Few pop culture moments have embedded themselves in awards-show history quite like Angelina Jolie’s dramatic leg pose at the 2012 Academy Awards. The image—Jolie in a black Versace gown, hand on hip, right leg extended boldly through a thigh-high slit—instantly became a meme, a GIF, and a cultural talking point.
But behind the viral glamour and internet humor lies a long-standing Hollywood myth: that Meryl Streep delivered a biting four-word line—“That’s an interesting choice”—to Jolie after the pose, leading to a ten-second silent standoff between two of cinema’s most powerful women.
It’s a story that has circulated for over a decade. It’s also one that, while rooted in real events, has been twisted by time, memes, and misattribution.
The Pose That Stopped the Internet
The moment began innocently enough. When Jolie walked the red carpet at the 84th Academy Awards, photographers noticed her striking pose—one leg elegantly, yet assertively, revealed from her jet-black gown. The pose reappeared when she took the stage to present the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, doubling down on the confident stance that would later define the night.
What followed, however, was not planned.
As the winners for Best Adapted Screenplay—Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash—walked onto the stage, Rash, then best known for his role on Community, decided to seize the moment. Standing behind the microphone, he mimicked Jolie’s exact pose, jutting his leg out with comic exaggeration. Then came the line that sparked years of speculation:
“That’s an interesting choice.”
The audience erupted in laughter. Cameras caught Jolie smiling, though her expression hinted at a flicker of disbelief. Within seconds, social media exploded, immortalizing both the pose and the parody.
The Misattribution: Enter Meryl Streep
Over time, as the story was retold, one crucial detail got lost: it wasn’t Meryl Streep who made the remark—it was Jim Rash.
Streep, who had been seated in the audience that night and later won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Iron Lady, was completely uninvolved in the on-stage exchange. Yet somehow, through the viral fog of memes and awards gossip, her name became attached to the quote.
Why? Possibly because Streep’s calm, regal demeanor that night made her the perfect imagined foil to Jolie’s theatrical flair. The idea of two industry icons locked in a silent, icy standoff was too delicious for the internet to resist.
But according to everyone who was there, the “ten-second stare” never happened. The real tension in the room came from Rash’s spontaneous parody—not from any clash between two legendary actresses.
The Real Dynamics: Humor, Not Hostility
Angelina Jolie’s reaction to the parody was notably gracious. She laughed, posed again backstage for photographers, and later told reporters she was flattered that the moment had resonated. In the following days, her stance became an internet sensation, inspiring the hashtag #AngelinaJolieLeg and even a novelty Twitter account that gained over 30,000 followers overnight.
Jim Rash, for his part, clarified that the moment was not meant as mockery but as good-natured fun. “I had no intention of making fun of her,” he told the press later. “It was just one of those impulse things. It was a tribute more than anything.”
A Lesson in Viral Storytelling
The “That’s an interesting choice” myth endures because it captures something quintessentially Hollywood: the intersection of glamour, ego, and the unpredictable chaos of live television. In truth, it was not a clash between Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie but a case of a quick-witted writer turning a viral pose into a spontaneous gag.
A decade later, the moment remains one of the most replayed—and misunderstood—clips in Oscar history. It’s a reminder of how easily myth can outshine memory in an age where a single pose, caught in perfect lighting, can spark a thousand retellings.
And perhaps, in hindsight, the line itself—“That’s an interesting choice”—still fits perfectly. Not as a critique, but as the simplest possible description of the moment that made everyone stop, stare, and laugh together on Hollywood’s biggest night.