By Mike Cidoni Lennox, Entertainment Reporter
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) --There was a bit of a British invasion at the Beverly Hills Hilton hotel, as BAFTA Los Angeles hosted its annual Britannia Awards, honoring film and television talent from both sides of the pond, including director Mike Leigh and actors Dame Judi Dench, Emma Watson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Robert Downey Jr.
But most of the attendees Thursday night were Brits — no surprise, given the party was thrown by the L.A. branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Downey received the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film, named after the legendary director of such films as "2001: A Space Odyssey"
"(The award) means a heck of a lot to me," said Downey. "I love British filmmakers, and they have such a great talent pool."
Oscar-winning actress Dench was honored with Albert R. ("Cubby") Broccoli Award for Worldwide Contribution in Entertainment, named after one of the original producers of the James Bond films.
Noted Dench, "Well, I'm rather overwhelmed by (the award), because I didn't ever expect to have a film career at all. I never knew Cubby Broccoli, although I know, of course, (Albert's daughter) Barbara Broccoli and (Barbara's half-brother and Bond-series producer) Michael Wilson very well. And I've had 17 years of doing Bond, which has been just wonderful. So, I'm very, very proud that I shall have something that is named after Cubby."
Dench and fellow honoree Watson posed together for photographers on the arrivals line.
Watson, named Britannia British Artist of the Year, said Dench is "just all soul and all grace and strength and beauty, and she really, for me, she's an iconic British actor. She's what you aspire to be."
The 79-year-old Dench is currently on a box-office roll, with her 2012 releases "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "Skyfall" and her Oscar-nominated 2013 "Philomena" all boasting worldwide grosses of more than $100 million each. Dench's next film is the sequel "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," hitting cinemas in February.
Dench said, "People like to say, 'When are you retiring?' Or 'When are you going to slow down?' That's all very rude in my family. We don't say any of that. I think if I stop, it'll be like a car: I shall run out of petrol and fall over. So, I plan not to that, if possible."
The BAFTA Los Angeles Jaguar Britannia Awards are set to air on BBC America 2 November.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More