‘Every rejection has led you to this moment’: The road to a BAFTA nomination

Published

1 year ago

February 18, 2023

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This year the BAFTA Film Awards are pulling out all the stops, with the star-studded ceremony set to be one of the most well attended by nominees on-record.

Honouring the best work in film, both in the UK and internationally, A-list stars from around the globe will compete to take home a distinctive gold statuette. But how does it feel to get a nod?

From “too insane” to “creative intimidation” and “deep gratification”, four BAFTA nominees tell Sky News about the rollercoaster ride to being nominated on the British film industry’s biggest night.

Martin McDonagh

The Oscar-winning writer-director behind previous hits including Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and In Bruges, already has a shelf full of BAFTAs at home – four to be precise.

Now his Irish tragicomedy Banshees Of Inisherin – which tells the tale of male friendship gone sour – may mean he has to put up a second shelf, with the movie up for a score of BAFTAs.

The stars of the film – Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon are all up for acting awards on the night too.

Embodying the phrase ‘Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst’, McDonagh told Sky News: “I’m bad at public speaking, so I kind of I’m half happy when we lose so I don’t have to go up there.

“But no, it’s better to be in the mix than not to be in the mix. So, it’s weirdly both exciting and scary at the same time.”

Michelle Yeoh

She first gained international attention as a Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies, and got her first BAFTA nomination for her starring role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – but it’s Everything Everywhere All At Once that could nab Michelle Yeoh her first BAFTA.

The Malaysian actress plays Evelyn Wang, a middle-aged laundrette owner transported into ever more baffling parallel worlds, in the multiverse madness that is Everything Everywhere. Like Banshees it’s scored ten nods.

This touching indie sci-fi has been a word-of-mouth and critically acclaimed hit, and is directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – collectively known as the Daniels (they are up for a best director BAFTA too).

An unexpected lead contender in this year’s awards season, and far from normal awards-season fare, perhaps one of the movie’s lead characters – Waymond Wang as Alpha Waymond – puts it best when he tells Evelyn: “Every rejection, every disappointment has led you to this moment. Don’t let anything distract you from it.”

Ke Huy Quan, who plays Waymond, is also up for a BAFTA, as is co-star Jamie Lee Curtis.

Yeoh told Sky News: “Normally people would go like, this is too insane. But our world is chaotic and insane and unpredictable, and we have to learn to embrace whatever comes our way.”

Despite leaning into it, she also revealed she is really just like the rest of us, admitting: “I don’t like the pressure. This is my first time [being nominated at lots of big awards].

“So, I don’t understand how intense it is. Just getting the nominations was terrifying… Because it felt like a big part of the world was wanting it so bad.”

Bill Nighy

One of Britain’s most popular actors, with credits including Love Actually and Harry Potter, Bill Nighy already has two BAFTAs to his name – and now he’s up for another one.

The 73-year-old star plays buttoned-up civil servant Mr Williams, who works joylessly in the county public works department, until a terminal diagnosis inspires him to make a change.

Living is The Kazuo Ishiguro-scripted remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru – which quite literally reminds us to make the most of life – is up for three BAFTAs in total.

Nighy told Sky News: “People really respond to the movie and they’re inspired by it, which is what it was designed to do. So, it’s deeply, deeply gratifying.”

Asked if he was enjoying his awards buzz, he took a melancholy note from the character that earned him the nod, saying: “As much as I’m able to enjoy anything, I have a negative tendency which I have to really kind of combat.

“But no, seriously, yeah, it’s absolutely marvellous.”

Brendan Fraser

One of the biggest stars of the 1990s, Canadian-American actor Brendan Fraser’s return to Hollywood after nearly 20 years out of the limelight has been nothing short of spectacular.

The 53-year-old’s comeback even inspired its own definition – the “Bren-aissance”.

His warmly received re-entry into showbiz has earned him nods aplenty, including a BAFTA nomination for best lead actor.

Directed by Black Swan filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, The Whale tells the story of an extremely obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter. The movie has four BAFTA nominations in total.

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Fraser told Sky News: “Of the award stuff. It’s new to me, but we’re all frothy and happy and giddy and happy for this with fingers crossed and best fondest hopes for success.

“But who knows what the result is going to be. But I’m confident, I think that we’ve got a shot at making it to the finish line.”

As for whether he thought the film would be a success when he first took it on, he said: “I didn’t have any doubts… If anything, I had enthusiasm and some hope and some humility and a little bit of creative intimidation.”

