By Osagie Alonge
- Meryl Streep walked away with the Best Actress Award
Looking as radiant and ravishing as ever, if baffles us to know that US actress Mary Louise ‘Meryl’ Streep is actually 62 years old.
Last night, the ‘Iron lady’ picked up the award for ‘Best Actress’ at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards setting up a possible grand entrée to the forthcoming Oscars.
But what happened when she was called on stage to receive her award? The veteran actress lost her stiletto shoe half way across the steps but still kept her composure, smiling all the way. ‘This couldn’t be worse!’, she said with joyous fright as she reached the podium.
It had to take the UK film star Colin Firth to retrieve ‘Cinderella’s’ shoe and place her foot back in it. She rewarded him with a kiss! The audience could not but cheer.
‘I am very proud of the film. Half of me is Streep and the other half of me Wilkinson from Lincolnshire’, Streep who is of British roots told the audience.
She has in her 41-year acting career received 14 BAFTAs nominations last night’s win was just her second win. Her first was for The French Lieutenant’s Woman in 1981.
Other winners of the night include Jean Dujardin who won the ‘Best Actor’ award for his role in ‘The Artist‘ and film director Michel Hazanavicius for the same movie.
The full list of winners was as follows:
Picture: The Artist
Actor: Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Supporting actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help
Supporting actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Animated film: Rango
Documentary: Senna
Outstanding British film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Film not in the English language: The Skin I Live In
Outstanding debut: Tyrannosaur
Adapted screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan
Original screenplay: The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Production design: Hugo – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo
Cinematography: The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
Makeup and hair: The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland, Marese Langan
Costume design: The Artist – Mark Bridges
Editing: Senna – Gregers Sall and Chris King
Sound: Hugo – Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
Original score: The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Rising star award: Adam Deacon
Academy fellowship: Martin Scorsese
Outstanding contribution to British cinema: John Hurt
Special visual effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler and David Vickery
Short animation: A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Short film: Pitch Black Heist – John Maclean and Geraldine O’Flynn
