ABC exec defends the decision to end the Oscars on best actor: 'It was a calculated risk'

• An ABC exec told Variety its decision to re-order awards at the Oscars was a "calculated risk."
• The ceremony usually ends with the best picture winner but last night ended on the best actor award.
• EVP Rob Mills says he thinks it "still paid off because everybody was talking about it."

The controversial decision to shuffle the order of awards at Sunday night's 2021 Oscars and end with the award for best actor was a "calculated risk," an ABC executive told Variety.

"It was not meant to end on somebody who was not present," Rob Mills, the executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, told Variety. "It was a calculated risk, that I think still paid off because everybody was talking about it."

While the Academy Awards typically end on the winner for best picture, the ceremony Sunday, which was broadcast on ABC, concluded with the best actor award.

The move was widely discussed and debated online, especially since Anthony Hopkins won for his performance in "The Father" but was not present at the show to accept.

Hopkins' win was one of the major shocks of the night.

The 83-year-old actor was nominated in one of the most stacked categories of the evening, which included Riz Ahmed ("Sound of Metal"), Steven Yeun ("Minari"), Chadwick Boseman ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), and Gary Oldman ("Mank").

If Yeun won, he would have become the first Asian American actor to win in the best actor category. Boseman was the first Black actor ever nominated posthumously for an Oscar.

Many saw the move as a ratings grab from the Oscars producers that backfired.

-Richard Newby (@RICHARDLNEWBY) April 26, 2021

-Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) April 26, 2021

-Glen Falkenstein (@GlenFalkenstein) April 26, 2021

Mills pointed out that it wasn't just the final awards that had been taken out of their traditional order and said the decision to reorder was part of several "really great risks" that producers tried during the show.

Monday, Hopkins delivered a brief acceptance speech via his personal Instagram account in which he honored Boseman.

"I am grateful to the Academy and thank you. I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman who was taken from us far too early, and again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honored. Thank you," said Hopkins.

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Insider reached out to the Academy for comment and to clarify whether or not the best-picture category will return to its usual place at the end of the Oscars ceremony next year, but didn't immediately hear back.