Winner of Bafta at age of 83 gives awards a miss for a holiday in Wales
The 83-year-old took the Best Actor Award as only a handful of stars made the trip to Royal Albert Hall
SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS became the oldest recipient of the Best Actor Bafta last night, but gave the ceremony a miss because he did not think he would win.
The 83-year-old had been invited to attend the event via Zoom, along with all the other nominees, but was notable by his absence.
Instead, he was painting in his hotel in Wales, where he had just arrived for a holiday. His family informed him of his win, for his performance as a dementia patient in The Father.
“I heard this cheer next door. I thought, ‘What’s happening? Are they watching a football match?’” Sir Anthony said. He then received a message of congratulations from the film’s director, Florian Zeller.
He had equipped Zeller with a short note to read out in the event of his win.
Sir Anthony’s spokesman told The Telegraph that the actor was “elated” by the award but had not expected it.
“He arrived yesterday and was very jetlagged and didn’t think he would win. Once he did, we were able to get hold of him,” the spokesman said.
The Bafta was Sir Anthony’s third, after The Remains of the Day (1994) and The Silence of the Lambs (1992). He also received the Bafta Fellowship in 2008.
“It’s wonderful. I’m at a time in my life where I never expected to get this. There was a point in my life where I wondered if I’d ever work again,” he joked. “For me, this is a bonus.”
Sir Anthony lives in California but said he was beginning a “long vacation” in his native Wales. “It’s been a tough year for everyone so we took a holiday. We had our vaccinations, so we’re in Wales having a quiet time,” he said.
This year’s EE British Academy Film Awards took place in a near-empty Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Edith Bowman and Dermot O’leary. A handful of awards presenters also made the trip, including Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Nomadland won Best Film, Best Actress for Frances Mcdormand and Best Director for Chloe Zhao. Mcdormand was another no-show.
Promising Young Woman was a double winner: Outstanding British Film and Best Original Screenplay for Emerald Fennell. Fennell, who is also best known for playing Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown, described the film as a labour of love. It was shot on a low budget in just 23 days, and Fennell said: “Everyone did it pretty much for a packet of crisps, because they believed in it.”
Bukky Bakray won the EE Rising Star Award for her debut in Rocks. She began working on the film aged just 16 and had never acted before.
Best Supporting Actor went to Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Messiah, and Best Supporting Actress to Yuh-jung Youn for Minari. The actress, a well-known figure in her native Korea, said: “Every award is meaningful but especially this one from British people, as they are known as very snobbish.”
Ang Lee, the director of Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, received the Bafta Fellowship. The ‘In Memoriam’ section began with an image of the Duke of Edinburgh, who became Bafta’s first president in 1959.