Jewish talent scoops big awards at BAFTAS
Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison and Jesse Eisenberg top the list of winners at ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall
They may have tried to cancel us across the Arts, but we stood loud and proud at the BAFTAs las night with both best actor and best actress category being won by a Jew, plus a host of other awards and accolades.
Adrien Brody won Best Actor – his first BAFTA – for his portrayal of a fictional Hungarian Jewish architect in The Brutalist, while Mikey Madison, dressed in bespoke Prada, beat off tough competition from favourite Demi Moore to scoop Best Actress for Anora, in which she plays a stripper and sex worker of Russian descent. She was also nominated as EE Bafta Rising Star award.
Meanwhile Jesse Eisenberg won Best Original Screenplay for A Real Pain based on his own experience reconnecting with his family’s Polish Jewish heritage. Kieran Culkin, who is not Jewish but picked up Best Supporting Actor as Jewish cousin Benji in the film, will keep his acting chops fresh upon taking the stage as Ricky Roma in David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning Glengarry Glen Ross. The Broadway revival, directed by Tony & Olivier Award-winner Patrick Marber who recently gave us What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank will preview at the Palace Theatre near Times Square in Manhattan from March 10.
British composer Daniel Blumberg picked up a BAFTA for best original score for The Brutalist, and Jeff Goldblum was chosen to play the piano during the in memoriam section.
Timothee Chalamet was also up for best actor for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, and Jeremy Strong — who has Jewish heritage — was nominated as best supporting actor for playing Jewish lawyer and Donald Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn in The Apprentice.
In his acceptance speech, Adrien Brody shared a moving tribute to England, admitting: “It’s felt quite a bit like home lately.”
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