LadyJenevia's 2013 Britannia Awards Experience!
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| Jaguar was a last-minute sponsor to the event... around the same time that Benedict Cumberbatch was confirmed to be attending the event. Not. A. Coincidence. |
Myself and a Cumberbatch-loving friend, whom I had met at the 2013 Bay Area Sherlock con, spent the day waiting in the hotel. We saw various crew members working hard to set things up, bring in equipment, and even roll out the red carpet. We went over and took photos on the red carpet once they were finished; even those that had set it up and various hotel staff members had indulged in doing so before we had. Some time later, I spotted Rob Brydon in the lobby. I lunged across my friend's lap to get into my bag to bring out my camera. As soon as I had it, I moved over to where he was and asked if I might acquire a photo. He agreed, but before getting it taken, I had a brief chat with him. I told him that he was immensely funny on Big Fat Quiz (on which he has appeared multiple times), and that I watch it every year. He seemed flattered and surprised that someone living in the States would be familiar with him and the program. I also stated that I was sure that he would do a great job as host, and that I was waiting there with my friend primarily in the hopes of seeing Benedict Cumberbatch. He thanked me and replied that he hoped that we would be able to meet him. We took our photo together, I thanked him for it, and wished him all the best with his hosting duties.
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| Sir Ben Kingsley |
When it was finally time for guests to begin arriving, both celebrity and non, we stood behind a roped-off area near the main entrance of the hotel. A large crowd of hotel guests began to gather and gawk at the red carpet and nicely dressed guests. This was highly problematic for the security (many of whom seemed poorly trained for what was to come), as they created an immense amount of congestion and did not have designated roped off areas to stand behind. The worst part about the security was how lax they were. It would have been better if they had more efficiently, and perhaps aggressively, forced those people to clear off.
Skipping over the monotony of the arrival of well-dressed guests with large pocketbooks and connections to the BAFTA organisation, one of the first recognisable guests to arrive caused one of the largest frenzies of the night. When George Clooney walked in, a massive amount of people attempted to chase him into the red carpeted area. Given all the judgement that nerds/fangirls receive from "normal" mainstream folk about our going to conventions, events, premieres, etc., their amateurish, frenzied behaviour upon seeing a celebrity in person was downright laughable. Aren't ordinary people adorable? He was incredibly gracious, smiled at the massive crowd of non-guests standing inside and said, waved, and said, "Hi, guys!" Out of all the award recipients, my friend and I had been least interested in seeing him, but from what I saw that night, I dare say I had been too quick to judge him.
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| "Oh my gawd, it's Sigourney Weaver!" |
We also saw Kathryn Bigelow arrive, as well as pass through a few more times that night. When Sir Ben Kingsley arrived, we didn't shout at him, because we didn't want to bother him, but perhaps we should have. He seemed gracious enough that he might have come over if we had truly put forth the effort. We saw Salma Hayek arrive, she walked straight in, and Kelly Rowland did the same. Sigourney Weaver came through, and no one seemed to recognise her. She had only just come through the door when I said, "Oh, it's Sigourney Weaver." Given her close proximity, she heard me and looked straight at me. As I am unfamiliar with her feelings on fan interaction, I chose to not try to call her to me, since I have a great respect for her and wanted to let her enjoy her night. My friend spotted Alice Eve when she arrived and pointed her out to me. I shouted out her name and she looked over and waved. When Dominic Cooper arrived, there was a girl who repeatedly called out his name, but he neither looked over nor acknowledged her. He was on his mobile so I wasn't going to shout at him when he very well may have been on an important call. When I commented to my friend how it was interesting to me that he didn't seem to hear her, despite her calling out his name several times, my friend and I both agreed that she was not loud enough. My friend also stated that I have "a pair of lungs on me" and am therefore better at projecting and making myself heard. (Perhaps it's a result of all the talk about the importance of using your diaphragm, having been raised by a classically trained opera singer). One other person we saw arrive that night was Burn Gorman, whose name I could not recall at the time. Of course I knew it was "Owen" from Torchwood but I was drawing a blank on his actual name. I find calling actors by their character's name rather tacky (unless you are a small child), so I was left standing there disappointed and unable to get his attention. Though I could have looked it up on my mobile, I didn't want to be too absorbed in it to miss anyone else's arrival. But I am certain now that I'll never forget his name, so if ever I see him again, I'll have "Burn Gorman" locked, loaded, and ready to fire so that I may have my moment with him.
