BAFTA Film Awards: Ceremony Highlights & Lowlights
18.02.2024 - 21:29
/ deadline.com
After a few years in limbo, the BAFTAs finally found a host to replace the much-missed Stephen Fry in David Tennant. The Doctor Who actor proved an amiable and funny emcee, although much of his humor would have gone way over the non-Brits in the audience, starting with a lengthy filmed skit riffing on his BBC TV series Staged, co-starring Michael Sheen. It was a night of surprises, not especially pleasant ones for the teams behind Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon, and there were no egregious upsets. Neither were there any of the usual technical nightmares that have plagued the event in the past.
Instead, there were lots of low-key but memorable moments, like Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr., dressed in a gray tail suit to collect his Best Supporting Actor award recalling his life in 30 seconds (half it ran thus: “When I was 15, I wanted to be Peter O’Toole. When I was 25, I worked for Richard Attenborough with Anthony Hopkins. When I was 35, I finally understood why he thought Tony would be a better role model for me than Peter”).
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was similarly charming on accepting her Best Supporting Actress award, swooning over presenter Chiwetel Ejiofor and bringing her Holdovers co-star Paul Giamatti to tears when she told him, “I cry every time I see your name.” Equally emotional were June Givanni, receiving this year’s Outstanding Contribution award; Samantha Morton, whose BFI Fellowship was awarded after filmed testimony from Tom Cruise; and the whole audience, who went wild for Still’s Michael J. Fox who handed out the Best Film award to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
Wonka star Keegan-Michael Key, presenting, sustained a surprisingly funny attempt to pretend to be British, and, taking the first