The_Hollywood_Reporter__February_07_2018

Backlot
BAFTA
SO HOW IS THREE
BILLBOARDS BRITISH?
W
ith Stephen Fry having
given up his hosting
duties after a record
12 editions, BAFTA has turned
to arguably an even bigger British
national treasure for its latest
awards ceremony: Joanna Lumley,
who will be taking the reins
Feb. 18 at London’s famed Royal
Albert Hall. Ahead of the biggest
film awards outside the U.S.,
Lumley explains why she won’t be
making any political gags, how
the British equivalent of #MeToo
might look on the night and
whether her most famous onscreen
character — Absolutely Fabulous’
champers-guzzling Patsy — will
be making an appearance.
Do you have any nerves about
stepping into Stephen Fry’s welltrodden
BAFTA shoes?
Stephen is a huge friend of
mine. I shall do my level best to
fit into those huge shoes. He’s
such a consummate, easy, welcoming,
darling host, but we’re
different. So I shan’t copy him,
because you can’t do that. I’ll just
do my best to be me and make
everyone welcome.
Has he given you any tips?
He said something terribly funny
but very true: Nobody has ever
complained that an awards ceremony
is too short. He also told
me to remember that our job is as
host. We’re not the main entertainment;
we are literally the host.
We’re the silken strands that join
people together.
Do you think this will be a newer,
revamped BAFTAs with you at
the helm?
I don’t really want it to change.
There’s something quite serious
about all this. We’re the British
academy, and the Oscars are the
American academy, so this is the
senior prefects’ table.
Any particular hosting style you
like and might try to emulate?
I do a lot of awards ceremonies, so
I’m used to the whole easing people
on, easing people off, mopping
their tears. But I’m not a stand-up
‘ My Part Is to Be
Quite Dignified’
Joanna Lumley plans her
BAFTA takeover By Alex Ritman
comic. I’m not a satirist. I’m not
a political commentator. People
know me because I’ve been banging
around the block for 100
years, so why would I be someone
completely different?
You’ve already said you
won’t be pulling out any
Weinstein gags. How
about Trump? Brexit?
I’m not really going to do any
heavy political commentary,
because for people who do come
up and have something to say, it’s
absolutely up to them. It’s their
night, it’s not mine. My part is to
be quite dignified, but if everyone
else wants to put their pants on
their head and scream, that’s fine
by me.
How do you think the #MeToo
movement seen at the Golden
Globes will translate to the BAFTAs?
It’s going to be so interesting. I
noticed at the SAG Awards all
the girls were in gorgeous dresses.
So maybe the Golden Globes
British
Academy Film
Awards
Feb. 18
Royal Albert Hall
was the [only] night of wearing
black to protest. I’ll just see
whether people are still feeling
enough of it to warrant it going
on or feeling that we’ve got to
look to the future. We all
know … it’s all out in the
open now. The Golden
Globes have made everyone
so aware of it.
How about yourself, will you be
wearing black?
I don’t think so. But let’s put it like
this: I won’t be wearing shocking
pink. I want to look like a dignified
host. But I do think I’m going
to look pretty fab, not showy.
Any temptations to give Patsy a
brief whirl onstage, perhaps brandishing
a glass of champagne?
Well, I know I won’t be allowed a
glass of Bolly onstage, but sometimes
Patsy creeps through. She
doesn’t mean to, but sometimes
she just has to have a word. I’ll
try to keep her under control for
the night!
Martin McDonagh’s Midwestern
drama is up for a best Brit BAFTA
At the 2017 BAFTA Awards, the outstanding
British film honor went
to Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, a gritty
human tale about a carpenter from
the north of England and his nearexcruciating
struggle to navigate the
U.K.’s bureaucratic benefits system
after having a heart attack. In other
words, extremely British.
This year, among a crop of equally
British titles sits a rather unusual entry.
The nomination of Three Billboards
Outside Ebbing, Missouri, despite
director Martin McDonagh’s burgundy
British passport, has caused a little confusion
in the U.S. Not only is the film’s
main cast almost exclusively American,
but it also was shot in North Carolina,
is based on a real-life American story
and even includes the words “Ebbing,
Missouri” right there in the title. How,
exactly, is this film British?
The answer can be found in BAFTA’s
myriad list of rules and regulations.
To qualify for the outstanding
British film category, the rules state
that a film must “have significant
creative involvement by individuals
who are British (U.K. passport holders
or permanent resident in the U.K. for
at least 10 years up to and including
the eligibility period).”
Alongside McDonagh, Three
Billboards was produced by the British
duo of Graham Broadbent and Peter
Czernin for their Blueprint Pictures
(headquartered on London’s Great
Portland Street), with half the funding
coming from Film4, the movie arm of
U.K. network Channel 4.
“A film like this — which doesn’t
look remotely British — does seem
to crop up each year,” admits one
industry insider.
As it happens, last year there were
two: American Honey (backed by
Film4 and the British Film Institute) and
Under the Shadow (which was in Farsi
but produced by U.K.-based Wigwam
Films). And in 2016, the winner was
Brooklyn, named after the borough but
produced by Brits, written by a Brit and
backed by BBC Films. — A.R.
Woody Harrelson (left) and Sam Rockwell in
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
LUMLEY: MATT HOLYOAK/BAFTA/CAMERA PRESS/REDUX. THREE: MERRICK MORTON/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
80
FEBRUARY 7, 2018