STARS ALIGNED: BAFTA nominees including Margot Robbie and Carey Mulligan turned up on Saturday evening at 5 Hertford Street in London for the annual Charles Finch x Chanel pre-BAFTA party.
Robbie, a Chanel ambassador who is in the running for the leading actress category at this year’s BAFTAs, arrived at the intimate dinner in a sequined minidress. Fellow nominees include Mulligan, Emma Stone, and Sandra Hüller.
Robbie’s portrayal in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster “Barbie” was the talk of the night, earning praise among guests such as “Black Mirror” star Clara Rugaard, “The Invisible Man” lead Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Savanah Leaf, who is nominated for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer for “Earth Mama.”
“It’s a film about a single mother who has two children in foster care and one child on the way and she’s trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her unborn child. It’s kind of a heavy film,” said Leaf, who was dressed in head-to-toe Chanel from the spring 2024 collection.
“It’s for children who are trying to figure out why a parent can’t parent them. It is a mixture of personal experiences with all the cast and experiences of all these different people that I’ve led into my life. I feel really lucky to be in such an incredible category with filmmakers that I very much respect and admire,” she added.
Jackson-Cohen, who is working on the second season of the Apple TV+ psychological thriller “Surface” alongside Gugu Mbatha-Raw, said 2023 was “such an incredible year for film.”
“I feel like that’s quite hard to narrow down [what’s my favorite]. I feel like in terms of British films, ‘How to Have Sex’ was incredible, ‘The Zone of Interest’ and ‘Barbie’ were also incredible,” he added.
Finch agreed. “It’s an exceptional year in terms of film – and an intensely competitive one, too. Viva la film.”
Actress Lucy Boynton, another Chanel ambassador who most recently appeared in the brand’s 2024 Coco Crush campaign, said she is rooting for “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri, who is nominated for the EE Rising Star Award alongside Phoebe Dynevor, Jacob Elordi, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Sophie Wilde.
“I just think she’s a phenomenal writer, actor, comedian. She can do everything at any time,” said Boynton, who just finished a project about Ruth Ellis, the last woman who was hanged in the U.K.
Boynton is also about to start her press tour for “The Greatest Hits,” a time-travel romance movie that’s premiering at South by Southwest on March 14. She plays Harriet, who discovers certain songs can transport her back in time. David Corenswet, who is set to be the next Superman, plays her love interest in the movie.
Other key attendees at the party included Emily Blunt, who had a good laugh with Tom Ford, as well as Emilia Clark, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Douglas Booth, Marcus Mumford, Emerald Fennell, Gwendoline Christie, Joel Edgerton, Kristin Scott Thomas, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Zawe Ashton and Antonia Desplat.
Desplat, who has a slew of projects coming out this year, said she has watched all the nominated movies.
“I really love ‘Poor Things.’ I thought it was exciting, shocking and funny. I love the concept of it and I thought it was done incredibly well,” said Desplat, who described Chanel as a symbol of pure class and pure elegance.
She was also impressed with Robbie’s performance, and wider involvement as a producer, of “Barbie.”
“She is a prime example of a female film maker, acquiring rights from incredible stories and developing films, and acting in them. She’s so powerful and the messages that she puts behind her films are admirable,” said Desplat, who just finished shooting a movie with Johnny Depp about the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.
Ellie Bamber, who played Princess Beatrice in “Red, White & Royal Blue,” was blown away by Stone’s performance in “Poor Things” as well.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s spetacular. She just gave it all,” said Bamber, who is set to play Kate Moss in the supermodel’s biopic “Moss & Freud,” which centers on her experience of sitting for painter Lucian Freud in 2002.
Also in the room were Christian Louboutin and Ozwald Boateng who were talking about fashion as well as film. The Savile Row tailor, who is celebrating his 30th anniversary in business this year, said there has been “an evolution in the right way” with how the fashion industry has been progressing over the years.
“I have to say for the last three Fashion Awards that I attended, I’ve been absolutely blown away by the diverse nature of the awards that we’re giving out. If I compare it to what it was to what it is today, it’s in a different place and definitely for the better,” he said.
