Pigs, punches and a foam red carpet: 10 stunning BAFTA moments – ranked | film

10. Cutting a poem by Russell Crowe (2002)

The most memorable moments at a BAFTA Awards are usually fewer than, say, an Oscars. This is partly because the ceremony is not broadcast live, so viewers are primarily treated to edited highlights. However, when Russell Crowe won the A Beautiful Mind award in 2002, his speech was cut. This was because he decided to recite Patrick Kavanagh’s hagiography, and it continued like that. When Crowe realized what had happened, he tracked down the show’s director at the afterparty, pinned him against a wall, called him a “cunt,” and then allegedly kicked three chairs across the room.

9. John Hurt punches photographer (1989)

In 1989, the awards were broadcast live. The most noteworthy moment in the pub came next when John Hurt, apparently the worst for dressing, shouted “Fuck it or I’ll kill you” at a group of 30 photographers, whom he then tried to fight. This resulted in some amazing photos. Hurt himself was unrepentant, telling the Daily Express the next morning: “I’m a bad, bad boy, and I like it.”

8. BAFTA Too White (2017, 2020, 2023)

Getting called out for a lack of diversity is par for the course for award shows, but the BAFTAs seem to get called out more than most. In 2017 (the year of Moonlight and Fences), only white people were nominated in the Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director categories, leading to the hashtag #BaftaSoWhite (as it was called then) trending on Twitter. It trended again in 2020, prompting Bafta to conduct a formal review of its operations, expand membership to include more people from underrepresented backgrounds, implement unconscious bias training for members and dozens of other measures. But guess what? And it’s trending again in 2023.

7. Pip Turns Up (1996)

The guest of honor at the 1996 awards ceremony was a pig. The ostensible reason for this was that Pip had been released that year, leading many to believe that the little pig in the audience was Pip himself. However, it cannot be. Not only did the film use 48 different pigs during production, but they would all have grown to a gigantic, unmanageable size by the time of the ceremony. In other words, someone took a random pig to the BAFTA Awards and got away with it.

6. Joanna Lumley’s Anti-Monologue (2019)

Joanna Lumley is a national treasure, but she’s not necessarily a natural comedienne. Such was the case in 2019, when she hosted an awards ceremony and found herself having to perform the opening monologue, composed entirely of the scientific opposite of jokes. To Steve Coogan, who starred in Stan and Ollie: “This is another gorgeous dress you made me wear.” To Spike Lee, who directed Blackkklansman: “I’m surprised it did so well at the Klan Film Festival.” There was an eerie silence over the whole affair, and Lumley received so many sad looks of pity from the nominees, that when Bafta came to upload it to her YouTube channel, most of her routines were missing.

5. Jack Nicholson’s acceptance speech (1975)

1975 was a hell of a year for Jack Nicholson, who somehow managed to win Best Lead Actor BAFTAs for Chinatown and The Last Detail at the same time. What’s even more surprising is that he couldn’t attend the ceremony because he was busy filming another classic: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. However, as an apology, he sent out the most well-received video ever. Dressed as Randall McMurphy and surrounded by his colleagues, Nicholson smashes a window, acts increasingly agitated, and is then taken out by Nurse Ratched.

4. Champagne Red Carpet (2002)

Inviting Hollywood greats to wear skimpy outfits in London in winter – when it’s always freezing and often raining – was one of Bafta’s most ridiculous jokes. However, in 2002, rain ended up reacting with flame retardant chemicals sprayed on the red carpet, resulting in the most famous people on Earth having to walk through the cold approximation of a foam party at a regional nightclub. It has been said that the commotion ruined Dame Judi Dench’s shoes. For shame.

3. Lewis Mal is nice about British food (1975)

Award winners typically use their speeches to reflect on their illustrious careers. Not so for director Louis Malle, who, when winning best film in 1975, used his 26-second speech to declare that although “about 265 people” warned him that the food served at the Baftas would be “the worst meal of my life”, he actually enjoyed what turned out to be “a very good meal”.

2. Astronaut Acrobatics (2019)

In 2019, the BAFTA Awards commissioned Cirque du Soleil to open the show with a spectacular interpretive dance centered around the moon landing. This was likely because Damien Chazelle’s front man was an early award nominee. However, the film was disqualified from most major categories, meaning the show found itself saddled with a bunch of expensive set pieces based on a film that would never win anything substantive. It was a mistake the Baftas won’t make again, unless it opens Sunday’s ceremony with an expensive tribute to Gaby Dollhouse: The Movie.

1. “Angela Bassett did the thing!” (2023)

Look, I only agreed to write this list so I could put it at number one. Ariana DeBose’s stunning, disorienting 2023 musical number remains my favorite moment of all time. To recap: At the beginning of the show, DeBose performed a song that celebrates women in general. However, this was segued into a dedicated rap song where DeBose mentioned each female nominee by name. “Charlotte Wells, we love Aftersun,” she began, drawing astonished looks from the audience. But she pressed on. “Georgia, Helen, and Blue Jean are the one,” she continued, giving a brilliant shout-out to the team behind the scathing drama about Section 28. Shortly thereafter, DeBose rhymed “Electric Sickness” (a heartbreaking documentary about a man whose life was ruined by an electrical allergy) with “What a massacre.” And then, at this point, looking out of breath and exhausted, she exclaimed the immortal phrase “Angela Bassett did the thing!” While convincingly simulating a mosquito attack. The best thing ever shown on television, honestly.