BAFTAs 2020: Asim Chaudry pokes fun at Laurence Fox’s controversial 1917 remark as he tells Sam Mendes to call him if he ‘needs a brown actor’
The 73rd British Academy Film Awards kicked off on Sunday with a tongue-in-cheek reference to Laurence Fox’s recent controversy.
In a sketch featuring People Just Do Nothing star Asim Chaudry and 1917 director Sam Mendes, the comic asked the filmmaker to call his ‘agent’ Laurence if he ‘ever needs a brown actor in one of his war films.’
It comes after Laurence was forced to apologise the Sikh community after he sparked a race row by claiming the inclusion of a turban-wearing soldier in 1917 was ‘incongruous’, but went onto insist he ‘stands by everything he said.’
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Cheeky: The 2020 BAFTAs featured a hilarious reference to Laurence Fox’s 1917 controversy on Sunday, in a sketch featuring People Just Do Nothing star Asim Chaudry
At the star of the show, Asim appeared to be ‘auditioning’ stars to play the so-called Voice Of God in the ceremony with director Sam one of the main contenders.
The funnyman seemed unimpressed with Sam’s attempt at narration, but suggested: ‘If you do need anymore brown guys for your war films contact my agent, it’s Laurence Fox.’
Laurence had previously sparked outrage when he questioned the inclusion of a turban-wearing soldier in 1917.
Outrageous: Laurence had previously sparked outrage when he questioned the inclusion of a turban-wearing soldier in 1917
Funny: During the sketch, Sam Mendes appeared to be auditioning to play the ‘voice of God’ during the awards ceremony
Speaking on podcast, The Delingpod, Laurence said: ‘It’s very heightened awareness of the colour of someone’s skin because of the oddness in the casting. Even in 1917 they’ve done it with a Sikh soldier.
‘Which is great, it’s brilliant, but you’re suddenly aware there were Sikhs fighting in this war. And you’re like ‘ok’. You’re now diverting me away from what the story is.’
After a huge backlash for his comments, Laurence took to Twitter to apologise for his statement,
Not me! The funnyman seemed unimpressed with Sam’s attempt at narration, but suggested: ‘If you do need anymore brown guys for your war films contact my agent, it’s Laurence Fox’
He said: ‘Fellow humans who are #Sikhs. I am as moved by the sacrifices your relatives made as I am by the loss of all those who die in war, whatever creed or colour.
‘Please accept my apology for being clumsy in the way I have expressed myself over this matter in recent days.’
But in a follow up tweet soon, referencing his previous claims that ‘woke’ people are ‘fundamentally racist,’ he said: ‘I stand by everything else I said and will continue to do so. Sleep well.’
Frontman: The ceremony was hosted by Graham Norton for the first time, and the Irish chat show host didn’t hold back in referencing the outrage around the awards’ lack of diversity
The ceremony was hosted by Graham Norton for the first time, and the Irish chat show host didn’t hold back in referencing the recent outrage around the awards’ lack of diversity.
Opening the show with a monologue, he said: ‘I think this will finally be the year that men finally break through! High five!
‘But there’s been a lot of chat about the white male privilege, and you can kind of see why, 11 nominations for Joker, it’s the story about a white man who makes himself even whiter.’
Naughty: Graham also referenced the BAFTAs vow to be more sustainable by asking guests to shun a new outfit in favour of something old
Graham also referenced the BAFTAs vow to be more sustainable by asking guests to shun a new outfit in favour of something old.
He said: ‘A huge thank you should be made to my American friends, because it takes ages to sail across the Atlantic, it’s the eco-awards!
‘This year BAFTA asked us to make sustainable fashion choices. this suit is older than Florence Pugh!’
The host even took a moment to poke fun at the panned musical adaptation Cats, saying: ‘Now, I should add, don’t be too concerned tonight because you are in safe hands
‘I’m not going to be mean to anyone, because you might know in my other job I’m a chat show host, which means apparently I have never seen a film I didn’t really enjoy.
‘It’s true. I loved Cats. No, I did. Not even joking. It was brilliant. Cats, but with hands. So clever. I loved it.’
