British stars vying for Bafta glory tonight ahead of Oscars

The nation’s cinema industry is gearing up for its biggest night of the year tonight, with Oscar-nominated actors like Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rosamund Pike all vying for Bafta awards. Two of the favourites for best film – Alejandro Inarritu’s “Birdman” and Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” – hail from the United States but the focus of the night is likely to be on home-grown talent. Britain’s Felicity Jones, an up-and-coming star still waiting for her big break, is nominated for her role as disabled astrophysicist Stephen Hawking’s wife Jane in “The Theory of Everything”. She’l face stiff competition in the best actress category from fellow Briton Pike, nominated for “Gone Girl”, as well as US stars Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”), Amy Adams (“Big Eyes”) and Reese Witherspoon (“Wild”).

Britain has had a great year across the board, across writers, producers, actors and directors. It’s a very, very good time.

Benedict Cumberbatch, British actor

Cumberbatch, who plays the troubled World War II codebreaker Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game”, and Redmayne, praised for his role as Hawking, are the two names to watch for best actor. The “Sherlock Holmes” star and Redmayne are up for best actor against Ralph Fiennes for his role as a concierge in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Michael Keaton as an out-of-luck actor in “Birdman” and Jake Gyllenhaal, the shady video paparazzo in the thriller “Nightcrawler”. On the eve of the ceremony, the movers and shakers in British cinema partied in Kensington Palace – the London home of Prince William and his wife Kate – and producer Harvey Weinstein will be hosting a big bash after the ceremony.

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