London got all glitzed up on Sunday night for the annual EE BAFTA Film Awards, and with it being the last major gongs given out before the Oscars, the stars turned out in force at the Royal Opera House to see who won.
And thanks to EE, I was on the red carpet, watching all the arrivals and able to get within touching distance of Leonardo DiCaprio (but I didn’t, because I didn’t want to be beaten up by his security).
After weeks and weeks of endless rain, London was fortunate to be dry and not too cold, a stark contrast to last year, when it poured with rain and everybody got drenched. To ensure there wasn’t a repeat, much of the red carpet was covered over this year, but in the end it wasn’t needed. That said, the giant, clear marquee certain made the whole shindig look very impressive.
Us web folk were fortunate to be stationed opposite Fearne Cotton, who was co-hosting red carpet coverage for E!, which meant that when people came to speak to her we got a good view. That ensured early on Christoph Waltz showed up looking very happy – but then, as he’d been chosen to hand out Best Film, he had reason to smile.
It also became clear we were going to need to keep our eyes open, as while some stars were diligently doing the press line, others seemed to be trying to get up that carpet as quickly as possible. It meant I almost missed Tom Hardy, who appeared to be trying to look as if he was just a random fellow escorting a lady up a carpet.
Others meanwhile you couldn’t get off the carpet. For about half an hour before we actually laid eyes on him we could hear people screaming for Leo as he busily signed autographs up and down the line. Indeed this fan-mingling by many of the stars ensured that by the end there was a bit of a rush of celebs having to pass by and get into the venue as soon as they could, mainly because Prince Williams apparently isn’t allowed to walk up a carpet if anyone else is on it, and it it doesn’t make any different if you’re Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Christian Bale or even his own grandmother, Helen Mirren, who was there to deservedly be handed the BAFTA Fellowship.
Of course there was plenty of great fashion on show. To be honest I felt sorry for those who weren’t famous. Many of the women had obviously spent huge amounts of time getting dolled up and were looking amazing. There was no shortage of incredible gowns, but if they weren’t on a movie star, few were taking notice.
However of the famous, Cate Blanchett was looking as elegant as always and I personally liked Sally Hawking intricate dress. Oprah (yes, THE Oprah, who it turns out is allowed to be close to mere mortals) was also looking resplendent in both a beautiful red dress and with David Oyelowo on her arm. As David pointed out on the red carpet, Oprah is a massive over-achiever, she’s made three film, got an Oscar nomination for one and now a BAFTA nomination for another.
However the winner of best dressed for the night has to go to Lupita Nyong’o, who was absolutely breathtaking in a floor-length green gown. While you had to been keen-eyed for some stars, you could not miss her, as with her elegant beauty and perfectly balanced dress, your eye was drawn to her whereever she went.
It was also great to see We’re The Millers’ Will Poulter, who was a charming chap and busily chatting to those he passed. He did look pretty nervous though as he was up for the EE Rising Star Award, which he later won.
Something else I couldn’t help but notice is that Bradley Cooper has a permanent expression of his face where he looks like he’s done something naughty – it’s not just in his films. And Tom Hanks look just as much like someone’s smiley dad as you’d ever suspected.
There were so many celebs it was impossible to keep track of them all, and some, such as Submarine’s Craig Roberts and Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss, seemed to manage to get up the red carpet without many people even realising they were there.
As for the guys on show, I am pleased to report that Douglas Booth looks as handsome as he does on screen. Indeed he’s one of those people who appears so good in pictures he almost doesn’t look like a real person – but it turns out he is one. Sam Claflin was as strong-jawed and bright-eyed as you could hope on the arm of his new wife, Laura Haddock. I was also pleased to see ex-rugby star and LGBT ally Ben Cohen arrive. I’m not sure why he turned up other than for a night out, but it was good to see him anyway.
While Michael Fassbender was impressively beardy, he was still looking good on the red carpet, as was Brad Pitt, although I can’t say I was a big fan of his shaved-on-the-sides haircut (although he does have that for a film role).
Without naming any names, I’ll also confirm that a lot of these big celebs do look older in real life than they do on screen. When you see pictures or footage of many of these people, it’s incredible to think they’re the age they supposedly are, but in the flesh they actually look exactly as old as they should do. And then there’s Angelina Jolie, who looks exactly the same as the first time I saw her, about 14-years-ago.
In all it was a really good night, with a great turnout and everyone looking like they were very pleased to be there. And best of all, I didn’t freeze to death waiting for the film stars to show up.
Make sure you check out our gallery of Red Carpet arrivals.
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