Many had expected that the late Chadwick Boseman would posthumously win the Oscar, including Anthony Hopkins himself.

27 Apr – Anthony Hopkins has finally shared his thoughts about his Best Actor win at the 93rd Academy Awards, hours after the shock over the unexpected win that many thought should have gone posthumously to the late Chadwick Boseman.

On 26 April, the veteran actor, who won for his performance of a man with progressing memory loss in the Florian Zeller directorial debut, "The Father", shared a video from his homeland Wales - where he admitted to have been surprised over winning the accolade at 83 years of age.

He also mentioned Boseman in his short speech, saying, "I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. Again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, I feel very privileged and honoured, thank you."

Anthony Hopkins plays an old man suffering from progressing memory loss in "The Father"

He thanked more people in the caption, including writer-director Florian Zeller, his agency UT, as well as his wife Stella.

Hopkins's win also marked a new record for the oldest ever Best Actor Oscar winner, surpassing the late Christopher Plummer, who won for "Beginners" in 2011 at the age of 82.

While the public did not question Hopkins' victory what with the actor's heartbreaking portrayal of a man suffering from dementia, many felt blindsided by the win - what with the fact that the organiser themselves decided to change its category placements from Best Picture being the last to be announced to Best Actor; sparking expectations that the final part of the ceremony would pay tribute to Boseman.

Making things more awkward was the fact that Hopkins was neither present at the actual event nor did he appear virtually like most nominees outside of the US.

Many assumed that Chadwick Boseman would have been honoured at the Oscars

The "Black Panther" star, who was nominated for his role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", won similar accolades posthumously throughout the awards season, from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Critics Choice Movie Awards, to the Golden Globes, following his death last year.

On the other hand, this is Hopkins' second Best Actor win following his 1991 victory for his iconic role Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs".