DiCaprio favored for best-actor prize at Britain’s BAFTAs

Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first BAFTA Best Actor award tonight (February 14).

Collecting the award on her behalf, director Lenny Abrahamson said she was on the shoot for Kong: Skull Island. “I could not have done this journey without you”, he said.

Alejandro gave a very wonderful speech in which he thanked everyone who was involved in his flick and then he passed it off to anyone else on stage who wanted to thank anyone!

He also paid tribute to his Titanic co-star and “home girl” Kate Winslet.

He is also favourite to win the best actor Oscar in two weeks’ time.

Nearing the end of an awards season in which the three highest-profile guilds awarded their top prizes to different films – the Producers Guild of America went for The Big Short, the Screen Actors Guild went for Spotlight and the Directors Guild of America went for The Revenant – many Oscar-watchers turned on Sunday to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, hoping for some sort of a sign about which film might be out front.

Supporting performer prizes went to Mark Rylance, a soft-spoken Soviet agent in “Bridge of Spies“, and Kate Winslet, an Apple executive in “Steve Jobs“. Her previous wins were for “Sense and Sensibility ” and “The Reader”.

She beat Alicia Vikander, Julie Walters, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rooney Mara.

Collecting the award, Winslet said she was quite “overwhelmed”.

‘Michael Fassbender you lead us through this – you are an extraordinary actor’.

Mark Rylance picked up best supporting actor for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies but is shadowed by Sylvester Stallone in Creed, which was not nominated for a Bafta.

Among the other winners, Brie Larson, who wasn’t there, won best leading actress for her portrayal of a mother held captive in Room.

Brooklyn, the Irish immigrant drama starring Saoirse Ronan, was named outstanding British film, while Amy took the documentary award. The Force Awakens also won best special visual effects.

Both films had won these races at Saturday’s WGA Awards, which moved those prizes to the start of the evening so that these BAFTA nominees could jet off to London.

So what should one make of the results from the 69th BAFTA Awards?

British costume designer Jenny Beavan won the costume award for Mad Max: Fury Road – but host Stephen Fry attracted animosity on Twitter when he suggested her outfit made her look like a “bag lady”.

Sidney Poitier, the first African-American to receive a best actor Oscar for his role in 1963’s “Lilies of the Field”, was honored with a BAFTA Fellowship, the highest accolade, for his outstanding and exceptional contribution to the business. And, as expected, Oscar favorite “Inside Out” won Best Animated Feature.

Opening up about the hands on filming process, Leo added: “We did absolutely everything we could and put our heart and soul into this movie”. And our aim and mission was really to try and tell the truth about her’.

Alan Rickman, Omar Sharif, David Bowie, Wes Craven, Sir Christopher Lee and composer James Horner were remembered in a moving in memoriam reel during the ceremony.

Competing with the screams of excited fans, the group chanted “cameras, lights, action, diversity and satisfaction” to promote their message.