LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — Anthony Hopkins took home an Oscar Sunday night, beating out the late Chadwick Boseman, who had been widely expected to win the award.

Hopkins’ win was anticlimactic on a show where he wasn’t present to accept the trophy. In a very rare move from the academy, the best actor award was the last to be handed out this year instead of best picture.

Hours later, Hopkins made a belated acceptance speech in a video message posted on Instagram, standing in front of the rolling green fields of his native Wales

‘At 83 years of age I did not expect to get this award, I really didn’t,” Hopkins said.

In his message, Hopkins paid tribute to Boseman, who he said was “taken from us far too early.”

Boseman was nominated for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” his final film before cancer claimed his life last August at age 43. The “Black Panther” star had been diagnosed with the disease four years earlier and kept it private as he continued working.

Despite his pedigree, Hopkins was a surprise as the winner of the Academy Award for best actor for his work on “The Father.” It is Hopkins’ first Oscar since he was victorious for playing Hannibal Lecter.

Hopkins won his Oscar for his role as a man who battles with dementia opposite Olivia Colman in the film directed by Florian Zeller.

The 83-year-old became the oldest actor or actress to win an Oscar, edging out Christopher Plummer’s supporting-actor win at age 82 in the 2010 film “Beginners.”