BAFTAs 2024: Emotional moment the cream of showbiz give Parkinson’s-stricken Michael J. Fox, 62, a standing ovation as he takes to the stage in a wheelchair to present Best Film to Oppenheimer – one of SEVEN gongs for the biopic as it dominates the night

Michael J Fox received a standing ovation from Hollywood’s biggest stars at the 2024 British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, as he took to the stage in a wheelchair to present Best Film to Oppenheimer.

The actor, 62, who has battled Parkinson’s since 1991, was helped to the podium to announce that Best Film had been awarded to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, one of seven gongs for the epic.

After entering the stage in a wheelchair, Michael earned a hugely warm reception from stars including Margot Robbie, Bradley Cooper and Barry Keoghan, who were in attendance at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

The legendary 80s film star was visibly touched by the reaction, as he supported himself on the podium to reveal the nominees and eventual winner. 

Oppenheimer proved to be the big winner on the night, earning seven gongs including Best Film, Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr and Director for Christopher Nolan. 

The Back To The Future star previously walked the red carpet with his glamorous wife Tracy Pollan.

Presenting the prize, he said: ‘Five films were nominated in this category tonight and all five have something in common. They are the best of what we do.

‘No matter who you are or where you’re from, these films can bring us together.

‘There’s a reason why they say movies are magic because movies can change your day. It can change your outlook. Sometimes it can change your life.’

Michael was  just 29 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, and went public with the information in 1998. 

In 2023, the star released an Apple TV+ documentary about his career and living with the devastating disease, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.

While Michael did present the final award of the night, he was also in attendance after his documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Story received a nod for Documentary. 

Speaking to BBC in light of the documentary’s nomination, Michael said: ‘I would say it’s a gift and people would look at me and I’d say it’s a gift that keeps on taking, but it’s a gift.’

Since being diagnosed, Michael has been praised for his tireless work fundraising in a bid to find a cure for Parkinson’s. He founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation to aid research efforts.

Michael said: ‘I realised I had to turn it around and turn it into something and make it some positive thing that affected other people in a positive way.

‘So I think that’s why I started the foundation, but it took me a long time to get there.’

Oppenheimer won Best Film as well as sweeping the board in major categories at this year’s BAFTAs.

The epic biographical thriller led the wins with seven gongs, including Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. and Best Director for Christopher Nolan. It had the most nominations with 13.

The biggest night in British film returned with actor David Tennant as host and an array of guest presenters on hand to deliver awards throughout the night. 

Prince William attended the ceremony in London solo as his wife Kate Middleton continues her recovery from last month’s abdominal surgery.

Oppenheimer swept up in the big name categories, but it was closely followed by the surreal black comedy Poor Things.

It marked five awards for the film, as Emma Stone collected the Best Actress gong for her turn as Bella Baxter.

In his documentary, which was released in May 2023, Michael looks back on his blockbuster career with director Davis Guggenheim and shares how he first noticed the signs of what would be diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease.

He said the documentary is about when ‘an incurable optimist meets an incurable disease’ as he spoke about his battle with the condition.

‘I have Parkinson’s, I struggle with it,’ he said. ‘It’s hard, it’s annoying, it’s a bit more than annoying but it can be devastating for some people.’

Michael displayed symptoms of early-onset Parkinson’s as early as 1991 while shooting the film Doc Hollywood, and was told by doctors that in a few years he would not be able to work.

After being diagnosed, Michael started drinking heavily and became depressed. But after seeking help, he found sobriety and publicly disclosed his condition in 1998.

On why he concealed his Parkinson’s for so many years, Michael said: ‘Yeah I didn’t know what it was going to do, how it was going to manifest itself.

‘I didn’t know what to expect and no one could really tell me what to expect.’

Michael received the Lifetime Achievement honour at the 2023 Spring Moving Image Awards for his impressive Hollywood career as well as his dedication to finding a cure for Parkinson’s.

In his documentary, Michael detailed the devastating moment in which he revealed the diagnosis to his wife of 35 years Tracy and how she vowed to support him all along the way.

Michael, who continued to act for years, recalled: ‘I told Tracy the news. ‘In sickness and in health,’ I remember her whispering.’

He added that ‘no one outside my family’ knew of his diagnosis and he took pills to ‘hide’ his symptoms.

The actor did not specify if it was were recreational or prescription drugs that he was self-medicating with.

