Helen Mirren at the BAFTAs

  • Helen Mirren dedicated her Best Leading Actress BAFTA to her “mentor” Ian Richardson, who died on Friday. The pair met at the start of Helen’s carerr in 1968 while filming A Midsummer Night’s Dream. On accepting her award last night, she said: “Many years ago when I started off as an actress I had the immense good fortune to work with an actor who was so generous in sharing his craft. He became a mentor to me, he helped me believe in myself. Ian Richardson, I’m not too sure I would be here today if it wasn’t for you.” To lighten the mood again, she added: “I would also like to thank the corgis.”
  • But earlier in the evening, she hadn’t been quite so composed for an interview for Sky News. A reporter covering stars arrivals at the ceremony approached Helen for an interview with the warning that Sky News is “a channel where people don’t swear”. Helen retorted: “Where people don’t swear? F**king nutbag!” then quickly added: “Is it [the broadcast] live? I’m sorry - I do apologise. That was an appalling thing to do. It was a joke and I take it back.”
  • Judi Dench - who was running against Helen in the Best Actress category - knew from the outset that she wouldn’t be taking home her tenth BAFTA of her career last night. She said on the way into the ceremony: “There’s no chance of me winning this evening - I’m a betting woman so I’ll put money on Helen.”