Timothy Spall didn't expect to win Best Leading Actor at the BAFTA Awards with P+O Cruises on Sunday (12.05.24) evening.
Timothy Spall was awarded Best Leading Actor at the BAFTA Awards
The 67-year-old actor fought off competition from Brian Cox, ('Succession') Dominic West, ('The Crown') Kane Robinson, ('Top Boy' ) Paapa Essiedu, ('The Lazarus Project') Steve Coogan ('The Reckoning') after playing murder victim Peter Farquhar in 'The Sixth Commandment' but hadn't even written a speech in preparation.
Speaking on stage at the Royal Festival Hall, he said: "Oh dear...I say that because I know everybody says 'What a surprise' but...I am surprised. I didn't actually write anything down. Just look it up on IMDb, and you'll see who is involved!
"Each and every soul of them is brilliant, Sarah Phelps' script is magnificent. The reality is sometimes you get a chance to play people who have had a terrible thing happen to them and all they wanted was love. it's a beautiful thing to be able to tell a story about someone like that. This is a story about many things, it's crime, but it's also about love.
"We're just storytellers really, aren't we? Well, when we can all share in this human condition, some of it horrible, some of it beautiful, some of it both."
The esteemed actor worked alongside the likes of 'Dinnerladies' star Anne Reid and Dame Sheila Hancock on the series and joked that even though their industry can be "silly and stupid", he loved getting to work alongside such "talented" people.
He said: "Acting is a silly, stupid thing, The other actors are all bloody brilliant in this, and I'm in awe of their talent. This is lovely, I've always wanted one of these, I'll shut up now because I'm dribbling on but I'm just pleased to be amongst you lot. We have quite a good life, really, don't we?"
Tagged in Brian Cox Timothy Spall Dominic West