Kate Winslet takes home Best Actress gong, while Slumdog sweeps the board with seven BAFTAs
Slumdog Millionaire swept the board at the BAFTA film awards last night, taking a whopping seven gongs at Britain’s starriest movie awards night.
SEE ALL THE BAFTA RED CARPET PICS HERE
The bittersweet story of a poverty-stricken boy who wins big on India’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? took home Best Picture and Danny Boyle was awarded Best Director.
The ceremony has gathered pace in recent years and proved its heavyweight status pulling its biggest A-list crowd to date.
Brad and Angelina took centre stage (see the pair interviewed on the red carpet here) as the rain poured down on the red carpet at the Royal Opera House in London. Both were nominated in the Best Actor and Actress categories, but Hollywood’s golden couple left empty-handed.
It was Britain’s night as Kate Winslet continued her winning streak, taking the Best Actress gong for her role in post-World War Two drama, The Reader. She was odds on favourite after being nominated twice in the same category, secondly for Revolutionary Road.
This time the audience was spared the buttock-clenching acceptance speech (Winslet’s stage moment at the Golden Globes saw her forget her fellow nominees) as the actress, clad in a figure-hugging black Zac Posen gown, thanked her parents who were in attendance and paid tribute to the late producers of The Reader, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack.
‘You are much missed today, and you will be much missed for many years to come, and this is for you,’ she said.
Winslet now looks like hot favourite to take a Best Actress Oscar in Los Angeles in two weeks time.
Mickey Rourke looked shocked to be awarded the Best Actor gong for The Wrestler, with fierce competition from Frost/Nixon star Frank Langella and Sean Penn for his part in Milk.
As Rourke collected his award, he sent a ripple of laughter across the audience by swearing during his acceptance speech. He thanked his agent for getting him back into showbusiness, after ‘f**king up my career for 15 years’, a reference to his drink and drug addiction battle.
Finally, the late Heath Ledger was remembered with a posthumous gong for Best Supporting Actor for his chilling portrayal of The Joker in the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The Best Supporting Actress award went to Penelope Cruz for her hilarious part in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
SEE ALL THE STARS HIT THE BAFTA RED CARPET HERE
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SEE KATE’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BELOW:
BAFTA WINNERS LIST 2009
Best film
Slumdog Millionaire
Best British film
Man On Wire
Leading actor
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Leading actress
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Supporting actor
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Supporting actress
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Director
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Milllionaire
Original screenplay
In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
Adapted screenplay
Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy
Film not in the English language
I’ve Loved You So Long
Animated film
Wall-E
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