British Academy Film Awards 2020: Rebel Wilson wins show with hilarious speech

Actor Joaquin Phoenix earned huge cheers for an intense and impassioned acceptance speech at a lively BAFTAs today.

The last glitzy awards show before the Oscars has wrapped, with the BAFTAS taking place in London today.

Aussie Margot Robbie made a suprising on-stage joke about the dramas plaguing the royal family, making a hilarious comment in reference to Megxit, after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit as senior members of the royal family and moved to Canada last month.

She delivered a speech on Brad Pitt’s behalf, with the actor unable to attend the event.

Winning Best Supporting Actor for Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, Pitt directed Robbie to say, “He says that he is going to name this (award) ‘Harry’ because he is really excited about bringing it back to the states with him. His words not mine,” she said, as William and Kate shared a laugh.

Margot Robbie made a 'Megxit' joke on Brad Pitt's behalf.

Pitt also made a joke about his single status, with Robbie delivering his Brexit quip.

“Hey, Britain, hear you’ve become single - welcome to the club,” Robbie read. “Wishing you the best with the divorce settlement.”

But it was Australian actress Rebel Wilson who stole the show, making jokes about Prince Andrew, box office flop Cats, coronavirus and a lack of female nominees.

Presenting Best Director at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards, Wilson opened her spiel saying, “It’s really great to be here at the Royal Andrew... Royal Albert Hall”.

The camera flashed to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who looked less than impressed by the reference to their controversial family member, who has received global backlash for his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Their faces at #RebelWilson calling the #RoyalAlbertHall the Royal Andrew, Harry or Philip Hall! #BAFTAs pic.twitter.com/eGLHnoReh9

— Olivia Fahy (@Toxicolly) February 2, 2020

She then moved her attention to the epic failure that was Cats, which she starred in, making reference to her black and red dress.

“The red is from that one time I didn’t win Miss Australia. And the black is from a funeral I just went to for the feature film Cats,” she said.

“Cats... Strangely not nominated for any awards. Even in this best director CATegory.”

Rebel Wilson delivered the night's funniest speech. Picture: Guy Levy/BAFTA/Shutterstock

Rebel also made a cheeky jab about females being under-represented in the awards as she prepared to announce Best Director, which went to Sam Mendes for 1917.

“I don’t think I could do what they (directors) do. I haven’t got the balls,” she said, which was met with roaring laughs.

The comedian then shielded her face with a BAFTA mask as a way of protecting herself from coronavirus, rounding out her hilarious monologue.

Rebel was praised on social media for “winning” the BAFTAs.

Rebel Wilson single-handedly breathing life into the #BAFTAs! So much love for her! pic.twitter.com/KKGgUCwNQG

— Jak Ball (@Jakfirst) February 2, 2020

@RebelWilson you’re hilarious and just the best (wrong) side of risqué. Absolutely legendary speech #BAFTAs #donthavetheballs

— missycryssie (@missycryssie) February 2, 2020

Rebel Wilson to host all the awards shows please #BAFTAs

— Neil (@Neily82) February 2, 2020

Rebel Wilson just won the #BAFTAs

— Kathryn Snowdon (@Kathryn_Snowdon) February 2, 2020

The issue of diversity - or a lack thereof - was the recurring theme throughout the night.

As was the same case when the Oscars nominations dropped last month, the BAFTAS copped controversy for failing to acknowledge people of colour in its list of nominations, with #BAFTAsSoWhite trending on Twitter at the time.

BAFTA president Prince William weighed into the debate.

“We find ourselves talking about the need to do more to address diversity in this sector,” he said.

“This can not be right in this day and age.

“BAFTA take this issue seriously and have commissioned a thorough review.”

Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) said he was “part of the problem” when accepting his award.

“I feel conflicted because so many of my fellow actors that are deserving don’t have that same privilege,” he said.

