Dame Shirley Bassey opened the 75th BAFTA Awards with a stunning performance of Diamonds Are Forever (1971), to mark the 60th Anniversary of the James Bond franchise.
Australia’s Rebel Wilson served as the evenings host, poking fun at the seemingly never ending speculation surrounding the casting the next James Bond actor.
“Now I know there’s been a lot of speculation about who’s going to be the next James Bond, and I know there might be some people in the audience tonight hoping that it might be them,” Wilson said, before the camera flashed to actors Sebastian Stan and Daniel Kaluuya.
“But fellas, hold on to your martini’s, because (Bond producers) the Broccolis have let me announce it, here and now. This is a scoop, OK,” she told the audience.
“I’m proud to announce that the new James Bond … will be me,” before revealing a James Bond inspired leg tattoo.
You did it, @TroyKotsur! Now it's time to celebrate your first BAFTA win (and also make that James Bond idea happen) ❤️ #EEBAFTAs pic.twitter.com/6HgiGAALFJ
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) March 13, 2022
While accepting his award for Best Supporting Actor, Tony Kotsur (CODA), the first deaf actor to win a BAFTA Award, congratulated the franchise on its 60th Anniversary, and threw his hat into the ring as a potential candidate for the first deaf James Bond.
“I’d just like to say congratulations to James Bond 007 for the 60th Anniversary. Have you considered, maybe, a deaf James Bond?”
No Time To Die, nominated for five BAFTA Awards, came away with one win for ‘Best Editing’. The award was accepted by editors Tom Cross and Elliot Graham, who praised Daniel Craig for resuscitating the series with Casino Royale (2006), and dedicated their award to the late Peter Hunt, who edited the first James Bond Dr. No in 1962, before going on to direct On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969.
Lashana Lynch won the ‘Rising Star Award’, voted for by the public, for her role as Nomi in No Time To Die (2021).
No Time To Die lost out to Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast for ‘Outstanding British Film’, and to Dune for ‘Sound’, ‘Cinematography’, and ‘Special Visual Effects’.
