The winners of this year’s Olivier Awards include My Neighbor Totoro, an Oscar candidate Paul Mescal, and Killing Eve actress Jodie Comer. Mescal, who earned best actor for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire, acknowledged that he was “standing on the immense talent of so many other people” in his acceptance speech. Comer, who received the best actress award for the role of Prima Facie, expressed her shock and gratitude for the “complete sisterhood backstage – a constant network of support.”
Six Olivier Awards Went To My Neighbor Totoro
The ceremony for the awards took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and Totoro took home several prizes, including best entertainment or comedy show and best director. Best New Musical went to Standing at the Sky’s Edge, and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical went to Beverley Knight for her portrayal of activist Emmeline Pankhurst in Sylvia.
While 16 of the 18 winners were getting their first Olivier award, Arthur Darvill, a former Doctor Who actor, won best actor in a musical for Oklahoma!. Hannah Waddingham, a star of Ted Lasso and three-time nominee for an Olivier Award, presented the programme. She will also co-host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. She performed original music to start the show while singing with the casts of several musicals.
Elitist Theatre
In her opening monologue, she made light of the fact that Comer, who portrays a murderer in the television series Killing Eve, would “happily maul” her to death. Warning against “elitist” theatre costs from Sir Derek Jacobi Waddingham welcomed Rose Ayling-Ellis, a former Strictly Come Dancing champion and nominee for best supporting actor for As You Like It, using sign language as well. In his acceptance speech, Mescal thanked his co-stars and parents, “who never said no,” and wished his mother, who has been receiving cancer therapy, a speedy recovery.
The actor later told the BBC that he is “interested in exploring the myriad of different versions of what masculinity is” when choosing a part. After receiving praise for his portrayal of the delicate Connell in the TV drama Normal People, he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as the toxic Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar and won for his portrayal of the troubled Calum in Aftersun.
He continued, “I believe the creative death for me would be for people to guess what I’m going to do next. That’s not what I want. So hopefully I’ll keep it going in an unexpected path.
Comer portrays a physical assault defence attorney in a one-woman play who challenges the legal system after being physically assaulted on a date. “To any kids who haven’t been to drama school, who can’t afford to go, or have been rejected – don’t let anyone tell you it’s impossible,” she said in her acceptance speech.
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