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The
Unofficial Chronology of Dame Judi Dench's Career
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The
BAFTA Film Awards |
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Dame Judi won the Best Actress BAFTA
for "IRIS" |
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Thanks to Anke
A Hollywood whirlwind hit Leicester Square last night as an unprecedented array of A-list stars turned up to the BAFTA awards and the after-party at the Grosvenor House hotel. However, when the bold and the beautiful hit the red carpet, under the protection of brollies, they immediately wished they hadn't, as their precious Jimmy Choos and Manolos were swamped by foamy suds coming off the badly rinsed carpet. Heads will roll, particularly if a Ben de Lisi-clad Kate Winslet has anything to do with it. 'You spend a couple of hours getting ready - someone doing my hair, doing my make-up, someone dealing with my dress, the whole thing - and it's just a little irritating,' she said. Kevin Spacey told the audience that Dame Judi's shoes had been ruined. The ceremony passed gently under the firm guidance of compere Stephen Fry - let's hope he is booked for the Brits next year. Russell Crowe, The Lord of the Rings and Dame Judi were just some of the popular winners. Prize-givers included a bemused but stunning Halle Berry, last year's best actor Jamie Bell (who joked that his lack of nomination would pave the way for Russell Crowe to win), Harvey Keitel, Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger. Later, absolutely everyone repaired to Grosvenor House's ballroom, which was transformed into a party venue so lavish that Warren Beatty was overheard saying that he had never seen a room more beautifully done. Scantily clad cabaret dancers thronged among a crowd fuelled by tequila and a vodka ice-sculpture. And some people had a little too much fun, including Sissy Spacek, who slipped down a couple of steps. Oscars, schmoscars. Pictures by Alan Davidson.
Broadcast Dates The E channel: The Orange British Academy Film
Awards ABC - Australia - March 2nd at 8.30pm In 007 star Pierce Brosnan's absence, Dench, who plays the character M in the Bond films, presented a special award to Eon Prods. for 40 years of the secret-agent films. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson accepted the honor.
Ananova -- Story filed: 21:41 Sunday 24th February 2002
BAFTA Quotes: "I was very
shaky on stage. I made a million pound bet with my agent five
minutes before that I wouldn't win so I was very shocked. I was
very shaken - if you lose a million pounds five minutes before,
it is very shaky." "What was that
horrible soapy substance coming off the red carpet? Because Judi
Dench's shoes are ruined and she holds you personally
responsible" "I think it's
the years of greasy flattery given to actors which is finally
bubbling up" Iris
gives national treasure the sweet scent of success DAME Judi Dench cemented her place as a national treasure by winning the best actress award for her portrait of the last years of Dame Iris Murdoch in the film Iris at the Bafta awards last night. At the age of 67 she beat a strong international field - the Australian Nicole Kidman, Americans Renee Zellweger and Sissy Spacek and French actress Audrey Tautou - to the prize. Dame Judi's victory is likely to boost her chance in Hollywood next month of a second Oscar as she has been short-listed for the best actress award for the same role. Her first Oscar was for best supporting actress playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. It was a sweet win for Dame Judi. She had to stay away from the ceremony last year following the death of her husband, the actor Michael Williams. The top film at last night's ceremony was The Fellowship of the Ring, the opener in the £190 million three-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien's classic The Lord of the Rings. The 4,500 members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave it four awards, for best film, best director (Peter Jackson), best visual effects and best make-up/hair. The public agreed with the decision. The film also won the "people's award" for best film of the year, voted for by more than 30,000 cinemagoers. The victory was a blow for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, its rival in the year's film fantasy stakes. Harry Potter, with a £90 million budget, failed to pick up an award. Russell Crowe, 37, was named best actor for his role as John Nash, the schizophrenic Nobel mathematics prizewinner in the American film A Beautiful Mind. For the New Zealand-born, Australian-based actor it was a satisfying win. He turned up to the Baftas in London last year expecting to win the same award for his part in Gladiator - which was to give him an Oscar - but was surprisingly beaten by Jamie Bell, the 14-year-old star of Billy Elliot. It will prove to be a controversial victory with the public. Both Crowe and A Beautiful Mind - though on the Oscar short-lists this year - have been ferociously panned by British critics. The best British film title was given to Gosford Park, the Robert Altman-directed upstairs-downstairs murder mystery set in an English country house. It beat Bridget Jones' Diary, Harry Potter, Iris and Me Without You for the prize. Altman's first film in Britain, Gosford Park stars a host of British actors, including Dame Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Charles Dance, Emily Watson and Kristan Scott Thomas. A popular win was for Jim Broadbent, the 52-year-old British actor who once turned down the part of Del Boy in television's Only Fools and Horses. He was named best supporting actor for Moulin Rouge, the Baz Luhrmann fin de siecle Parisian fantasy that also starred Kidman and Ewan McGregor. The film had 12 nominations in the ceremony but went away with just three awards. The academy also awarded lifetime achievement fellowships to Warren Beatty, Ismail Merchant, James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. This
