It’s a big week in film as the Academy Awards nominations were announced with a host of British stars earning nods in the major categories!
And it not just British stars that are riding high, but the industry as a whole looks healthy, especially following last year’s Oscar success for 12 Years a Slave and Gravity.
Eddie Redmayne is facing fellow British screen favorite Benedict Cumberbatch in the race to be named best actor, Eddie for The Theory of Everything and Benedict for the Imitation Game.
The pair are up against Hollywood heavyweights Michael Keaton, Steve Carell and Bradley Cooper for the award.
Cumberbatch, who plays codebreaker Alan Turing in the film, said he was “knocked for six” by the nomination.
“So excited and honoured to receive this recognition,” he said.
“It’s wonderful to be included by the Academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents, who are both actors, and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Eddie’s co-star in the Stephen Hawking biopic, Felicity Jones, and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) were both nominated for the leading actress gong, while Keira Knightley is in the running for best supporting actress.
Eddie’s portrayal of Hawking has already won him a Golden Globe and he will be among the favorites to win the Oscar statuette.
The actor said on Thursday: “It’s the crack of dawn and I’ve gone from being in a deep dark sleep to hearing this news. I can’t quite articulate what I’m feeling but I feel pretty good”.
He played down any rivalry with his “old friend” Benedict Cumberbatch, calling him a “lovely, wondrous, human being”.
“We’ve been texting this morning and there have been a lot of exclamation marks of euphoria so there’s definitely no competition there,” he said.
Redmayne revealed he would stay up to watch the Oscars as a child but would “never ever dream I’d get to go. Frankly being invited to the party is an extraordinary thing”.
Best actress hopefuls Jones and Pike face stiff competition from Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard.
Jones admitted she was too nervous to watch the nominations live.
“It’s so nerve-wracking I couldn’t watch it”, she told the BBC. “I was just waiting and I got a phone call from my brother. He was very sweet, he just said: “you’ve done it, you’ve got it.
“I was just so excited. It’s one of those things you never quite expect. It’s just fantastic news”.
Knightley, who stars alongside Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, is nominated for the best supporting actress award alongside Oscar’s veteran Meryl Streep making it nineteenth Academy Award nomination. Oo-er!
Neil Patrick Harris will host the 87th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 22. Although Harris has hosted the Tony Awards four times and the Emmy Awards twice, this will is his first time hosting the Oscars.
Can’t wait!