Joaquin Phoenix accepts his Leading Actor award for his performance in @jokermovie #EEBAFTAs #BAFTAs pic.twitter.com/1nK49CjrJo

— BAFTA (@BAFTA) February 2, 2020

“I think we send a very clear message to people of colour that you’re not welcome here.

“I don’t think anybody wants a handout or preferential treatment, people just want to be acknowledged, appreciated and respected for their work.

This is not a self-righteous condemnation. I’m part of the problem.”

Earlier, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Scarlett Johansson and Margot Robbie hit the red carpet in a glamorous display of the world’s most famous faces.

The BAFTAS airs on Foxtel’s UKTV tonight at 7.30pm AEDT.

Here is the full list of winners.

BEST FILM

WINNER: 1917

The Irishman

Joker

Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood

Parasite

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

WINNER: 1917

Bait

For Sama

Rocketman

Sorry We Missed You

The Two Popes

DIRECTOR

WINNER: 1917, Sam Mendes

The Irishman, Martin Scorsese

Joker, Todd Phillips

Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino

Parasite, Bong Joon Ho

LEADING ACTRESS

Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose

Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan, Little Women

Charlize Theron, Bombshell

WINNER: Renée Zellweger, Judy

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LEADING ACTOR

Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood

Adam Driver, Marriage Story

Taron Egerton, Rocketman

WINNER: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WINNER: Laura Dern, Marriage Story

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

WINNER: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

WINNER: Bait, Mark Jenkin (Writer/Director), Kate Byers, Linn Waite (Producers)

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

For Sama

Pain and Glory

WINNER: Parasite

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

DOCUMENTARY

American Factory

Apollo 11

Diego Maradona

WINNER: For Sama

The Great Hack

ANIMATED FILM

Frozen 2

WINNER: Klaus

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Toy Story 4

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

WINNER: Parasite, Han Jin Won, Bong Joon Ho

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Irishman, Steven Zaillian

WINNER: Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi

Joker, Todd Phillips, Scott Silver

Little Women, Greta Gerwig

The Two Popes, Anthony McCarten

ORIGINAL SCORE

1917, Thomas Newman

Jojo Rabbit, Michael Giacchino

Joker, Hildur Guðnadóttir

Little Women, Alexandre Desplat

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, John Williams

CASTING

WINNER: Joker, Shayna Markowitz

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, Javier Braier, Barbara Giordani, Nina Gold, Francesco Vedovati, Gabriel Villegas

CINEMATOGRAPHY

WINNER: 1917, Roger Deakins

The Irishman, Rodrigo Prieto

Joker, Lawrence Sher

Le Mans ’66, Phedon Papamichael

The Lighthouse, Jarin Blaschke

EDITING

The Irishman, Thelma Schoonmaker

Jojo Rabbit, Tom Eagles

Joker, Jeff Groth

WINNER: Le Mans ’66, Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker

Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, Fred Raskin

PRODUCTION DESIGN

WINNER: 1917, Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales

The Irishman, Bob Shaw, Regina Graves

J ojo 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

WINNER: Little Women, Jacqueline Durran

Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, Arianne Phillips

MAKE UP & HAIR

1917, Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis

WINNER: Bombshell, Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan

Joker, Kay Georgiou, Nicki Ledermann

Judy, Jeremy Woodhead

Rocketman, Lizzie Yianni Georgiou, Barrie Gower, Tapio Salmi

SOUND

WINNER: 1917, Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson

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

WINNER: 1917, Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, Dominic Tuohy

Avengers: Endgame, Matt Aitken, Dan Deleeuw, Russell Earl, 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

WINNER: Grandad Was a Romantic, Maryam Mohajer

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

WINNER: Learning To Skateboard In a Warzone (If You’re a Girl), Carol Dysinger, Elena Andreicheva

The Trap, Lena Headey, Anthony Fitzgerald

EE RISING STAR AWARD (public vote)

Awkwafina

Kaitlyn Dever

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Jack Lowden

WINNER: Micheal Ward

Originally published as British Academy Film Awards 2020: Rebel Wilson wins show with hilarious speech