In behind the scenes footage, he is pictured dodging explosions and gunfire and unmanned vehicles as he runs through the desert in a scene from Tim Burton’s black sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks, which was shot before he had announced his diagnosis.

In an interview on CBS Mornings in November, Michael says he’d have forgiven wife Tracy Pollan if she had decided to ‘step out’ during their 35-year marriage as he battles Parkinson’s disease.

‘At any time she would have been forgiven to say, ‘I’m just gonna step out,” the 62-year-old actor said of his spouse, 63. ‘But, she didn’t do that.’

‘I love Tracy obviously and she’s an amazing person and has gone through a lot,’ Fox said. ‘I realize she has a life separate from me having Parkinson’s, from me being Alex Keaton or Marty McFly, she’s a person. I think that’s why it’s gone okay.’

Fox said of their marriage, ‘She had indicated to me by saying, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. She was able to get me through it, and go through it with me. And she has for 35 years.’

Fox and Pollan are parents to son Sam Michael, 34, twin daughters Aquinnah Kathleen and Schuyler Frances, 28, and daughter Esmé Annabelle, 21.

On the CBS broadcast, the Spin City star explained how Pollan has stayed by his side amid his health woes.

‘We knew the bus was coming and we knew it was going to hit, but we didn’t know how far away it was or how fast it was going,’ he said.

After Oppenheimer was awarded Best Film, director Christopher Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas, who also produced the blockbuster, took to the stage.

Emma described her husband, as ‘inspired and inspiring’ and ‘brilliant’, adding that he was ‘often infuriating and always right.’

‘I am incredibly grateful to him for letting me come along for this ride,’ she said.

Emma also paid tribute to their 16-year-old son Magnus, saying: ‘Your dad and I are the luckiest people in the world but our greatest fortune is being parents to you, Flora, Oliver and Rory.’

The biggest night in British film returned with actor David Tennant as host, with an array of guest presenters on hand to deliver awards throughout the night. 

Cillian, 47, – who plays the titular role in Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb saga – picked up the Leading Actor prize at the prestigious British awards ceremony.

He triumphed against Bradley Cooper for Maestro, Colman Domingo for Rustin, Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, Barry Keoghan for Saltburn and Teo Yoo for Past Lives.

Accepting the trophy he said: ‘Oh boy, holy moly, thank you very, very much Bafta.’

He paid tribute to ‘the most dynamic, kindest producer-director partnership in Hollywood: Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, thank you for seeing something in me that I probably didn’t see in myself.’

The Irish actor said to Nolan: ‘Thank for always pushing me and demanding excellence because that is what you deliver time and time again.’

He also acknowledged his ‘fellow nominees and my Oppenhomies’, adding: ‘I know it’s a cliche to say, but I’m in awe of you.’

He said J Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, was a ‘colossally knotty character’, adding: ‘We have a space to debate and interrogate and investigate that complexity and it’s a privilege to be a part of this community with you all

Robert, 58, collected a BAFTA for his role as Lewis Strauss in Hollywood blockbuster Oppenheimer, which has swept the board during awards season.

Robert admitted he owes the award to the film’s director Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and leading man Cillian Murphy, as well as ‘British influence’.

Gesturing to Nolan, he said: ‘Recently that dude suggested I attempt an understated approach as a last ditch effort to resurrect my dwindling credibility.’

Robert’s win set a new record for the longest gap between wins by any performer.

His award, for the film Oppenheimer, comes 31 years after his previous BAFTA, for the 1993 film Chaplin.

The previous record was 27 years, set by Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2021 when he won the award for best actor for The Father, nearly three decades after his 1994 win for Shadowlands.

Nolan won the Best Director BAFTA for Oppenheimer, his epic tale of how the nuclear bomb was created.

Before accepting the award from actor Hugh Grant, Nolan hugged his Irish star Cillian Murphy who played physicist J Robert Oppenheimer.

Nolan joked that his brother ‘beat him up here’ by being in a chorus of a production 40 years ago.

Nolan has previously lost out despite numerous commercial successes such as Inception and The Dark Knight, the UK-born filmmaker won out against Jonathan Glazer [The Zone of Interest], Justine Triet [Anatomy of a Fall], Alexander Payne [The Holdovers], Bradley Cooper [Maestro] and Andrew Haigh [All of Us Strangers].

