Daniel Craig Snubbed for BAFTA Best Actor Nomination, Fans Outraged
Online fans were incensed when Daniel Craig, the former ‘James Bond’ actor, was conspicuously left out of the BAFTA Best Actor nominees for his performance in ‘Queer’. Instead, Sebastian Stan, Hugh Grant, Ralph Fiennes, Colman Domingo, Timothée Chalamet, and Adrien Brody were in the category. In light of Craig’s recent Golden Globe and SAG award nods for the same role, this absence is especially unexpected.
Fans took to social media to vent their outrage. One user called it “baffling” that Craig was able to get a SAG nomination but was not recognized by BAFTA. Another expressed their dismay, highlighting how startling it was that BAFTA had ignored him. Craig’s history of BAFTA rejection was brought up by several admirers, who pointed out that despite his more than two decades of fame, he only had one BAFTA nomination in 2006 for ‘Casino Royale’, which he lost to ‘Forest Whitaker’.
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Craig plays an openly gay man in Mexico City in the film ‘Queer’ who develops feelings for Drew Starkey’s attractive ex-soldier. Some fans conjectured that the role’s nature might have played a part in the rejection, drawing comparisons to Andrew Scott’s exclusion from the ‘All of Us Strangers’ awards the previous year. Others drew attention to the fact that this year’s nominees, such as openly gay performers Cynthia Erivo and Colman Domingo and Karla Sofia Gascon for ‘Emilia Pérez’, have LGBTQ+ representation.
Craig’s performance was hailed by critics as one of the best, and ‘Queer’ has been highly received on the festival circuit. Craig acknowledged in interviews that he wouldn’t have accepted the part while still playing ‘James Bond’ because it might have come out as reactive. During his tenure as ‘007’, he also discussed the difficulties of celebrity.
Soon in February, David Tennant will host the BAFTA Film Awards. With 12 and 11, respectively, the drama ‘Conclave’ and the musical ‘Emilia Pérez’ have the most nominations this year.
–Farheen Ali
