Sinners star Wunmi Mosaku wins Bafta as One Battle After Another takes best film
Wunmi Mosaku said she was "really shocked" after winning the Bafta for her role in the musical horror film sinners, a night that also saw One Battle After Another crowned best film and Robert Aramayo named best actor for I Swear.
Sinners and Mosaku's acceptance
Mosaku, 39, who was born in Nigeria and grew up in Manchester, won the best supporting actress prize for her portrayal of Hoodoo priestess Annie in the film Sinners and said she found parts of herself "I thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in. " She moved with her family from the historic Nigerian city of Zaria to Manchester when she was a one-year-old baby, and at the winners' press conference she said: "It always feels good when you feel like your story and your experience is being represented with integrity and creativity. "
Firsts, past wins and personal lines
Mosaku is the first black British winner of the supporting actress category at the Bafta film awards, and she said seeing "black women feeling seen, loved, valued, treasured, and the power of our ancestry and the spirituality" made her feel kinship with women she had never met. She thanked her daughter — "you are my greatest teacher" — and revealed she was pregnant, saying of the moment: "I was like, 'That can't be right'. I was really shocked and I lost my breath and couldn't quite believe it. " Mosaku's award comes nine years after she won the same category at the TV Baftas for Damilola, Our Loved Boy, the drama about the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed while walking home from a library in London; when that programme aired in 2016 she said: "I grew up on an estate in Manchester and people I've known from school have died in gang trouble and I always thought, 'If I'd been on a different estate at a different time, it could have been me'. "
One Battle After Another heads the night
One Battle After Another won best film, defeating Hamnet and Sinners, and Sara Murphy accepted the award with a tribute to Adam Somner. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film had been nominated for a total of 14 BAFTAs, and the ceremony featured moments in which Anderson told people who said films weren't good to "piss off" and begged to go to a bar. Glenn Close presented the final award and the moment reminded some in the room of her turn in Knives Out.
Acting winners: surprises and milestones
Robert Aramayo was named best actor for I Swear in a result described as a shock; he looked speechless and fought back tears during his speech, and the crowd reaction included actors visibly pleased — Leonardo DiCaprio was singled out as looking thrilled. Jessie Buckley won best actress for Hamnet; she described her first time in London wearing "nuclear" fake tan, and Cillian Murphy presented the best actress prize to applause. At one point, with the ceremony's momentum shifting, someone noted "Just 12 minutes to go and the Baftas have finally caught fire. "
Sean Penn, broadcast details and odd moments
Sean Penn picked up his first ever Bafta when he won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another, a prize he did not collect in person because he was not in London. The win marked a third-time lucky outcome: he had earlier nominations in 2003 for Mystic River and 21 Grams and in 2008 for Milk. The awards were hosted by Alan Cumming and the ceremony aired on BBC1 in the UK at 7 p. m. local time and on E! at 8 p. m. ET. Observers described the evening as a weird one with long monologues and montages, and a critic's take noted the biggest surprise winner in recent memory; another odd moment recalled that a man with Tourette syndrome shouted a swearword at Paddington Bear in the crowd.
What was praised and what comes next
Wunmi Mosaku and Jack O'Connell were singled out for praise for their roles in Sinners, which also won a Bafta for best original screenplay, and Mosaku has been tipped for an Oscar for her portrayal of Annie. Reactions and galleries were still rolling in as the night ended, and more coverage is expected in the next few hours, including Sarah Lee's backstage gallery.
