Terrence Howard flubbed as an Oscar presenter. But his explanation to Jimmy Fallon for why he flubbed so hard is pretty revealing: Howard thought he could be the best actor of all the presenters.
He memorized his lines—overtime. Howard said that he spent 18 hours practicing his gushing introduction to Whiplash, Selma, and The Imitation Game. He didn't need a freakin' teleprompter. He was gonna prove his worth up there in front of Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, and... Oprah Winfrey.
Howard does say that Queen Oprah made him lose track of his memorized lines, but his actor-ly technique was already doomed to fail because he forgot to wear a belt. Howard got ahead of the teleprompter, but the combination of Oprah, sliding pants, and a total dismissal of the teleprompter, made Howard flail like he was in the middle of an early career audition. Only it was in front of millions of people watching at home. And Oprah in the audience.
At least that Empire gig is going pretty well for Howard.
