LOS ANGELES, Mar 24, 2003/ FW/ --- It's the most prestigious acting award in the movies, and last night Nicole Kidman and Adrien Brody took home their Oscars.

Denzel Washington announced Nicole's win with, 'And the winner is Nicole Kidman, by a nose' referring to the false nose she wore in the movie "The Hours" where she played the role of writer Virginia Woolf who was fighting a life-long depression.

When she got on the stage, she gave Denzel Washington a kiss, but had to turn her back to the audience to hide her tears.

"Russell Crowe said, 'Don't cry if you get up there,' and now I'm crying," she said before turning her back on the audience.

Her acceptance speech was poignant, mentioning her mother and daughter who were at the audience.

She said, "I have always wanted my mother to be proud of me. And now I'm standing here. And I want my daughter to be proud of me."

She also answered the question which were asked by reporters to a lot of the stars why they would attend the Oscars.

"Because art is important, and because we believe in what we do and because it is a tradition that needs to be upheld."

She also referred to the war briefly when she said, "At the same time you say there is a lot of problems in the world and since Sept. 11 there's been a lot of pain in terms of families losing people, and now with the war families losing people ... God bless them."

This year's Academy Awards was marked with war jitters and had everyone guessing whether it will go on or not as late as Sunday morning.

The organizers have asked everyone to stay within their scripts, though the winners were not told what to say on their acceptance speech.

Newcomer Adrien Brody who was the big surprise for the evening for his Best Actor win came up the stage very exuberant and acting like every Oscar winner.

He gave Halle Berry, who was the presenter for the Award a big kiss on the mouth, and announced, 'That was better than the goody bags,' referring to the celebrity goody bags rumored to be worth over $46,000 in content.

The actor went over the alloted time to say his thank you speech and when the music started playing signalling him to leave the stage, he asked for a reprieve and addressed the war in Iraq.

"It fills me with great joy, but I'm also filled with a lot of sadness tonight because I'm accepting an award at such a strange time.

"You know my experiences in making this film made me very aware of the sadness and the dehumanization of people at times of war and the repercussions of war. Whether you believe in God or Allah, may he watch over you and let's pray for a peaceful and swift resolution"

Brody then mentioned his friend Tommy, who is a soldier deployed in Kuwait and wished that 'he and his boys will come home safely.'

The actor received a standing ovation for his plea for peace.

Adrien Brody wins Best Actor for 'The Pianist'
(Photo by Reuters)