On this lovely evening, after filming the glamorous arrivals on the red carpet at the Jameson Empire Awards in Mayfair, London, I headed back to the press room where we were greeted with the winners from the night.
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It started off with a select few of the cast and crew from Four Lions, all very excitable with their award for Best Comedy:
HeyUGuys Kelly: Did you expect the film to be such a huge success?
(Producer) Barry Ryan: No, it’s been amazing. I knew it was a good film when I went to my local pub and someone offered me 3 on pirate. I thought ‘I’ve turned a corner as a producer.’ I’m in with Harry Potter!
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After this I was greeted with Noel Clarke, who seemed to be having a lot of interest from the press, and totally loved our name:
Noel: HEEEY YOOOU GUYS!
HeyUGuys Kelly: Hey! How are you enjoying tonight?
Noel: Yeah, it’s awesome. Having a really good time,
HeyUGuys Kelly: What have you been up to recently?
Noel: Errm, sitting at home. No no, I’ve been writing.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Anything you can talk about?
Noel: Yeah, yeah. A couple of things, I’ve written a romantic-comedy.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Oh really? Are you going to be in it?
Noel: Yeah, if it happens. I’ve also written a horror.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Okay! Are they all going to be British based?
Noel: Yeah, they’re all British. They’re bubbling, they’re bubbling. There’s a couple of films coming out this summer. One’s a drama… Not what it sounds like. Another one’s called Huge, also not what it sounds like *winks*.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Wow, you’ve been really busy. You going to be enjoying the free alcohol tonight?
Noel: Yeah of course! Well no, I’m not much of a drinker, but what I’ll do is I’ll collect it up and take it home.
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Now was the time for our self-proclaimed fan Jane Goldman and Mark Strong, after winning Best British Film:
HeyUGuys Kelly: HeyUGuys again, congratulations! Did you think you had this one in the bag, because you knew how much Empire loved your film?
Jane: Well no, not at all. The great thing about this is that it’s voted by the fans as well.
Mark: I heard that Empire wanted to give the film 6 stars.
Jane: Really?
Mark: Yeah! They loved it so much that they wanted to give it 6 stars.
HeyUGuys Kelly: That’s brilliant. I think it definitely deserved 6 starts. I just wanted to ask you (Mark) about Sinestro. How are you getting into character?
Mark: With a lot of make-up and a lot of CGI.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Are we going to see any photos soon?
Mark: They’ve released something, but it’s all going to be coming out in June. I think that stuff takes a while to get right, they don’t want to release it before it’s ready.
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Tom Hiddleston was next to come around, who by the way, is one of the most charming men I’ve ever met:
HeyUGuys Kelly: How are you enjoying your night?
Tom: Yeah, it’s really great. It’s been lots of fun so far.
HeyUGuys Kelly: I just wanted to ask you about the Marvel films. What’s your favourite one?
Tom: Well, I remember being in Sweden for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and went to a cinema as a paying punter not expecting anything, and saw Iron Man. It was fantastic, so entertaining. It’s a lifelong dream come true now I’m playing in one of their films. They’ve created such iconic movies for comic book lovers.
HeyUGuys Kelly: And for people who haven’t seen the film.
Tom: Yeah exactly. They’re just great entertainment.
HeyUGuys Kelly: I also wanted to ask you about Captain America. Have you seen any of it?
Tom: I’ve only seen what the rest of you have seen. I’ve watched all the trailers and was at comic-con so saw a clip there. I have had a sneaky peak at the script…
HeyUGuys Kelly: Is it good?
Tom: It’s awesome! I can’t wait.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Are you going to be going to the after party?
Tom: Of course, what’s the point in coming here otherwise?
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From one charming man to another, I then interviewed Tom Felton after Harry Potter won Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy:
HeyUGuys Kelly: How does it feel to have won?
Tom: It’s great. You tend to find that a lot of award ceremonies overlook Harry Potter because it is so big, but to see it get recognised by the public as well is so nice. I could have listed off 100s of people when I went to collect it, and for me who’s not so big in the film to be the representative was so great.
HeyUGuys Kelly: It’s sweet you think you’re not so big, because you play quite a crucial role.
Tom: Yeah I guess, it’s just nice being here.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Was it nice that it was a British award as well?
Tom: Yeah, it was lovely. British cinema is great and it’s great we can support it.
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And finally, Eli Roth who was snapped up by as many people as he could be stopped by for a quick chat about his films, after winning Best Horror for The Last Exorcism:
HeyUGuys Kelly: Hi! Congratulations on your award.
Eli: Thanks, it’s so nice to be here again and to have the support.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Does it feel good that it’s a British award as well?
Eli: Oh definitely. There’s something about Britain that allows you to explore more with your films. I tend to do a lot of dialogue based horrors which can be interesting. But I can also do gore based and combine the two in a really interesting way, and get a great response from you guys.
HeyUGuys Kelly: What do you prefer doing, gore or dialogue?
Eli: You can’t beat a bit of gore. You can have so much fun with it and just do whatever you want.
HeyUGuys Kelly: Are you going to be enjoying the party later?
Eli: Of course! I’ve been to a few of these events and the party is the best bit!
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After this there was a mad scramble for photos of Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Keira Knightley and Edgar Wright. Unfortunately they didn’t have time to stop by, but the rest of the night all seemed to run quite smoothly with some great results. The attendees looked just about ready for the whiskey, and I was just about ready for bed.
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Check out the rest of our Jameson Empire Awards coverage right here!
