Chiwetel Ejiofor has won best actor at the 2014 Baftas for his role inSteve McQueen’s slavery drama 12 Years a Slave.
He drew huge cheers as he reached the podium to receive his award. “I’m so deeply honoured and privileged,” he said, thanking director Steve McQueen. “Thank you for you work, your artisty and your passion in this project … to make it of such value, of such worth. This is yours by the way – I’m going to keep it, that’s the kind of guy I am, but it’s yours.”
He thanked his fellow cast members, including Michael Fassbender, saying “you are a marvel” and called them all “an extraordinary group – everybody bringing an extraordinary passion to this project”. He also thanked his family, telling his new niece and nephew, Hero and River, that: “we will endeavour to make a world you are proud of.”
Ejiofor appears in almost every scene of the film playing Solomon Northup, a free man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw described it as “a performance of incomparable heroism and presence”.
Excepting his OBE, it is Ejiofor’s first major award following five Golden Globe nominations, along with a Bafta nomination for the rising star award in 2006. He has blended supporting roles in big-budget Hollywood fare (2012, Salt) with British productions (Love Actually, Dirty Pretty Things) and acclaimed TV movies and series, including last year’s Dancing on the Edge.
Outstanding British Film — “Gravity”
Director — Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Actor — Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Actress — Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Supporting Actor — Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Supporting Actress — Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
Rising Star — Will Poulter
Original Screenplay — Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Adapted Screenplay — Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, “Philomena”
Film Not in the English Language — “The Great Beauty”
Music — “Gravity”
Cinematography — “Gravity”
Editing — “Rush”
Production Design — “The Great Gatsby”
Costume Design — “The Great Gatsby”
Sound — “Gravity”
Visual Effects — “Gravity”
Makeup and Hair — “American Hustle”
Animated Feature — “Frozen”
Short Film — “Room 8”
Short Animation — “Sleeping With the Fishes”
Documentary — “The Act of Killing”
Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema — Peter Greenaway
Academy Fellowship — Helen Mirren
British Debut — Writer-director Kieran Evans, “Kelly + Victor”
He is currently filming Z for Zachariah, a post-apocalyptic drama co-starring Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie, and will next appear in Half of a Yellow Sun, an adaptation of the novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.