Our golden girl Laura lights up the BAFTAs
THERE was a doubling up of Irish victories at the BAFTAs last night as actor Stephen Rea and TV host Graham Norton were recognised for their talent.
Cork comic Norton was also on hosting duties f or the glittering showbusiness soirée and quipped he should get all the awards as his acceptance speech was so short.
Rea – best known for his role in 1992 film The Crying Game – won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle in the BBC 2’s The Honourable Woman.
‘There are so many incredible actors in the Honourable Woman. I feel I’m receiving this on their behalf,’ Belfast-born Rea told the audience at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Norton chuckled as he briefly put his presenting duties to one side to collect an award for the Graham Norton Show.
‘Yay me,’ he told the audience. ‘It’s much quicker when I win, I should win most things.’
Another Irish star who posed up on the red carpet at the glamorous event was Laura Whitmore, who looked stunning in a floralpatterned gold dress.
Meanwhile, heartthrob Benedict Cumberbatch was named Best Leading Actor for his role as master detective Sherlock Holmes.
But the Hollywood actor was not at the ceremony to collect the award, and instead was said to be looking after his wife Sophie Hunter who is heavily pregnant.
Earlier comic duo Ant and Dec beat off competition from Strictly Come Dancing, The Voice and Dynamo: Magician Impossible to win the best entertainment programme for their ITV show, Saturday Night Takeaway. Picking up their award, Ant told the audience: ‘What a great start to the show – for us. We’re delighted with it, thrilled. We love making this show.’
The soap war was again won this year by ITV’s Coronation Street whose production team proudly collected the Soap and Continuing Drama Sward despite EastEnders’ gripping whodunnit plot surrounding Lucy Beale’s murder. Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud thanked the ‘millions and millions of loyal fans’ who have followed the Channel 4 programme ‘for the past 20 years’ as he collected the award for Best Feature.