The BAFTA Awards are a highly-anticipated event for the film industry and there is an immense amount of talent being honored with nominations. Whether the nominee is a newcomer or a very familiar face, many of us have picked our projected winners and hope that it's a forecast of things to come at March's Academy Awards. Here are some potential historical wins that we could see on February 16.
Who might be the BAFTA trailblazers this year?
According to a press e-mail from Mybettingsites.co.uk, Cynthia Erivo is understandably drawing a lot of attention. Wicked has seven BAFTA nominations in addition to its 10 Oscar nominations and its gratifying to see both Erivo and her Ozian BFF Ariana Grande appreciated for their acting. Erivo is one of two actresses who could become the first black artist to win Best Actress in a Leading Role. The other is Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the English actress whose portrayal of the emotionally turbulent Pansy in Hard Truths has already won her Best Lead Performance at the British Independent Film Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.
Irish actress Saoirse Ronan is hoping to take home this accolade since she "is tied with Deborah Kerr as the actress with the most nominations in the leading actress category without a win." Should she win, this American-born Irish citizen could be the first Irish actress to do so. She has accrued her fifth nomination for "The Outrun."
On the male side of things, there is plenty of note. Hugh Grant last won a Best Actor in a Leading Role for Four Weddings and a Funeral and he could be one of 12 men to win twice in that category for his turn as a missionary-trapping serial killer in Heretic. Meanwhile, Ralph Fiennes of Conclave is hoping his fifth nomination will finally garner a win.
On the more behind-the-scenes, Englishman Peter Straughan could become the second screenwriter to win twice in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. He hopes to follow his win "for co-writing 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' with the complex and thought-provoking Conclave.
Nathan Crowley is up for Best Production Design for Wicked, but has five nominations to his name without receiving a win. Dev Patel has won Best Supporting Actor in 2017 for Lion, but at this year's Awards, he could be taking home the prize for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer Director, or Producer. He directed Monkey Man, a film that chronicles the life and struggles of a man in an underground fight club who undertakes a revenge plot.
Best of luck to all of the nominees and we hope to see any or all of these fine creatives be declared the winner.