Bafta Winners People

"I had a lot of promises that I made to myself, years ago, about things that I wanted to learn and try."

"As an actress, it’s a dream come true role. You run the gamut of human emotions with each incarnation of the story. She’s an authentic character and I have so much fun playing her."

"I put on a few pounds. I also put on some breasts and a baby bump. Bridget is a perfectly normal weight and I’ve never understood why it matters so much."

"My imperfections always surface at the most inopportune time. Usually on live TV, in an interview situation, and always on a red carpet. There’s always something happening, but that’s life. You just have to move forward."

"You cannot be a good storyteller if you don’t have life experiences, and you can’t relate to people."

"I know that great things happen when this team gets together, and I was optimistic about doing a very entertaining film."

"Not that it's anyone's business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes."

"Celebrity is a different job than what I’m interested in. I like the collaborative, creative experience. It’s a blue-collar job, you know? Getting together with a group of people where we’re all solving problems together, and everybody does their thing. They’re all at the top of their game, and everyone is giving it their all."

"I had made so many promises to myself about things that I wanted to explore, things I wanted to try, and how I would like to grow as a person that I had made no time for. And I thought, 'That's enough."

"I wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was the last thing on my list of priorities."

"Seeing all the people back in character was quite a moving experience. I think Renée is better in the role now than she’s ever been and that’s saying something. It was like watching close-up magic. It was a master class."

"And Renee's taught me a lot of that too. She's a very connected person. She thinks having a good time is renting a U-Haul and taking furniture to Texas. She's real in that way and I absolutely love it."

"It was the same approach as the first one, which was just to make sure that it was as crap as we wanted it to be. The key is to stop the stunt coordinator from coming in to make it look like a film fight. We just wanted it to be two pathetic Englishmen scared of each other, throwing their handbags at each other, basically. (on his screen fight with Colin Firth in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004))"

"Politics is stressful, it's scary, tiresome. Acting is like a breath of fresh air. They're both fictional kind of creativity: politicians are bad actors."

"Margaret Thatcher used to say: "I can't win an election and survive politically without bending over to the power of the press." Well, look what's happening now: the "leave" Brexit campaign has been a media maniac affair. Media is an occult power in our so-called civilized, enlightened society."

"In the last couple of weeks I have seen the ads for the Wonder Bra. Is that really a problem in this country? Men not paying enough attention to women’s breasts?"

"If Carey Mulligan reaches the Oscar podium on April 25 with her by turns thrilling and devastating lead performance in Emerald Fennell’s subversive feature debut Promising Young Woman, her win would cement her status as one of the most consistently brilliant actors in the industry today. Over the past 16 years, the 35-year-old Londoner has worked with quiet precision, bringing depth, complexity and intelligence to every part she takes on. While she’s still best known for playing strong-willed heroines in lyrical period dramas, it’s her contemporary roles... that are a true testament to her talent."

"What I really love about the (Suffragette) film is that (her character) has a little boy and she doesn't have a girl... Because she has a son, it's sort of reflecting the idea that this fight isn't for women... It's for human rights and equality and that serves men as well as women and that was something watching the film and talking about the film now is really important: That feminism isn't just for girls. It's something that is everyone's issue."

"I don’t want people... to form an attachment to me or my personality or my family or my life because that’s not healthy... When I started working, I was often the only girl in a roomful of men... I’d either try to please people by being lovely and sweet all the time — being polite and nice and getting the job done — or going in quite lad-ish and acting tough. Making ‘Suffragette’ made me realize I don’t have to do either of those things. I can be a woman... confident in my ideas... and I can get my voice heard without having to manipulate the situation."

"I think in criticising or bemoaning a lack of attractiveness on my part in a character, it wasn’t a personal slight. It didn’t wound my ego, but it made me concerned that in such a big publication an actress’s appearance could be criticised and it could be accepted as completely reasonable criticism. I feel it’s important that criticism is constructive. I think it’s important that we are looking at the right things when it comes to work, and we’re looking at the art and we’re looking at the performance... It’s important to call out those things, because they seem small and they seem insignificant... People around me at the time said, ‘Oh, get over it. People love the film.’ But it stuck with me, because I think it’s these kind of everyday moments that add up.... We start to edit the way that women appear on-screen, and we want them to look a certain way. We want to airbrush them, and we want to make them look perfect. Or we want to edit the way that they work, the way they move and the way that they think and behave. And I think we need to see real women portrayed on-screen in all of their complexity. I felt that it was one small thing to point out that could be helpful.... I was really sort of surprised and thrilled and happy to have received an apology... I kind of found it moving, in a way – to draw a line and know that had an impact. (speaking about Variety magazine’s first review of Promising Young Woman, a black comedy in which Mulligan plays Cassie)"

