Damian Receives His Britannia Award

Our Brit Gets the Britannia

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | October 26, 2018

Our favorite, most talented actor of our generation (and quite the ham), Mr. Damian Lewis, received the well-deserved and long overdue BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Award for Excellence in Television this evening at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

The Britannia Awards are BAFTA Los Angeles’ highest accolades, recognizing both outstanding British talent and exceptional international artistry through their body of work. Damian is talented and exceptional, no doubt.

As Fan Fun with Damian Lewis writes, for more than a decade and a half Damian has enticed and intrigued audiences with highly complex, compromised, flawed characters he has brought to life on television, from steadfast Dick Winters, constipated Soames Forsyte, and quirky Charlie Crews to damaged Nicholas Brody, radical Henry VIII and currently, the ruthless Bobby Axelrod.

But where did it all begin? Damian’s first lead role in television was Lt. Neil Loughrey in Warriors (1997), a story about a group of British peacekeepers during the Bosnian war and ethic cleansing of 1993.

How great was it to honor Damian’s excellence in television full circle, as BAFTA TV award-winning actor Matthew Macfadyen, Damian’s Warriors co-star, presented him with the award tonight!

Walking the red carpet, Matthew was asked what his first impression of Damian was over 20 years ago,

“He’s very confident, the room sort of stops when he’s in it. This is a very nice thing to do, especially for Damian.”

In addition to Matthew Macfadyen, this year’s presenters also included Viola Davis, Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Favreau, Peter Farrelly, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Looking sharp as ever, Damian walked the red carpet soon after his pal Matthew.

During Damian’s red carpet interview, he spoke about his upcoming role as Steve McQueen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, discussing the enormous generosity, how fun it was to work on set, and getting to work with Leo [DiCaprio]. Then jokingly quipped,

“Oh you know, Leo, Brad and Damo.”

Watch the full red carpet interview here, around 52 minutes in:

The black tie event included a red carpet arrival reception, gala dinner, ceremony, and official after-party. The evening is known to be an enjoyable event that captures a unique blend of sincerity and British irreverence, and tonight was no different. The ceremony celebrated the work of five other extraordinary, talented recipients:

Steve McQueen received the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing 
Cate Blanchett received the Stanely Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film
Emilia Clarke received the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year 
Jim Carrey received the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy  
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Awards for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment

In anticipation of tonight’s event, friends and peers of all six honorees gave their personal perspectives and discussed how each person exemplifies the special relationship between British and U.S. entertainment. Fellow Billions castmate Paul Giamatti gave his testimonial of Damian’s work:

How hilarious is Paul? Ssshhh, don’t tell Paul it was Ralph Fiennes instead of Jude Law but either way, we agree, Damian can do anything!

When it was time for Damian to receive his award he graciously took the stage, was thoughtful and funny, and delivered an eloquent speech. We don’t think we are biased when we claim, Damian’s segment on the BAFTA LA’s Britannia Awards was the best part of the entire ceremony, from his presenter and testimonial shoutouts to his speech. Simply beautiful, from start to finish. Congratulations Damian, from all of us at the Fan Fun with Damian team.

Damian’s FULL segment and speech for Chrome browser users:

Damian’s speech only for Safari browser users, with ads:

Backstage Damian was asked what the award meant for him:

“It means people have been watching my TV shows, which is gratifying. I am very, very delighted to be here, I am thrilled. You don’t wake up one morning as an actor and step back and say, ‘I am about due an excellence in TV award’.  You just go moment to moment, face down in scripts, learning lines and show up on Monday when you have to be on set. It’s an odd feeling actually, people have been really watching and they like what they see so I feel sort of humbled by it and a scared about being roasted all evening by my friends.”

To watch another backstage interview from Getty, click here.

If you missed the original airing, you can watch the entire awards show on-demand on BritBox or Amazon Prime Video:

To view more photos, please visit our Gallery
Source: Irish Examiner
To learn more, please visit BAFTA.org or visit them on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram