Baftas 2021: All The Major Winners & Losers
8. Best Actor In A Leading Role - Anthony Hopkins
Wow.
Chadwick Boseman had swept up the board for Best Actor across all the ceremonies
and was the favourite to pick up the Bafta...until Sir Anthony Hopkins' name was read out.
The celebrated Welsh actor who won for his role as a father coping with dementia, in the imaginatively titled The Father, was not even the second favourite to win Best Actor. Riz Ahmed's mesmerising turn in Sound of Metal was speculated to potentially win the 'British' vote and disrupt the late great Chadwick Boseman's award streak. However, Hopkins aged 83 becomes one of - if not - the oldest Bafta winner for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Similar to McDormand, Hopkins was not present on Zoom to accept the award so The Father's director Florian Zeller accepted the award on his behalf. The director, who had won earlier for Best Adapted Screenplay, thanked 'Tony' for trusting him and his hard work on the sensitivly told drama.