Eddie Redmayne tipped to beat Benedict Cumberbatch to Best Actor BAFTA on Sunday

EXPRESS
ANNIE PRICE
Published: 11:15, Sat, February 7, 2015



The 33-year-old is tipped to add the gong to his trophy cabinet at the star-studded awards on Sunday.

Eddie, who has been lauded by the critics for his portrayal of scientist Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, has already won a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe for the role.

If the London-born actor finds himself victorious at the BAFTAs it should make up for his last trip to the awards.

The star missed his big moment in 2013, when he was set to present the award for original screenplay, after he was suddenly taken ill backstage.

Eddie and Benedict with J. K. Simmons

That left Lincoln star Sally Field to come on stage alone and tell the audience: "He seems to be puking his guts out back there", before giving the award to Quentin Tarantino for his western Django Unchained.

The actor had to make do with a kind word from his Les Miserables co-star Anne Hathaway who confirmed his illness when she picked up her award for Best Supporting Actress, saying: "Eddie, feel better. I would be holding your hair back, but - food poisoning is just the worst."

Eddie faces tough competition in the Best Actor category, including fellow British star Benedict Cumberbatch for his role in The Imitation Game, as well as Michael Keaton for Birdman, Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler.

His on-screen wife, Felicity Jones, could triumph as well after she was nominated for the best actress award against stars including Amy Adams and Reese Witherspoon.

The film is based on the memoirs of Hawking's ex-wife Jane which deals with their relationship, his scientific success and the onset of motor neurone disease which left him severely disabled.

Felicity also faces competition from Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike and Julianne Moore for her emotional portrayal of an Alzheimer's sufferer in Still Alice.

Other nominations include nods for Keira Knightley and Imelda Staunton for best supporting actress and Steve Carell and Ethan Hawke for best supporting actor.

The awards, seen as a dry run for the Oscars, will be handed out at London's Royal Opera House.

Among the other awards presented on the night is the Rising Star, which recognises the best new talent.

Unbroken actor Jack O'Connell is among those nominated along with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who starred in last year's period drama Belle as a mixed-race aristocrat, and Margot Robbie, who first found fame playing Donna Freedman in TV soap Neighbours and has gone on to appear in The Wolf Of Wall Street.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/556740/Eddie-Redmayne-beat-Benedict-Cumberbatch-Best-Actor-BAFTA

Oscar Nominations Are In For 2015 - Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike Lead British Charge! (FULL NOMINATIONS LIST)

The Huffington Post UK |
By Caroline Frost
Posted: 15/01/2015 13:47 GMT Updated: 15/01/2015 16:59 GMT



British hopes will be riding high for this year's Academy Awards, with actors Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike all getting Oscar nominations for their work.

Eddie Redmayne's nod follows his triumph at the Golden Globes where he won Best Leading Actor in a Drama for his transformation into scientist Stephen Hawking in the moving drama 'The Theory of Everything'.

Benedict Cumberbatch is also recognised for his work playing a brilliant but challenged scientist, for his part the role of mathematician Alan Turing in 'The Imitation Game'.

Fellow Brit David Oyelowo missed out on a Best Actor nod for 'Selma', although the Martin Luther King biopic did score a nod in the Best Film category.

These actors will be up against Michael Keaton, celebrated for his sparky comeback turn in 'Birdman'. Michael also walked off with a Golden Globe for his role last week, and will surely be Eddie's biggest competition.

It's not all about the men, though. Former Bond girl Rosamund Pike has been nominated for her career-changing turn as the beautiful but unpredictable Amy Dunne in David Fincher's thriller 'Gone Girl', adapted from Gillian Flynn's bestseller.

Felicity Jones has also been tipped for her role of Stephen Hawking's wife Jane, opposite Eddie Redmayne.

These two will be up against firm favourite for her role in 'Still Alice', Julianne Moore, as well as Marion Cotillard and Reese Witherspoon.

'Birdman' and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' share leading status for the honours, with nine nominations apiece.

READ HERE FOR FULL NOMINATION LIST: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/01/15/oscar-nominations-eddie-redmayne-benedict-cumberbatch-rosamund-pike_n_6477240.html

L.A. Film Critics Association 2014 Complete Winner's List: Tom Hardy, 'Boyhood' Win Big!

JUST JARED
December 7, 2014



The winners have been officially announced for the 2014 Los Angeles Film Critics Association!

The film Boyhood took home a total of four awards including Best Picture, best director (Richard Linklater), actress (Patricia Arquette), and best editing.

Other notable winners include Tom Hardy (Locke) for Best Actor, with Michael Keaton (Birdman) as runner up.

Agata Kulesza won Best Supporting Actress for Ida with the runner up going to Rene Russo for Nightcrawler.

Click inside for the entire list of winners from the 2014 Los Angeles Film Critics Association…

Best picture: Boyhood. Runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Best actor: Tom Hardy, Locke. Runner-up: Michael Keaton, Birdman.

Best director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood. Runner-up: Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Best foreign-language film: Ida. Runner-up: Winter Sleep.

Best screenplay: Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Runner-up: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo, Birdman.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.justjared.com/2014/12/07/l-a-film-critics-association-2014-complete-winners-list-tom-hardy-boyhood-win-big/

Michael Keaton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Steve Carell signal lift-off for Oscar's Best Actor category

HITFIX
By Kristopher Tapley  

TELLURIDE — If you asked me to pick between the three commanding, sure-fire awards-contending lead actor performances on display at this year's Telluride Film Festival, I'd have a break down. Yet that's just what Academy voters will surely be asked to do in a few months' time, with added pressure in the form of whoever fills out the rest of the competitive category.

In "Birdman," Michael Keaton may well end up putting forth the most compelling case for a win. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but some things are just patently obvious. Keaton is resurrected by this film, a tried-and-true narrative that we just saw play out last year with Matthew McConaughey. More than that, he's revealing shades of a character that will no doubt connect with actors, presenting the very id of a soul desperate to perform but hamstrung and even quarantined by the realities of the "business" of "show business."

In "The Imitation Game," Benedict Cumberbatch delivers his career-best work in a biopic that is sure to find Academy love and adoration across the board. "Birdman" certainly left a crater, but Morten Tyldum's film feels very much like the breakout of the festival. It's on everyone's lips and I've overheard more than a few compare the experience to the "King's Speech" coming out of 2010. And a lot of that stems from the undeniable layers Cumberbatch exhibits in his performance as ill-fated computer pioneer Alan Turing, finding graceful emotional notes amid the otherwise eccentric playground of the film's subject.


Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/best-actor-oscar-race-heats-up-in-telluride#vsIywHbc493cuzel.99