is London Fantasy epic Lord Of The Rings has swept the board as it cast its spell at the Baftas by landing five awards - including best film. British-made Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone was snubbed despite landing eight nominations at the British version of the Oscars. Dame Judi Dench landed her eighth British Academy title, just months after she was given a Bafta Fellowship, winning the best actress prize for her performance in Iris. Dame Judi, who is up for an Oscar for the role, beat Nicole Kidman - who attended the event in a revealing black velvet dress - as well as Sissy Spacek and Renee Zellweger to the award. In the film she gave a heart-rending portrayal of late novelist Iris Murdoch. Kiwi actor Russell Crowe, an Oscar winner last year, triumphed in the best actor category - beating Lord Of The Rings star Sir Ian McKellen to the prize. He played a schizophrenic maths genius, John Nash, in the acclaimed film A Beautiful Mind and his co-star Jennifer Connelly took the best supporting actor prize. The Rings haul also included a best director prize for Peter Jackson, and the Orange audience award which is voted for by cinemagoers. It completed its cache with technical prizes, special effects and make-up. It is a huge vote of confidence for Lord Of The Rings which was one of the biggest leaps of faith in cinema history. Producers invested £125 million in making all three films in the JRR Tolkien trilogy at once. If the first had failed at the box office, it would have proved a disaster. Empire Online -- Cats and Dogs The mascara was running before the winners had even been announced at tonight's Orange British Academy Film Awards as guests arrived amid a torrential downpour. Designer gowns and immaculate coiffeurs were left sodden and dishevelled as the British weather showed no mercy on the starry line-up present for the night's proceedings. Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Audrey Tautou, Sissy Spacek, Toni Collette, Renee Zellweger, Helena Bonham Carter and many other stunning starlets huddled against the biting wind and were ushered quickly undercover as hastily gathered umbrellas were held over their heads. The once luscious red carpet was soon reduced to a crimson paddling pool with famous feet left sloshing towards the entrance to the Odeon Leicester Square. The hundreds of fans who had gathered despite the cloudburst were not left too disappointed however, as even the most waterlogged stars managed a few hellos and stopped to sign an autograph or two for their dedicated and half-drowned admirers. "It's really nice to be acknowledged," trilled a beaming Nicole Kidman who managed to look typically radiant despite the adverse conditions. Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann was likewise immune to the weather as he enthused about the event, "It's fantastic to be a part of it." Sir Ian McKellen, Peter Jackson, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom and Dominic Monaghan were out supporting The Lord of The Rings and prompted some of the warmest welcomes as Tolkien lovers screamed their praises. "I'm thrilled to be invited," said Sir Ian, "I've never been invited to the BAFTAs before." Judi Dench arrived on the arm of her Shipping News co-star Kevin Spacey, while fellow Iris stars and BAFTA nominees Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Bonneville also turned out to see what the night had in store for them. Spacey, however, insisted that it was less the winning than the actual taking part that counted. "Those of us who actually do the work don't look at it as a horse race," he explained. Ron Howard headed the A Beautiful Mind contingent, joinied by Jennifer Connolly, Paul Bettany and, of course, Russell Crowe who sported a rain-friendly shaggy look in place of the immaculately coiffed hair that crowned him at last year's Oscars. Warren Beatty drew cheers when he arrived to accept his BAFTA fellowship but it was surprise guest Dustin Hoffman who provoked the loudest catcalls as the crowd chanting his name caused the actor to rush back out into the rain and take a few bows for the saturated spectators. Keep an eye out for a full report from the ceremony and list of winners as soon as they're announced. Empire Online -- Fry Pulls it Off The organisers for last week’s Brits will, no doubt, have been watching the BAFTAs this evening, learning a lesson or two about the difference a good host can make. Light years removed from the embarassed fumblings of Frank Skinner, this year’s BAFTA host Stephen Fry delighted his celebrity-stuffed audience with a series of sharply-scripted set pieces and some fabulous off-the-cuff moments. From the moment he welcomed the audience in his own inimitable style, ‘you, the freshly shampoeed on the feet movers and shakers and hired seat fillers of the film world,’ Fry set the tone for an event which has proved to be a worthy stepping-stone for the Oscars. Much of the fun centred around the appalling British weather, with Kevin Spacey joining in asking Fry what on earth the soapy substance was that the stars found themselves sliding around in on the red carpet. ‘I think it might have the combined years of greasy flattery that have been given to actors,’ was Fry’s pithy response. Many of the evening’s recipients seemed genuinely astonished to be picking up an award. The first was Jennifer Connelly, whose charming speech can do her no harm in the run up to the Oscars. On the point of tears, she declared herself, ‘really shocked and very much honoured. I certainly didn’t expect this!’ This year’s Roberto Benigni Award for most delighted went to Amores Perros director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who bounded on stage in such good spirits that Fry wondered how in all the years he spent studying film in London, ‘we never taught him to be phlegmatic.’ Even the big winners seemed thoroughly delighted by their good luck. Peter Jackson broke the four minute mile running on to the stage to pick up his award from Kate Winslet. ‘I used to watch the BAFTA awards and I never thought I’d ever get one,’ he beamed. ‘This is so much fun without commercial breaks and no playing people off with music,’ said Fellowship winner Warren Beatty. ‘I’ve had more fun working in England than anyone should have been permitted to have.’ Perhaps the best part of this year’s awards was the organisers’ success in collecting the great number of nominees in the capital for the evening’s ceremony. All of the Best Actor and Actress nominees were there in person, and the calibre of presenters matched them; Hoffman, Spacey, Kidman, Keitel – the list was endless. Truly this year, in spite of the deadly British weather, the BAFTAs have shown that they will in future be an awards worth putting in any serious filmgoer’s diary and one that the Oscars themselves could learn from. In the words of Fry, ‘That’s enough tedious wank from me. Let’s party.’
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