How British comic Matt Berry became the standout star of the Oscars as fans declare The IT Crowd actor ‘needs to be the announcer on every show’

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Everyone was talking about Matt Berry at the Oscars on Sunday, even though Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley took home the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress.

British actor, comedian, and jazz musician, age 51, hosted the ceremony, introducing the presenters – a role previously held by Nick Offerman.

Although Matt wasn’t the expected choice, he really energized the crowd, and fans loved his surprising performance.

Matt, age 51, is a well-known actor who has appeared in popular shows like The IT Crowd, Toast of London, The Mighty Boosh, and Darkplace.

Lately, Matt has gained recognition in the United States for his role in the FX mockumentary series, What We Do in the Shadows.

Seriously, how did this happen?! I mean, he was just a regular guy, a working-class comedian from a tiny town in Bedfordshire, and now… now he’s got one of the biggest jobs in Hollywood?! It’s insane! I’ve been following his career since the beginning, and I still can’t believe it. How did he do it?! I need to know everything!

Before narrating the 98th Academy Awards and the cult sitcoms, Matt grew up somewhere much quieter. 

Born in 1974 in the small village of Bromham, Bedfordshire, he grew up with a father who drove a taxi and a mother who worked as a nurse.

Matt developed a love for music early in life, sparked when his parents surprisingly left a keyboard in his room.

He told the Guardian that no one ever spoke to him about what happened. There was no discussion, no attempt to understand it – just him and the organ itself.

In his teens, he enjoyed listening to Roxy Music, David Bowie, Jean Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield.

By the time he turned sixteen, he was determined to pursue a career in the arts. However, because he couldn’t read music, he wasn’t able to study it for his GCSEs.

He once said he wished he could go back and tell his younger self that none of his current struggles would matter in the long run.

Despite this, he went on to study Contemporary Arts at Nottingham Trent University.

His first real break arrived in 2004 with the cult Channel 4 comedy Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.

The opportunity came as a shock as he was initially working in the London Dungeon.

He was a talented musician who had met Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade while performing as an opening act at Mighty Boosh concerts.

Matt didn’t initially intend to become a comedian. He explained to The Guardian that he became friends with someone who was working on a horror project and asked him to play the role of a Spanish doctor. He was already working at the London Dungeon at the time, so it was an easy opportunity to accept.

Matt played Todd Rivers, an actor on the show who portrayed the charming Dr. Lucien Sanchez.

Although the show was short, with only six episodes, it quickly became popular with a dedicated fanbase and helped launch Matt’s career in television comedy.

He became widely known for his role in the Channel 4 comedy series, The IT Crowd, which began in 2007.

He portrayed Douglas Reynholm, the wildly eccentric and often tactless CEO of Reynholm Industries.

The character proved so popular with viewers that he was nominated for Best Male Comedy Newcomer at the 2007 British Comedy Awards.

Although many people first discovered Matt Berry through The IT Crowd, it was Toast of London that truly established him as a beloved and unique comedy star.

He portrayed Steven Toast, an actor who took himself very seriously but was always one step away from either a big break or complete embarrassment.

It also produced some of the most quoted lines of his career.

He described his character development process to The Guardian, explaining that he’d choose an actor of a specific type and age, and then simply listen to their life stories for inspiration.

Matt gained wider recognition in the United States when he starred as the vampire Laszlo Cravensworth in the FX comedy series, What We Do in the Shadows. This role helped him build a larger international fanbase.

He’s also appeared in the Channel 4 comedy series Year of the Rabbit, and the BBC Two fake documentary Squeamish About.

As many of you know, I wear a few different hats! Besides being on TV, I’m also a musician – I’ve actually released eleven studio albums over the years. It’s a passion project that runs alongside my work in media, and something I’m incredibly proud of.

I’ll never forget ‘Take My Hand’ – it’s the song that really got me hooked on Matt Berry! It was the perfect theme for ‘Toast of London,’ and so deserving of the BAFTA it won. It just fit the show so well.

His latest release was Heard Noises in 2025, which featured Natasha Lyonne and Kitty Liv. 

