Mark Rylance admits that he expected Sylvester Stallone to win the Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars on Sunday evening.
Mark Rylance at the Oscars
Rylance triumphed for his performance in Bridge of Spies, providing one of the shocks of the night. While Rylance had picked up a Bafta just weeks earlier, Stallone was favourite to land his first Oscar win for his performance as Rocky Balboa in Creed.
Speaking to the BBC on the red carpet after the ceremony, Rylance revealed he had heard that Stallone was the favourite to win.
He said: "I'd heard the same thing. And Sylvester has had a long long career as an actor. Doing thrillers and dramas and things like that, which have given people an enormous amount of pleasure.
"So I was seeing absolutely every reason why he should be celebrated for this incredible Rocky character that he made, back when I was a teenager ... It's a good thing I learned how to box recently."
Rylance and Stallone had picked up a Bafta and Golden Globe between them and it was expected to be a two horse race - with Stallone just edging ahead as the ceremony got under way. Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), and Christian Bale (The Big Short) completed one of this year's toughest categories.
But it was Rylance who was to triumph. This was not only the first Oscar win for Rylance, but it was also the first Academy Award nomination of his illustrious career.
Just hours after winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, it was announced that he has picked up a Best Actor Olivier nomination for his role as King Philip V of Spain in Farinelli and the King.
We will see Rylance back on the big screen later this year as he takes on the title role in a new adaptation of The BFG, a movie that sees the actor reunite with filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
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