The 50-year-old "Bridget Jones's Diary" star won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 2004 for her "Cold Mountain" performance. She told Jimmy Kimmel Thursday that before her win, she had a plan to "not do that spiral" that makes people watching the award show "roll their eyes."
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Despite her forethought, Zellweger said the moment her award was announced was just too weird.
"It just goes out the window," she said. "You're not going to be the geek person that freezes up and can't hear anything and gets emotional, and then somebody says your name, and you hear this like, 'Dooo!' And then you do the geek spiral."
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She said she couldn't hear or even remember anything while giving her speech.
"I remember somebody was talking, and I guess it was me," she said.
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She said she was then astonished by the amount of A-list celebrities staring back at her.
"I remember thinking, 'Gosh, it's like the Sergeant Pepper album cover.' All these famous people just frozen, staring," she said. "I remember, Sean Penn was at 12 o'clock, and he was just smiling."
This year, Zellweger is nominated in the Oscars' best actress category for her role in "Judy."
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Don't miss the Oscars live on Sunday, Feb. 9, on ABC. Coverage begins at 4:30 ET | 3:30 CT | 1:30 PT on this ABC station.