After five nominations, Blake Lively won her first People’s Choice Award on Wednesday, and she used the opportunity to make an uplifting and, shall we say, lively speech.
After being voted the people’s Favorite Dramatic Movie actress for her role in The Shallows, Lively took the stage to make a point about young girls’ potential.
When she was growing up, she said, her driving goal in life was to meet the Spice Girls — her first introduction to girl power. She still hasn’t met them, she admitted, but she’s enjoyed a number of other successes.
“Don’t ever let anyone limit you, don’t ever let anyone tell you there’s something you can’t do,” Lively told the audience. “You didn’t just vote for this movie or me, you voted for girl power.”
Lively then took a moment to thank her husband, Ryan Reynolds, who has often expressed gratitude to his wife for her role in is life and career.
“Thank you to my husband, who’s everything to me,” she said, provoking loud cheers from the audience. “You can’t have him, he’s mine!”
Watch Lively’s full speech below:
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