Behind the scenes at the BAFTAS
This year’s British Academy Film Awards may have had a firm Favourite, but there was plenty of fun and frivolity had by all, as Grazia’s Harriet Kean discovered… BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE BAFTAS…
last week, one of the most glittering events of the year – the EE BAFTAS – took over the Royal Albert Hall – and Grazia had a front-row seat. Hollywood royalty rubbed shoulders with genuine royalty as the Duchess of Cambridge, looking elegant in an off-the-shoulder Alexander Mcqueen ball gown, chatted animatedly to The Favourite star Olivia Colman.
Perhaps it was no surprise that The Favourite was the biggest winner of the night, picking up a gargantuan seven awards. Rachel Weisz took home Best Supporting Actress, while Olivia Colman was crowned Best Leading Actress for her performance as the gout-ridden Queen Anne. Her endearingly flustered – yet hilarious – speech payed homage to her co-stars Rachel and ‘Ems’ (Emma Stone): ‘ We’re having an amazing night, aren’t we?’ she said. ‘ We’re going to get so pissed later.’
She was true to her word. Speaking to us later at the official dinner at Grosvenor House, Olivia was on good form. ‘ We’re British,’ she exclaimed when asked about her speech. ‘ That’s what we do – we just want to eat lots and get pissed.’
‘It’s amazing,’ she continued, while stroking a miniature rabbit sculpture – a feature of the table’s centerpiece, paying homage to the bunnies that featured in the film. ‘I just won a f***ing BAFTA!’
If The Favourite stole the show in terms of gongs, it was Beautiful Boy Timothée Chalamet who proved the night’s biggest charmer – so much so that one woman actually lost her footing, so overwhelmed was she by his mere presence. There was no sign of his Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton
harness (the fashion piece that broke the internet when he debuted it at the Golden Globes), but his leopard-print metallic blazer by Haider Ackermann proved an equally successful look. But will the harness make another appearance for this week’s Oscars? ‘ Who knows?’ he said. ‘I’m a big fan of Virgil’s.’
Margot Robbie was also among the best dressed in Chanel Couture. The Mary Queen Of Scots actress revealed to us she was excited to be in London; she and her husband used to live in Clapham. ‘I’m catching up with old friends,’ she said.
Bradley Cooper might have been without his co-star Lady Gaga – the Star Is Born actress was attending the Grammys – but picked up the award for Best Film Music, paying tribute to both Gaga and his wife Irina Shayk in his acceptance speech: ‘Most of all I have to thank Irina, for putting up with me for all the music I was trying to make in our basement for a year.’ The award for most emotional speech of the night, however, went to Letitia Wright, who was honoured with EE’S Rising Star Award. The actress, who is the fourth woman to win the honour, spoke of her crippling depression: ‘I want to encourage young people, anyone going through a hard time,’ the Black Panther breakout star said. ‘God made you, and you’re important.’
At the after-party, all eyes were on Taylor Swift – who’d skipped the main event but came out later to support her boyfriend Joe Alwyn, who also starred in The Favourite. It marked the notoriously private pair’s first public appearance, and they looked relaxed as they chatted animatedly to Rachel Weisz – and Grazia (more of which overleaf ).
Meanwhile, Rami Malek was also celebrating after picking up the Best Actor gong for his performance in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. He was joined by his girlfriend and co-star Lucy Boynton. ‘I’m so proud of him – isn’t he amazing?’ she said proudly, in-between sips of tequila. ‘ We’re having the time of our lives.’
Follwing a three-course dinner, the winners and nominees headed to the nightclub Annabel’s for the Vogue afterparty, and were joined by supermodels Kate Moss and Jordan Dunn. Naomi Campbell and Liam Payne both turned up too, fuelling rumours that they’re officially dating – especially when they left the event just seconds apart.
Their public appearance comes after Grazia reported that the pair have been ‘seeing a lot of each other’ and that Naomi ‘hasn’t been this excited for another man in a long while’. Watch this space – ‘Liomi’ might really become a thing…
Isn’t rami Amazing? We’re having the time of our lives ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ star Lucy Boynton
After quietly dating for two years, Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn finally made their relationship public at the BAFTAS last week. Despite giving the red carpet and the awards ceremony a miss, Taylor joined Joe at the official dinner to celebrate his BAFTA success. ( Joe starred as Emma Stone’s on-screen husband in The Favourite, which picked up an impressive seven awards.)
While Grazia chatted to Joe about working with Olivia Colman (‘She was amazing,’ he gushed), Taylor appeared and gave him a congratulatory squeeze. ‘I was watching the show from home,’ she told us. ‘Every time The Favourite won another award, I was just squealing! I couldn’t believe it,’ she continued. ‘It’s so great for him – and it’s his first time coming to the BAFTAS, so it’s exciting. It’s a big deal.’ The singer, who is currently filming Cats, added how ‘proud’ she was of Joe’s success. As well as his stellar role in The Favourite, Joe has starred in Boy Erased and Mary Queen Of Scots this year.
Their first public appearance comes after Grazia reported last month that Joe wanted to keep their relationship under the radar. Sources said that he didn’t want ‘his relationship to overshadow his career’, as he is on the cusp of becoming ‘Hollywood’s next leading man’.
But now that Joe has a Bafta-winning film under his belt, the pair are unconcerned about keeping things private. Indeed, the couple were noticeably affectionate at the dinner, and Taylor even shared a PRE-BAFTA Instagram post before she arrived: ‘ The Favourite just won 7 BAFTA awards!’ she wrote. ‘Bout to go give some high fives.’ At the after-party, the duo were seen leaving together hand-in-hand.
Last week, the couple was also spotted together in Hampstead at The Spaniard’s Inn pub. According to a source, the couple were in the area as they were ‘eyeing up a £12 million mansion’. Taylor has allegedly ‘fallen in love with Hampstead’ and is ‘keen to buy the detached 5,000-square Georgian mansion’.
‘ They’re in the process of putting down an offer,’ added our source, who says they ‘enquired about local schools in the area.’
With a London property on the horizon, perhaps Taylor and Joe’s red-carpet debut is imminent…
TAYLOR AND JOE FINALLY GO PUBLIC... AND SPEAK TO GRAZIA...