The BAFTA Film Awards take place on Sunday 19 February at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London.

The ceremony will be broadcast from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Sky News will be covering live from the red carpet beforehand and throughout the ceremony before the programme itself begins.

Entertainment

Tom Brady vows to be ‘better parent’ after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Published

15 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Tom Brady vows to be 'better parent' after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Tom Brady has promised to be “a better parent” after a Netflix comedy special poked fun at his divorce.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion appeared on The Roast Of Tom Brady, where comedians like Kevin Hart tore into his split from Gisele Bundchen in 2022 after 13 years.

While the 46-year-old said he “loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady told The Pivot Podcast that he “didn’t like the way it affected my kids”.

“It’s the hardest part about, like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realise ‘I wouldn’t do that again’ because of the way that it affected, actually, the people I care about the most in the world,” he said.

“It makes you, in some ways, a better parent going through it ’cause again sometimes you are naive. You don’t know, or you get a little like, ‘oh shit’.”

Brady has two children – Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 – with Bundchen. He also is a father to a third child, 16-year-old John, with actress Bridget Moynahan, who he dated until 2006.

‘Single life is what you deserve’

Hart, who hosted the Netflix special, kicked off proceedings by referencing their split, saying: “Single life is what you deserve because you had no choice.

“Gisele gave you an ultimatum. Gisele said ‘you retire or we’re done’. That’s what she said to you, Tom. ‘You retire, or we’re done’.

“Let me tell you something. When you got a chance to go eight, nine, and all it will cost is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f*** you gotta do.”

Nikki Glaser also fired jabs at Brady’s divorce, saying: “Five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns.

“You have seven rings. Well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back.”

‘Roast taught me a good lesson’

Brady also told the podcast that as a parent, “you just don’t see the full picture all the time,” and added the roast taught him “a good lesson”.

“I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it,” he added. “And at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, David Beckham shared he texted Brady to check on him after the roast aired, saying: “I know Tom well and I must admit, I did fire him a message just to check if he was okay.

“He’s more than okay, but yeah, it was hard to watch.”

Brady, who is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback ever, played 20 regular seasons with the New England Patriots and three regular seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he won the Super Bowl seven times and was a three-time runner up.

Entertainment

Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after ‘seven years of exile’

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1 day ago

May 16, 2024

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Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after 'seven years of exile'

Hollywood stars have begun campaigning for Kevin Spacey to resume his acting career “after seven years of exile”.

Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry are among the names speaking up for the Oscar-winner following the release of a Channel 4 documentary levelling fresh allegations against 64-year-old Spacey, which he denies.

The Oscar-winning actor was one of Hollywood’s biggest names when allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017, leading Netflix to cut all ties with him at the height of his House of Cards fame.

Despite being acquitted of numerous sexual offences after a trial in London, and winning a US civil lawsuit in which he was accused of making an unwanted sexual advance, Spacey said he still feels ostracised from the industry.

Basic Instinct star Stone told the Telegraph: “I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault, and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”

The 66-year-old said it was clear aspiring actors had “wanted and want to be around him”.

She added: “It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas.”

Taken and Star Wars actor Neeson, 71, told the paper: “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”

British actor and writer Fry said Spacey had been both “clumsy and inappropriate” on many occasions, but to “devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes… how can that be considered proportionate and justified?”

The 66-year-old said Spacey’s reputation had been “wrecked”, adding: “Surely it is wrong to continue to batter a reputation on the strength of assertion and rhetoric rather than evidence and proof?

“Unless I’m missing something, I think he has paid the price.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “Spacey Unmasked is an important film exploring the balance of power and inappropriate behaviour in a work environment, aiming to give a voice to those who have previously been unable to speak out.”

Spacey won two Academy Awards as best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects in 1996 and best actor in 2000 for American Beauty, which also scored him a BAFTA for leading actor.

Last year, Spacey was found not guilty by a jury of nine sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013 after a trial in London.

He also won a US civil lawsuit in October 2022, after being accused of an unwanted sexual advance at a party in 1986.

Spacey says he has struggled to get work despite his acquittals, branding his experience a “life sentence”.

Entertainment

Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

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Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.

Hannah Gutierrez was jailed in April after being found guilty by jurors following a trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the US.

She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.

A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.

Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.

Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.

During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.

Alec Baldwin case latest

Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.

The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.

His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page document claiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.

Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.

Filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement made Ms Hutchins’s widower an executive producer.