The British Academy Film Awards have announced their nominations - The Artist and Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy are leading the way with 12 and 11 nominations respectively.

BEST FILM

• THE ARTIST
• THE DESCENDANTS
• DRIVE
• THE HELP
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

• MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
• SENNA
• SHAME
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
• WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

• ATTACK THE BLOCK Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
• BLACK POND Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
• CORIOLANUS Ralph Fiennes (Director)
• SUBMARINE Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
• TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• INCENDIES
• PINA
• POTICHE
• A SEPARATION
• THE SKIN I LIVE IN

DOCUMENTARY

• GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD Martin Scorsese
• PROJECT NIM James Marsh, Simon Chinn
• SENNA Asif Kapadia

ANIMATED FILM

• THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN
• ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
• RANGO

DIRECTOR

• THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
• DRIVE Nicolas Winding Refn
• HUGO Martin Scorsese
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson
• WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Lynne Ramsay

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
• BRIDESMAIDS Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
• THE GUARD John Michael McDonagh
• THE IRON LADY Abi Morgan
• MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Woody Allen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• THE DESCENDANTS Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
• THE HELP Tate Taylor
• THE IDES OF MARCH George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
• MONEYBALL Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

LEADING ACTOR

• BRAD PITT Moneyball
• GARY OLDMAN Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• GEORGE CLOONEY The Descendants
• JEAN DUJARDIN The Artist
• MICHAEL FASSBENDER Shame

LEADING ACTRESS

• BÉRÉNICE BEJO The Artist
• MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady
• MICHELLE WILLIAMS My Week with Marilyn
• TILDA SWINTON We Need to Talk About Kevin
• VIOLA DAVIS The Help

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Beginners
• JIM BROADBENT The Iron Lady
• JONAH HILL Moneyball
• KENNETH BRANAGH My Week with Marilyn
• PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The Ides of March

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• CAREY MULLIGAN Drive
• JESSICA CHASTAIN The Help
• JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn
• MELISSA MCCARTHY Bridesmaids
• OCTAVIA SPENCER The Help

In addtition, Martin Scorcese, will receive a BAFTA Fellowship and one of my favorite categories (voted by the public) is the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award, which is given to an up-and-coming young actor or actress. Previous winners include Tom Hardy, Shia LeBoeuf, Noel Clarke, Eva Green, James McAvoy and Kristen Stewart.

This year’s list includes:

• ADAM DEACON
• CHRIS HEMSWORTH
• CHRIS O’DOWD
• EDDIE REDMAYNE
• TOM HIDDLESTON

For the full list of nominees in all categories, click here.

The awards will be presented on February 12th.

Any surprises? Or is it about what you would expect?

This is in response to a blog posting I saw featured on the site Cinematical entitled What Makes British Actors So Versatile?

I decided to take a general look at the theory that is postulated and came up with the following points:

Best of the Best: I generally agree with comment from a user regarding getting the “cream of the crop” of British screen talent. I watch plenty of British TV and you soon realize that there is definitely getting range of observable talent.

Language: from an American perspective, we often think of  the versatility of British actors mostly having to do with donning an American accent. While many do succeed, a lot do fail to pull off a convincing accent, especially when the role hones in on a particular U.S. region.

Versatility, Part II: As stated above, many Americans may be amazed by the ability of actors to affect an accent not native to them. This is definitely a skill, but not the only skill we should look at when defining versatility. To be versatile does cover a large array of skills, including but not limited to: the ability to perform in a variety of genres, (as mentioned in the article) the ability to physically change one’s appearance, etc. With this broader definition, we may discover that the list of truly versatile performers is very exclusive, without respect to where they are from.

The UK film and theater industries: in many ways, the UK film industry, relative to the juggernaut of the Hollywood system, is a cottage industry. As a result, I suspect this forces many more aspiring actors to focus on drama and theatrical training, given the tradition and prominence of “treading the boards” in the UK. This extra training also allows the actor in training to spend time developing and honing their skills “off camera.” So when they are “camera-ready, the results speak for themselves.

In contrast, the Hollywood system is primarily focused on star-making; this relies a little more on superficial qualities and talent can be sacrificed for popularity, likability or perceived attractiveness.

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It should be noted as several commenters to the original article noted, we must be careful about the generalization many of us make (including myself) of grouping all actors from that part of the world as simply “British.”

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