Oscars 2020 recap: ‘Parasite’ wins Best Picture & Director, Phoenix & Zellweger are Best Actor & Actress; Pitt & Dern get 1st acting Oscars

HOLLYWOOD, California -- The red carpet was rolled out Sunday for the biggest night in the movie industry. Here are the top winners from the evening:

Click here for the complete list of Academy Award winners

"Parasite" wins best picture

“Parasite” has won the best picture Academy Award, making history as the first foreign language film to win the ceremony’s top honor.

Bong Joon Ho’s thriller has been one of the season’s darlings, despite failing to garner any Academy Award nominations for its cast.

Bong’s acumen in creating his tale of a grifter family that insinuates itself into the lives of a wealthy family has been widely recognized.

The film won four Oscars on Sunday, including best director for Bong and best international film.

Renée Zellweger wins best actress

Renée Zellwegger has won the best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the tumultuous final year of her life.

It is Zellweger’s second Oscar; she won the supporting actress award in 2004 for “Cold Mountain.”

The actress has enjoyed front-runner status throughout awards season, picking up top Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild honors last month.

Zellweger undertook the huge challenge of playing the beloved star by focusing on every aspect of Garland, including her voice, hair, makeup and stage presence.

Joaquin Phoenix wins best actor

Joaquin Phoenix’s visceral portrayal of a troubled man’s descent into villainy in “Joker” earned him his first Oscar in a career that has seen personal and professional highs and lows.

“I’ve been a scoundrel in my life. I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times and hard to work with ... but so many of you in this room have given me a second chance,” Phoenix said in accepting the award Sunday. When people guide each other toward redemption, he said, “that is the best of humanity.”

In sometimes-rambling remarks, Phoenix addressed gender and ethnic inequality and even the treatment of dairy cows. He wrapped it all in hopeful words, both his own and those of his late brother, actor River Phoenix.

“Human beings at our best are so inventive and creative and ingenious. I think when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles we can ... create systems of change beneficial to all sentient beings and the environment,” Phoenix said. “When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric: ‘Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.’”

Bong Joon Ho wins best director Oscar

Bong Joon Ho has won the best director Oscar for his class satire, “Parasite.”

The South Korean director’s acumen in creating a film about the intertwining of two families — one poor and another rich — has been roundly praised.

It is the first best directing Oscar for Bong, whose previous films include “Okja” and “Snowpiercer.”

Laura Dern wins supporting actress

Laura Dern is the winner of the best supporting actress Academy Award for her role as a high-powered divorce attorney in “Marriage Story.”

It is Dern’s first Oscar win and caps an awards season where the actress has also collected honors from the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globes.

“Marriage Story” shows the disintegrating relationship between a showbiz couple played by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Dern’s well-heeled lawyer helps Johansson outmaneuver her estranged husband in the courtroom, causing more strain on the pair and their young son.

Dern thanked her co-stars and “Marriage Story” director Noah Baumbach. She also thanked her parents, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, calling them her heroes.

Brad Pitt wins Oscar as supporting actor

Brad Pitt finally has his acting Oscar.

The four-time nominee won the best supporting actor Academy Award for his role as a stuntman in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”

Pitt had been expected to win the category after scooping up a series of honors this year, including at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Pitt’s treated the previous wins with jokes and breezy speeches.

Pitt was more somber on Sunday, calling his win “incredible” as his peers cheered.

The actor plays the stunt double of an aging cowboy actor played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a best actor nominee, in Quentin Tarantino’s 1969 Hollywood fable “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.”

“Once Upon a time in Hollywood, ain’t that the truth,” Pitt said. He thanked his children, Tarantino and DiCaprio. “I’ll ride on your coattails any day,” he said of his co-star. “The view’s fantastic.”