switching from a live ceremony to a pre-recorded one, the show was still full of memorable moments. From Drew Barrymore performing in hit TV shows and movies to Tom Cruise collecting an award from a fighter jet pilot, here are some of the night’s most memorable moments.
Drew Barrymore appears in segments throughout the show, despite dropping out as host
Drew Barrymore opened the 2023 awards ceremony in a pre-recorded segment as her Never been kissed character Josie Gellar, but was inserted into other popular shows and movies. Some of them included Smile, Wednesday, M3GAN, No, The White Lotus, Top gun: Maverick and finally, Cocaine Bearwhere she finally gets her kiss from the aforementioned bear.
The actress-producer also appeared in other pre-recorded segments and commercials during the ceremony, including a remake of the Barbie trailer, an excerpt from the Netflix hit series Wednesday, a Pluto TV ad and more. At the end of the show, she also appeared in a video to collect the Best Host award.
Barrymore’s pre-recorded performances come after she stepped down as host, saying she did so in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America strike.
Jennifer Coolidge defends WGA assault as she accepts comedic genius honors
Jennifer Coolidge accepted the Comedic Genius Award at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday. After showing a montage of clips from some of the actress’ most iconic roles, Coolidge took to the screen in a pre-recorded video to celebrate her show appreciation by saying, “Thanks, MTV. Thank you for honoring me with this incredible Comedic Genius Award. Wow. Wow.” Before finishing her acceptance speech, The White Lotus actress had some thoughts on the Writers Guild of America strike: “Almost all great comedy starts with great writers and I just think, you know, as a proud member of (SAG-AFTRA), I’m standing here before you tonight, side by side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA who are now fighting, fighting for the rights of artists everywhere.”
Tom Cruise accepts jet fighter pilot award
Top gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise won the award for Best Performance in a Motion Picture, but he didn’t just accept the award in a pre-recorded video. The actor gave his speech from the cockpit of a fighter jet pilot: “Thank you very much for this award. I make these shows for you. I love you. I like to entertain you. You know how much you enjoy it, how much you appreciate it, there’s just no better feeling.”
Similarly, he also performed earlier Sunday at King Charles III’s coronation concert at Windsor Castle.
Pedro Pascal, ‘The Last of Us’ wins big
Pedro Pascal went from holding one Golden Popcorn trophy in his first pre-recorded acceptance speech to holding three in the last. The actor received the three awards for The last of usincluding best show, best hero and best duo with Bella Ramsey.
During his speeches, which featured him wearing the same yellow shirt over and over again, he thanked the fans, the creators of the show and the production, and expressed his support for the striking writers and the Writers Guild “which fights very hard for fair wages. ”
Ghostface appears to collect two awards
In a pre-recorded video, Ghostface’s Scream VI appeared to collect two awards, for Best Fight and Best Picture.
The winning movie feud was notably the one between Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers and Ghostface. During the opponent’s first speech, they said, ‘It’s about time someone really appreciated my work. Too bad Gale couldn’t be there tonight, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure she gets what she deserves. You know what they say in Hollywood: ‘Movies don’t make psychos, movies make psychos more creative’, and I look forward to a lot more creativity.”
Ghostface later made another appearance to take home one of the top Best Picture awards. During the speech, they added, “There’s a twist you didn’t see coming – the bad guy comes out on top.”