In 2025, he provided the human voice of Nitwit in A Minecraft Movie.

And as he took to the Oscars on Sunday, Matt has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

He’s said before that he never takes vacations because he always feels too busy. He simply can’t relax just for the sake of relaxing.

He explained to The Guardian that he’s driven to create as much as possible while he’s still able, acknowledging that his physical capabilities won’t last forever. He admitted it sounds a bit grim, but it’s a reality he’s facing.

Matt was part of an impressive group of presenters at this year’s Oscars, alongside stars like Nicole Kidman, Channing Tatum, Rose Byrne, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, and Sigourney Weaver.

At the event, Conan O’Brien introduced Matt to the audience, which included many famous people. Matt narrated the ceremony remotely from a studio in the UK.

Viewers expressed excitement upon discovering Matt Berry was the voice behind the Oscars announcements, with one fan jokingly calling themselves a ‘fraud’ for not realizing it sooner.

‘Just hearing Matt Berry doing these announcer reads is giving me great joy;

‘Hearing Matt Berry say ”K-Pop Demon Hunters” was something I didn’t know I needed in life;

Matt Berry’s voiceover work is really distracting – it’s so unexpected to hear the voice of Douglas Reynholm from The IT Crowd at the Oscars!

‘Matt Berry should be the announcer on every awards show from this point forward.’

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Winning an Academy Award is often seen as the highest achievement for actors and filmmakers, and the moment they receive it is remembered as a significant event in movie history.

It appears the judges for the prestigious award may not be as knowledgeable as they used to be. One judge recently admitted to not having seen even half of the films up for consideration this year.

Oscar winners are usually selected by the members of The Academy – a group of more than 8,000 people working in the film industry. Each member votes for the movies and performers they think deserve an award.

This year, new rules require Academy members to confirm they’ve actually watched the films they’re voting for. They can do this by verifying they saw it in theaters, used the Academy’s streaming service, or watched it another way.

One voter confessed they didn’t bother watching all of the films nominated for the Oscars this year, and even the ones they did watch weren’t very impressive.

This adds to the growing criticism that the Oscars are losing touch with audiences, with many believing some voters just choose films that have already received major awards this season.

The awards show has also been criticized by some who say it’s become too focused on progressive values, pointing to its preference for independent or smaller films rather than big-budget blockbusters.

As a lifestyle expert who keeps a close pulse on industry happenings, I recently received an interesting email from an Academy voter. They wanted to share their thoughts on the rules for this year’s awards, and I thought it was worth passing along – it gives a real insider’s perspective.

I haven’t watched most of the films up for awards, and honestly, I don’t plan to. My time is too precious to waste on movies I wouldn’t enjoy or vote for.

I didn’t think the films I saw were very good, and none of my nominations were selected as finalists. Because of that, and wanting to be honest, I chose not to vote this year. I’d happily vote for K-Pop Demon Hunters, but I wasn’t willing to sit through four other movies I knew I wouldn’t enjoy.

Honestly, the Oscars don’t seem to matter as much anymore. Recent winners like ‘Anora,’ ‘CODA,’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ are fine, but compared to classics like ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ and ‘Patton,’ it makes you wonder which of these newer films will still be remembered in just five years.

For me, the quality of the movie itself is what matters most, not winning an award. I’d rather spend my time watching truly great films like ‘Singin’ In The Rain,’ ‘North By Northwest,’ or ‘The Searchers’ – movies that deserved recognition but weren’t even up for awards.

After last year’s Oscars, the Academy introduced new rules for voters. These rules require voters to confirm they’ve actually watched all the films being considered for awards.

The rules, originally announced in April, use both digital tracking from the Academy Screening Room and members’ reports of the films they’ve watched to determine the shortlist.

To vote in any of the 24 competition categories, people had to confirm they had watched all the nominated films first.

A new rule clarifies that using tools like Generative AI won’t give anyone an advantage or disadvantage when applying for nominations.

This news arrives after a debate about last year’s nominated film, The Brutalist, which used artificial intelligence to improve the Hungarian dialogue spoken by actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. Brody later won his second Best Actor award for that role.

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2026-03-16 18:54