By Chiara Piacentini
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article contains material that may be harmful or distressing.
This year’s British Academy Film Awards went off without a hitch — well, almost, except for Prince William’s now-viral gaffe while presenting the Rising Star Award to “How to Have Sex” star Mia McKenna-Bruce. The awards took place on Feb. 18 in London’s stunning Royal Festival Hall.
The Prince of Wales made the mistake of saying that he thought Mckenna-Bruce “had a lot of fun all the way through,” regarding her performance in the film. Given that Mckenna-Bruce’s character was raped in this movie, his comment was not taken well, according to the tone of some reports.
PinkNews called his mistake “a pretty major blunder” while Buzzfeed described it as “cringe” in their headline.
Even the three other nominees alongside McKenna-Bruce made faces that suggested to viewers they were taken aback by this comment. However, a report from Yahoo later confirmed that this moment was taken out of context.
“It appears just to be an extremely awkward photo op that should never have happened to begin with,” Yahoo said of the situation.
Other than that awkward moment, the event ran relatively smoothly with a total of 25 awards given out by the end of the night. “Oppenheimer” took the cake for the most awards won that day with a score of seven trophies, just two trophies shy of the BAFTA award record.
“Oppenheimer” won Best Film, Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr., and Cinematography. The director of the film, Christopher Nolan, won a few of those seven awards himself, including Best Direction; this is a first for him, as he has never personally won a BAFTA.
“Poor Things” came in second place for most awards won, winning nearly half of its 11 nominations. Both Cillian Murphy and Emma Stone earned a well-deserved leading actor award for their role in their respective movies.
“Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” earned several nominations, but they surprisingly did not take home any wins.
Viewers have yet to see a Black actress awarded a BAFTA. Although both the “The Color Purple” star Fantasia Barrino and “Rye Lane” actress Vivian Oprah earned BAFTA nominations, they ended up going home trophyless.
On a more positive note, singer and songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor received rave reviews for her performance of her greatest hit, “Murder on the Dance Floor,” during the awards ceremony. This song was featured in the BAFTA-nominated film, “Saltburn.”
We also can’t forget about some of the stunning looks from the BAFTA red carpet. Some of the most memorable gowns included actress Taylor Russell’s jaw-dropping swan dress. “The Queen’s Gambit” star Anya Taylor-Joy also had a unique choice of dress, sporting a dramatic color-shifting hood.
All in all, this year’s BAFTA awards ceremony was a mostly successful run, as usual. It will be interesting to see what the organizers decide to come up with next year.
