Sam Rockwell has won the Oscar for best supporting actor at the 90th Academy Awards, prevailing over stiff competition from Willem Dafoe of The Florida Project and Richard Jenkins of The Shape of Water to win his first Academy award. The 49-year-old, whose turn as a disgraced police officer in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, has earned him a string of prizes throughout this awards season, had never been nominated for an Oscar before.

Rockwell dedicated his award to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and told a funny story about how his father got him out of school to go to the movies. “When I was 8 years old, I was sent to the principal’s office and my father was saying, ‘We have to go. It’s Grandma,’” Rockwell said. “I said, ‘What’s wrong with Grandma?’ He said, ‘Nothing, we’re going to the movies.’”

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, the black comedy takes place in the titular midwestern town and features Rockwell as a racist cop who goes toe-to-toe with a grieving mother (Frances McDormand) after local law enforcement fail to prosecute her daughter’s murderer. Rockwell’s role, in particular his character’s redemptive arc, has ruffled feathers with audiences and critics.

The victory completes Rockwell’s steady march toward the winner’s circle after the actor triumphed at the Golden Globes, Baftas and Screen Actors Guild awards. Rockwell saw off competition from co-star Woody Harrelson, as well as Christopher Plummer (for All the Money in the World), Jenkins and Dafoe.