He paid tribute to Murphy and added to those who backed the film: ‘Thank you for taking on something dark’.

The director also acknowledged the efforts of nuclear disarmament organisations to bring peace.

Oppenheimer swept up in the big name categories, but it was closely followed by the surreal black comedy Poor Things.

It marked five awards for the film, as Emma Stone collected the gong for her turn as Bella Baxter.

Accepting her award, she said: ‘Since we’re in London, I want to start by thanking dialect coach. She praised him for not laughing at her when he taught her how to say ‘water’.

‘I really wanted to thank my mum, because she’s the best person I know. Without her none of this would exist, including my life, so thank you for that Mum.’

The American actress said she was ‘in awe’ of all of the team behind the film, where she plays the part of a woman who is reanimated and implanted with the brain of a baby.

She paid tribute to the writers for coming up with the line ‘I must go punch that baby’ in a memorable dinner scene, and also hailed director Yorgos Lanthimos for ‘our friendship and the gift of Bella’.

Also thanking her mother, Stone said: ‘She kind of made me believe this crazy idea that I can do something like this.’

Meanwhile, Da’Vine Joy Randolph crowned victorious in the Best Supporting Actress category for her part in The Holdovers as she continues her march to Oscars glory.

Randolph took to the stage and told Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was presenting the award, ‘you are so handsome’ – prompting laughter from the audience.

On a more serious note, she said: ‘Thank you for trusting me with this beautiful character.

Becoming emotional, she said being able to ‘wear this beautiful gown, standing on the stage in London, is not a responsibility I take lightly’.

Randolph plays school cook Mary in the film set at a boarding school in the early 1970s.

Next up, Director Jonathan Glazer and producer James Wilson’s The Zone Of Interest won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film.

Wilson told the audience they were ‘stunned’ the film had won three awards during the ceremony, and while it was shot in Poland, the team who made it was assembled from the UK.

The night kicked off with French legal drama Anatomy Of A Fall winning the Original Screenplay award after premiering in Cannes back in May.

Collecting the award, co-writer and director Justine Triet, said: ‘The last time I I was in London, a woman said to me: ‘After I saw your movie I called my ex and told him to see it to understand why I dumped him.’

‘Someone else said ‘Did you put a mic in my kitchen?’

Gesturing to her co-writer and partner Arthur Harari, Triet said ‘I would like to make a statement tonight: it’s a fiction and we are reasonably fine.’

Harari referred to the plot of the courtroom drama when he joked that he had recently found himself near a window in an attic.

He added: ‘I want this room as my witness, if something happens to me, I loved insulating that attic and I’m quite happy tonight.’

Next up, Poor Things has won the BAFTA for special visual effects. 

VFX supervisor Simon Hughes said receiving the special visual effects BAFTA for the the film was a career highlight.

‘It’s the peak of my career, absolutely for me. And to have it happen on such a unique film like this is just a real eye-opener, it’s been such a surreal and such a rewarding experience.’

Following this, drama film Earth Mama was honoured with the BAFTA outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, presented by David Beckham.

Director Savanah Leaf was sobbing as she took to the stage to be presented with the award for her tale of a pregnant single mother.

Leaf said ‘this is crazy’, adding: ‘Our lead had never acted before and she poured her heart into this and she was so fearless.’

The director was given the award alongside Irish producers Shirley O’Connor and Medb Riordan.

The Zone Of Interest won the BAFTA for a film not in the English language.

Director Jonathan Glazer said it was ‘an out of body experience’ to win the award as he paid tribute to his collaborators.

Producer James Wilson thanked Glazer for his ‘virtuosity and his friendship’.

He continued: ‘Walls aren’t new from before or since the Holocaust and it seems stark right now that we should care about innocent people being killed in Gaza or Yemen or Mariupol or Israel.’

He added: ‘Thank your for recognising a film that asks us to think in those spaces.’

The BAFTA for Casting was awarded to Susan Shopmaker for private school-set The Holdovers, while the editing award has gone to Jennifer Lame for Second World War biopic Oppenheimer.

Comedy drama American Fiction has won Best Adapted Screenplay.

American writer and former Gawker journalist Cord Jefferson said winning a BAFTA was ‘surreal’, and that he had his speech written for him because he did not think he would need it.

Jefferson said in a ‘risk-averse industry’, he is thankful for his film – about a novelist who spoofs the ‘black genre’ of books, which becomes a ruse he has to maintain – was made.