"The thing about awards season that gives it value is celebrating film, obviously, but also highlighting films that might not otherwise have had an audience. When I read the Promising Young Woman script, I felt... I had to do it... My favourite way of working is having really long conversations with the director. When that relationship is solid, and you can talk for hours and figure this person out, and do that to a degree with the other actors, it feels like such a human thing... I have not had to experience what Cassie has gone through in this film and I wanted to make sure that it felt accurate, so that it didn’t sit wrong with people who’ve got real pain... I would never ask someone to relive something terrible for the sake of a film... the truth is that this situation is so common and what happens in the film is such a sad reality. You want it to be really clear about that. [During the pandemic] I haven’t worked much. I did a few audiobooks... A Matt Haig book called The Midnight Library and a kids’ book called The Worst Warlock, which was really fun, with trolls and wizards. And the EM Forster short story The Machine Stops. Published in 1909, it’s about an apocalyptic society where everyone lives in their own bubble and nobody has any human contact and everyone communicates through what are essentially iPads. It’s just nuts."

"It's devastating news... A promise has been broken, we upheld our side of this deal and sadly the government are choosing to go back on their word... we feel it’s really important to be transparent with the public and with our donors specifically about where their money is going.... We need to be honest about it, and it's so important that public trust is there... It is a time-sensitive project and it would be an utter tragedy if one child was trafficked ...But we know that actually it will be thousands"

"Sarah Gavron, who directed ‘Suffragette’ says, “She works very hard and takes life very seriously. … I’ve heard people say that she’s wise beyond her years, and there is something about that I think right.”...When she was younger, Mulligan recalls, she had “visceral dreams” about being in films with Judi Dench. Then, when she landed a small part in her first film, 2005’s “Pride & Prejudice,” Dench was her co-star."

"Watching Cassie regain this power over these odious men is a deliciously giddy thrill... Scenes like Cassie tearing apart a college dean for her inability to protect and believe women or her surprisingly charming romance with a guy who might not be as toxic as the rest of them, there’s a lot here to recommend... First and foremost is Mulligan who is sensationally good as Cassie, showing hitherto unseen comic abilities, the kind of performance that never relents, it just builds and builds until finally it explodes. She’s always been good but never this flooring and with her headlining almost every scene, the film is forever compelling as a result as it’s impossible to drag your eyes away from her, curious to know just what she’ll do next. There’s also a magnetic turn from Bo Burnham as her love interest and the pair have genuine chemistry, enough to fill an entirely separate romantic comedy."

"Variety magazine’s first review of Promising Young Woman, a black comedy in which Mulligan plays Cassie, a woman who fools men into believing she is too drunk to give consent for sex, read: “Mulligan, a fine actress, seems a bit of an odd choice as this admittedly many-layered apparent femme fatale – Margot Robbie is a producer here, and one can (perhaps too easily) imagine the role might once have been intended for her. Whereas with this star, Cassie wears her pickup-bait gear like bad drag; even her long blonde hair seems a put-on.” ...Mulligan first took issue with the article in an interview with the New York Times in December, after which Variety updated its review with an editor’s note, which reads: “Variety sincerely apologises to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and insinuation in our review of Promising Young Woman that minimised her daring performance.” Harvey’s original point remains in the text. The response from critics has largely sided with Mulligan... thrown him under the bus.”"

"The people who are involved in the development of making films and television are not necessarily the most imaginative of people, to be honest. Well, they're not! I'm not being generically rude. But it's just a fact."

"Oh, for the love, I can't even simulate sex without dying!. I had a little asthma attack, without any prior knowledge that I had asthma, during the scene where we had to jump up and down for hours and hours screaming and yelling on the bed. [It] was humiliating, because it was the second day of shooting."

"What's strange about the way my brain functions is that the only thing that has ever made me feel calm is knowing clearly what I want."

"Flaws are my favorite part of people, usually."

"The first time I had a panic attack I was sitting in my friend's house, and I thought the house was burning down. I called my mom and she brought me home, and for the next three years it just would not stop. I would go to the nurse at lunch most days and just wring my hands. I would ask my mom to tell me exactly how the day was going to be, then ask again 30 seconds later. I just needed to know that no one was going to die and nothing was going to change."

"For me, I value privacy so much and I understand why I need to talk about the work, the films and all of that but it's incredibly hard to reveal stuff about my life, so it makes me feel pretty boring and very protective."

"I am blessed with a great family and great people around me that would be able to kick me in the shins if I ever for one minute got lost up in the clouds. I've been really lucky in that sense."

"Sometimes just wanting to do a good role, a great role, isn't a good enough reason to do it."

