Jack O'Connell won the EE Rising Star Bafta Award last night and thanked his old acting teacher as he took to the stage to collect the award.
Jack O'Connell
The EE Rising Star Award is the only Bafta that is voted for by the general public, and saw O'Connell beat off competition from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Margot Robbie, Miles Teller, and Shailene Woodley.
Speaking on stage, the actor said; "Listen, I remember I was part of a TV workshop in Nottingham, that is where I cut my teeth, as it were, taught by a wonderful man, a very committed man, Ian Smith.
"And we won a Bafta at some stage, I am not sure what the category was but we had our own Bafta. The one we had there was a bit heavier but that is all right.
"I remember being that age looking at this thing feeling very inspired by it and now all of a sudden I find myself with me very own version."
The last twelve months has seen O'Connell's star rocket with performances in British movies Starred Up and '71, before going on to team up with director Angelina Jolie in Unbroken.
Both Starred Up and '71 enjoyed success on the festival circuit over the last couple of years, while Unbroken saw O'Connell take on the real life role of athlete and prisoner of war Louis Zamperini.
The actor will be back on the big screen later this year with Tulip Fever, which sees him star alongside Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz, Zack Galifianakis, and Judi Dench.
O'Connell was present with his award by James McAvoy, who won this gong ten years ago. Last year's winner Will Poulter was unable to present the award as he is away filming Alejandro González Iñárritu latest movie The Revenant, which also stars Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio.