2019 BAFTA Film Awards Nominations: Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns Both Snubbed as Bradley Cooper Makes History

Meanwhile, veteran actor Richard E. Grant receives his first-ever nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

By Zach Johnson Jan 09, 2019 1:30 PMTags
Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins ReturnsJay Maidment/Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite lived up to its title when the 2019 BAFTA Film Awards nominations were announced earlier today, receiving recognition in a whopping 12 categories. The drama, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, is proving to be a strong award season contender across the board—especially after Colman's 2019 Golden Globes win.

Colman is nominated in the Leading Actress category with The Wife's Glenn Close, A Star Is Born's Lady Gaga, Can You Ever Forgive Me?'s Melissa McCarthy and Widows' Viola Davis. To some, Davis' inclusion came as a surprise, considering Steve McQueen's heist movie has been largely overlooked by other award shows and no one else from the cast or crew was honored.

Also shocking? Emily Blunt, who earned raves for her role as Great Britain's beloved no-nonsense nanny in Mary Poppins Returns, was shut out of the Leading Actress category. Walt Disney Pictures' musical itself received a mere three nominations: Costume Design (Sandy Powell), Original Music (Marc Shaiman) and Production Design (John Myhre and Gordon Sim).

read
BAFTA Film Awards 2019: The Complete List of Nominations

McCarthy's Can You Ever Forgive Me? co-star Richard E. Grant received his first-ever BAFTA nomination; the 61-year-old veteran will face off against Green Book's Mahershala Ali, Beautiful Boy's Timothée Chalamet, BlackkKlansman's Adam Driver and Vice's Sam Rockwell in the Supporting Actor field. And although BlackkKlansman director Spike Lee received BAFTA's Special Award in 2002, his three nominations this year—for Best Director, Best Film and Adapted Screenplay—mark the first time he's ever been nominated in a competitive category.

Black Panther, which will likely get a Best Picture nomination at the 2019 Oscars, failed to get any love from the top categories. Instead, it was recognized in a single category: Visual Effects.

Disney/Marvel

Director Alfonso Cuarón has a whopping six nominations for ROMA, making him the most-nominated individual in a single year. A Star Is Born's Bradley Cooper, meanwhile, makes history as the first man to be nominated as an actor, composer, director, producer and writer.

Michael Pearce's Beast, starring Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn, is the only movie in the Outstanding Debut British Film category to also be in the running for Outstanding British Film. Early Man was also overlooked, marking the first time a film by Nick Park—a five-time BAFTA winner—hasn't been a competitor. However, BAFTA only reserves three slots in its animation category and it chose to honor Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Winners will be named Feb. 10 when Joanna Lumley hosts the show at Royal Albert Hall.