According to film critic Nathaniel Rogers, in a 12 year period (2002-2014), 47 actors gave acceptance speeches at the Oscar award ceremonies. These Oscar-winning stars almost always offer thanks to someone for their achievement. Kate Winslet thanked her director Peter Jackson. Colin Firth thanked his producer Harvey Weinstein. Christoph Waltz praised his director Quentin Taratino as "the Creator." Other award winners have thanked other celebrities, including Oprah (two times), Sidney Portier (two times), and Meryl Streep (four times). Rogers also observed that God has only been thanked three times (once less than Meryl Streep).

Rogers concludes, "It's not that God is never mentioned … There's a reason for this notable lack of the divine, and it isn't the absence of religious faith. It's just that to actors, the director is god." Or in the case of George Clooney, Rogers claims that he thanked no one directly, because "who needs to worship a [god] when the man in the mirror [Clooney that is] is a golden god?"