BAFTAs 2020: THE WINNERS
BEST FILM
1917 Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Jayne-Ann Tenggren – WINNER
THE IRISHMAN Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
JOKER Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae
Joker has earned the most nods with 11 nominations
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
1917 Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Jayne-Ann Tenggren, Krysty Wilson-Cairns – WINNER
BAIT Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite
FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
ROCKETMAN Dexter Fletcher, Adam Bohling, David Furnish, David Reid, Matthew Vaughn, Lee Hall
SORRY WE MISSED YOU Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
THE TWO POPES Fernando Meirelles, Jonathan Eirich, Dan Lin, Tracey Seaward, Anthony McCarten
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
BAIT Mark Jenkin (Writer/Director), Kate Byers, Linn Waite (Producers) – WINNER
FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab (Director/Producer), Edward Watts (Director)
MAIDEN Alex Holmes (Director)
ONLY YOU Harry Wootliff (Writer/Director)
RETABLO Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio (Writer/Director)*
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE FAREWELL Lulu Wang, Daniele Melia
FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
PAIN AND GLORY Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
PARASITE Bong Joon-ho – WINNER
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur
DOCUMENTARY
AMERICAN FACTORY Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert
APOLLO 11 Todd Douglas Miller
DIEGO MARADONA Asif Kapadia
FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts – WINNER
THE GREAT HACK Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim
Frozen 2 earns a nomination for Animated Film
ANIMATED FILM
FROZEN 2 Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho
KLAUS Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh – WINNER
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON Will Becher, Richard Phelan, Paul Kewley
TOY STORY 4 Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen
DIRECTOR
1917 Sam Mendes – WINNER
THE IRISHMAN Martin Scorsese
JOKER Todd Phillips
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE Bong Joon-ho
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BOOKSMART Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman
KNIVES OUT Rian Johnson
MARRIAGE STORY Noah Baumbach
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE Han Jin Won, Bong Joon-ho – WINNER
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood has earned 10 nods
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE IRISHMAN Steven Zaillian
JOJO RABBIT Taika Waititi – WINNER
JOKER Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
LITTLE WOMEN Greta Gerwig
THE TWO POPES Anthony McCarten
LEADING ACTRESS
JESSIE BUCKLEY Wild Rose
SCARLETT JOHANSSON Marriage Story
SAOIRSE RONAN Little Women
CHARLIZE THERON Bombshell
RENÉE ZELLWEGER Judy – WINNER
Saoirse Ronan has earned a leading actress nod for Little Women
LEADING ACTOR
LEONARDO DICAPRIO Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood
ADAM DRIVER Marriage Story
TARON EGERTON Rocketman
JOAQUIN PHOENIX Joker – WINNER
JONATHAN PRYCE The Two Popes
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
LAURA DERN Marriage Story – WINNER
SCARLETT JOHANSSON Jojo Rabbit
FLORENCE PUGH Little Women
MARGOT ROBBIE Bombshell
MARGOT ROBBIE Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
SUPPORTING ACTOR
TOM HANKS A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
ANTHONY HOPKINS The Two Popes
AL PACINO The Irishman
JOE PESCI The Irishman
BRAD PITT Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – WINNER
ORIGINAL SCORE
1917 Thomas Newman
JOJO RABBIT Michael Giacchino
JOKER Hildur Guđnadóttir – WINNER
LITTLE WOMEN Alexandre Desplat
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER John Williams
JoJo Rabbit has received six nominations in total
CASTING
JOKER Shayna Markowitz – WINNER
MARRIAGE STORY Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD Victoria Thomas
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD Sarah Crowe
THE TWO POPES Nina Gold
CINEMATOGRAPHY
1917 Roger Deakins – WINNER
THE IRISHMAN Rodrigo Prieto
JOKER Lawrence Sher
LE MANS ’66 Phedon Papamichael
THE LIGHTHOUSE Jarin Blaschke
Netflix hit The Irishman has 10 nominations
EDITING
THE IRISHMAN Thelma Schoonmaker
JOJO RABBIT Tom Eagles
JOKER Jeff Groth
LE MANS ’66 Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker – WINNER
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD Fred Raskin
PRODUCTION DESIGN
1917 Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales – WINNER
THE IRISHMAN Bob Shaw, Regina Graves
JOJO RABBIT Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková
JOKER Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh
COSTUME DESIGN
THE IRISHMAN Christopher Peterson, Sandy Powell
JOJO RABBIT Mayes C. Rubeo
JUDY Jany Temime
LITTLE WOMEN Jacqueline Durran – WINNER
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD Arianne Phillips
Sam Mendes’ movie 1917 has received nine nominations
MAKE UP & HAIR
1917 Naomi Donne
BOMBSHELL Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan – WINNER
JOKER Kay Georgiou, Nicki Ledermann
JUDY Jeremy Woodhead
ROCKETMAN Lizzie Yianni Georgiou
SOUND
1917 Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson – WINNER
JOKER Tod Maitland, Alan Robert Murray, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic
LE MANS ’66 David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow, Donald Sylvester
ROCKETMAN Matthew Collinge, John Hayes, Mike Prestwood Smith, Danny Sheehan
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
1917 Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, Dominic Tuohy – WINNER
AVENGERS: ENDGAME Dan Deleeuw, Dan Sudick
THE IRISHMAN Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli, Pablo Helman
THE LION KING Andrew R. Jones, Robert Legato, Elliot Newman, Adam Valdez
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan, Dominic Tuohy
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
GRANDAD WAS A ROMANTIC. Maryam Mohajer – WINNER
IN HER BOOTS Kathrin Steinbacher
THE MAGIC BOAT Naaman Azhari, Lilia Laurel
BRITISH SHORT FILM
AZAAR Myriam Raja, Nathanael Baring
GOLDFISH Hector Dockrill, Harri Kamalanathan, Benedict Turnbull, Laura Dockrill
KAMALI Sasha Rainbow, Rosalind Croad
LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL) Carol Dysinger, Elena Andreicheva – WINNER
THE TRAP Lena Headey, Anthony Fitzgerald
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
AWKWAFINA
JACK LOWDEN
KAITLYN DEVER
KELVIN HARRISON JR.
MICHEAL WARD – WINNER
Producer Kathleen Kennedy was granted the BAFTA Fellowship Award.
Actor Andy Serkis was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Cinema.
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