Angelina Jolie’s black Versace gown led the actress to adopt an awkward stance at last night’s 84th annual Academy Awards — her right leg flung far from her body and her left hand dramatically on her hip. Jolie’s bizarre pose has become one of the most mocked moments of last night’s Oscars.
Jolie struck the Barbie-esque posture, which showed off her leg to full effect thanks to a high slit in her voluminous gown, several times on the red carpet for photos. During the Oscars pre-show, “Angelina’s leg” quickly became a trending topic on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Perhaps aware of her leg’s popularity, Jolie made a show of kicking her leg out and adopting the stance while presenting the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, almost as if she had practiced the lunging move for hours before the awards show.
As screenwriter Jim Rash ascended the stage to accept the award, along with fellow writers Nat Faxon and Alexander Payne, he took a moment to poke fun at Jolie’s off-kilter stance. While Payne spoke at the microphone, Rash stood behind him and shimmied his leg out to the same angle as Jolie’s, also placing his hand on his hip. The auditorium erupted in laughter.
After the ceremony, Rash — a comedian who also plays Dean Pelton on “Community” — explained the move.
“It was just an impulse. I was just standing there and I thought …” he told the Washington Post, trailing off. “I hope it was okay. I hope she thought it was OK. It was a loving tribute.”
A fan on Twitter also began a “loving tribute” to Jolie’s stance, creating the user handle “AngiesRightLeg.” So far, 11,475 Twitter users have followed the account, which has posted messages like, “You have to admit I’m one hell of a leg.”
A new post from the handle this morning read, “Great meeting most of you for the first time last night at the Oscars!!”