The Boy And The Heron won the Best Animated Film Bafta.

Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki was not at the ceremony so the award was collected by presenters Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.

The Documentary BAFTA went to 20 Days In Mariupol, which highlights the work of Associated Press journalists in the besieged Ukrainian city during the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov said: ‘This is not about us’, this is about the country invaded by Russia and the bombed city they filmed in was just ‘a symbol of everything that has happened’.

‘Thank you for empowering our voice, and let’s keep fighting,’ he added.

Composer Ludwig Goransson won the BAFTA for Original Score for Oppenheimer while Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers scooped the honour for best sound for Holocaust film The Zone Of Interest.

The BAFTA for Production Design went to Shona Heath, James Price and Zsuzsa Mihalek for surreal comedy Poor Things, about a woman who is reanimated and begins a new life.

It was previously announced the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema would go to programmer and archivist June Givanni, founder of the Pan African Film Archive, who collected the prize during the ceremony from Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh.

Northern Ireland actor James Martin, from Oscar-winning film An Irish Goodbye, presented the British short film Bafta to Yasmin Afifi and Elizabeth Rufai for Jellyfish And Lobster, a tale about care home residents.

Accepting the prize, Afifi said the film was about elderly people who find the ‘magic in their final days’, before wiping tears away from her face.

Egyptian actor Sayed Badreya, who appears in the film, got down on his knees and prayed on stage.

The British Short Animation BAFTA was presented to Ross Stringer, Bartosz Stanislawek and Aleksandra Sykulak for Crab Day, about a father and son in a fishing community.

Stringer thanked his parents in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and said the film was about ‘standing up for yourself, no matter what the world thinks of you’.

Poor Things won two more BAFTAs for best costume design, and make-up and hair.

Samantha Morton collected the BAFTA Fellowship from producer David Heyman, who she worked with on Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

There were tributes from her Minority Report co-star Tom Cruise, as well as collaborators Susan Lynch, Molly Windsor and Daniel Mays, while Heyman described her as a ‘rare breed and true artist’.

Morton was visibly emotional and overwhelmed as she said: ‘This is nothing short of a miracle. When I first saw Ken Loach’s Kes on a huge telly that was wheeled into my classroom I was forever changed.

‘Seeing poverty and people like me on the screen, I recognised myself – representation matters.’

She said she would tell her younger self: ‘You matter, don’t give up, the stories we tell, they have the power to change people’s lives.

‘Film changed my life, it transformed me and it led me here today.’

She added: ‘I dedicate this award to every child in care, or who has been in care and who didn’t survive.’

The BAFTA Rising Star award was won by Mia Mckenna-Bruce following a public vote.

The star of coming-of-age film How To Have Sex appeared emotional on stage as she thanked her family and her ‘beautiful baby boy’.

The 26-year-old joked that she hopes her little sisters, who do not think ‘I’m cool’, will change their mind after her win.

Margot Robbie, Emily Blunt, Emma Stone and Florence Pugh were among the star-studded arrivals on the red carpet earlier in the evening.

Barbie star Margot showed off her incredible figure in a pink and black strapless gown with matching gloves and heels, inspired by the iconic doll.

The actress posed for snaps alongside her husband Tom Ackerley, also, 33, who looked dapper in a black tuxedo. 

Emily – who was nominated for playing Kitty in Oppenheimer – was a vision of beauty as she stormed the red carpet in a glamorous beaded gown with cut outs along the waist that showed off her lithe figure.

The glamorous garment was adorned with gems and clung to her hourglass curvesm flaring out into a fishtail hem.

Blunt, 40, completed the look with a diamond and ruby necklace paired with matching earrings.

Elsewhere, Best Actress winner Stone opted for a quirky orange gown with one puff sleeve as she beamed alongside Yorgos Lanthimos.

Dune star Pugh, 28, nearly suffered a wardrobe malfunction in the plunging silver bustier as she headed into the ceremony.

She teamed her glamorous ensemble with a dazzling silver necklace and an elegant black cape which wrapped around her arms

Lipa oozed confidence as she posed in a semi-sheer eye-catching red gown with a cape detail.

Naomi Campbell looked like she should be gracing the halls of The Traitors castle in the Scottish Highlands as she attended the BAFTAs on Sunday night.