"Creativity is really about excess. And when you want to make something there is a kind of obsession that has to come with it in a healthy way, in a way that is intoxicating, you are engulfed by something."

"My brother was like, We're going to have to change the locks and put bars on the windows! But I thought about it for a minute and I thought, Here's a role I could look back on and say, Man, I played a vampire. In, like, Twilight. I mean, how many people get to do that?"

"Malek has about three facial expressions in his arsenal, so his eyes do a lot of the work on Mr. Robot."

"I could use my imagination and I read a lot about mental health. And that puts you in the perspective of just how difficult it is to live in a mind that that doesn't always feel like your own and how…I mean, just, that's brutal in its own way. And that can be a very lonely, difficult place, and a very difficult frame of mind to articulate to anyone, to even want to share with anyone."

"One word: Mischief."

"I know Elliot does not come across as charismatic, but to me he is."

"Someone took a selfie with me today on the street, and to see them plug in their passcode right in front of you — it’s not something I would ever do, and it’s borderline creepy, but my show just makes me so much more aware of how to conduct oneself in public. It’s little things we take for granted, like holding your passport out while you wait in line at an airport, and someone can screenshot that in a heartbeat. The amount of information that we arbitrarily extend to the world is very mind-boggling to me. It’s like we’re saying, “Go ahead,” Clint Eastwood-style, “make my day.”"

"It's sad! Some really tragic moments have happened in my life and I found myself not getting emotional. Subconsciously, I was saving the grief so that, down the line, I could layer pain on top of pain. Because I want to feel that throughout my life. I want it to be easily accessible."

"Please tell me you're seeing this, too."

"I really wanted Elliot's clothes to feel like it was a bit of an urban combat uniform. We needed the wardrobe to reflect his desire to disappear from the world. So I suggested a hoodie. Well, maybe I shouldn't say 'suggest.'"

"Everything has become so easy. It's great that it's at your fingertips, but I miss those good old days. And we're connected, but it can be very alienating. There is this distance between all of us because we're speaking to each other through cameras and monitors and icons and Emojis."

"It is impossible to maintain one's composure in this situation. What am I doing here? — especially considering the extraordinary group of women with whom I was nominated. We five women were fortunate to have the choice, not just the opportunity but the choice, to play such rich, complex female characters. And I congratulate producers like Working Title and Polygram for allowing directors to make autonomous casting decisions based on qualifications and not just market value. And I encourage writers and directors to keep these really interesting female roles coming — and while you're at it you can throw in a few for the men as well."

"Frances McDormand, or Fran, as she is called in regular life, cuts a handsome figure on the street. She is 60 and sexy in the manner of women who have achieved total self-possession. She eschews makeup unless she is working, doesn’t dye her hair and despises the nips, tucks and lifts that have become routine for women of her profession. Her clothes are well made — she loves clothes — but utilitarian and comfortable. … Over the course of her 36-year career, McDormand has played women who are attractive but rarely beautiful, magnetic but thorny — and, she notes, they’re usually the supporting player in a man’s story. To this day she is best known for Marge, but Marge had much less screen time than people remember. Her slightly daffy good-heartedness serves as the foil for the murderous men who occupy most of Fargo … In the last 10 years, something shifted for McDormand: Right as she hit the age when most actresses begin disappearing for lack of roles or moving to the edges of story lines, she moved to first billing. For decades, she excelled at the work of embroidering the lives of women who aren’t deemed appealing enough to watch for two hours straight, and rather than aging into a different acting type, she has taken it upon herself to put peripheral women at the center."

"Its way overdue but at least its happening and I couldn’t be more happy —and to see all those women who had been nominated or had won standing up in the audience — it was a very smart thing for her to do."

"My politics are private, but many of my feminist politics cross over into my professional life. Because I portray female characters — so I have the opportunity to change the way people look at them. Even if I wasn’t consciously doing that, it would happen anyway, just because of how I present as a woman, or as a person. I present in a way that’s not stereotypical, even if I’m playing a stereotypical role. … I can’t subtract that from myself anymore. I could when I was younger. … That’s another great thing about getting older. Your life is written on your face."

"I was never that involved in the machine of press and publicity as an actor because I’ve always kind of worked on the margins of my profession … And then when my son was younger and it did get a little bit more intrusive, I tried to come to terms with how I was personally going to handle someone coming up to me on the street and wanting some part of my time. … Now what I do — because this is how I live — when someone approaches me and says, "Can I have your autograph," I say: "No, I’ve retired from that part of the business. I just act now." … I say: "What’s your name?" … I touch them. I look at them. I have a real exchange … I’m not an actor because I want my picture taken. I’m an actor because I want to be part of the human exchange."

"We’re avant-garde. It doesn’t mean we have to be unhygienic."