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| Dominic Cooper on his mobile |
Moving on now to the more significant interactions I had that night, we'll begin with Idris Elba. As I stated earlier, I had been at the "Thor: The Dark World" premiere, but Idris Elba had not been in attendance (along with several other people, including Natalie Portman and Christopher Eccleston). One of the heads of security had been telling me that if I wanted anyone to come over, I was going to have to shout at them. This is a fairly new concept for me, and is one that I still haven't fully adjusted to, as it can feel highly rude and disrespectful if not executed properly. When I saw Idris, I alone shouted out his name repeatedly. I wasn't quite insistent enough with my calling out to him, as he didn't come over. But he did hear me, looked over, saw me waving my hand about, waved back and smiled. Let me just emphasise the fact that this man is tremendously good-looking. But more important than his looks, he is of upstanding character (he was being awarded the Humanitarian Award that evening for his charity work). I wasn't entirely sure that he had been directing his wave and smile at me, but when I expressed my uncertainty to my friend, she insisted that he had indeed been giving his attention to me. Naturally, I was flattered.
When Alex Kingston arrived, I could have jumped for joy. Though Sherlock is undoubtedly my absolute favourite show, I am also tremendously fond of Doctor Who. When I saw her (and her glorious hair), I didn't hesitate to being shouting, "Alex! Alex!" She turned to where I was standing behind the roped off section and I called out, "Will you please come take a picture with me?" She cocked her head to one side as if pondering whether or not to come over, and my friend joined me in beckoning her over with hand movements. She then began walking straight to me, giving me her undivided attention. When she reached me, the same security guard that had been advising me on the importance of calling out to people moved to me and took my camera, stating that he would take the photo. Alex moved to my right side, put an arm around me, and I moved my arm around her waist (I think her dress was velvet), and I tried to smile without looking deranged from overexcitement as the photo was snapped. Once it was taken, I turned to her and with my voice drenched in adoration, I gushed, "Thank you so much, you're amazing." She smiled and said, "Thank you," appearing touched at how obviously elated and moved I was by her coming over and giving me a moment of her time. Once she had walked back over, I was beside myself and began babbling rather loudly and incessantly to my friend. "Oh my gawd, Alex Kingston came over and took a photo with me! I called out to her and she came over and took a photo with me!" Adrenaline was rocketing through me and I apologised to my friend for being unable to stop talking about it, stating that I was just feeling overwhelmed and amazed by what had just occurred. She insisted there was no need to apologise and that she was happy for me. Though I calmed down a bit, I kept going on about how wonderful and beautiful Alex was, gesturing in her direction as she was still chatting with some other guests. She looked over in my direction, smiled again, and gave me a little wave. I was excited all over again and also embarrassed at my unintentionally distracting her from her conversation.
Later on, Karen Gillan arrived, and I called out to her just as I had at the "Thor: The Dark World" premiere, and she waved. After that, a woman standing somewhat near me asked, "Excuse me. Who is 'Karen'?" I internally groaned (since I have little patience for people who seem to only be interested in people for being famous as opposed to the brilliance of their work), and asked her if she watched Doctor Who. (It was a rhetorical question). Not surprisingly, she replied, "No," and I said, "Then you won't know who she is." Some time after Karen had arrived, Alex brought her back over to where some Whovians (they were wearing DW t-shirts) were standing and introduced Karen by declaring, "This is my mum." (Glorious). They took photos with those fans, and were able to do so in peace, as the celebrity-interested hotel guests creating congestion were unfamiliar with the both of them.
When Ralph Fiennes arrived, several people including myself began calling out his name. He paused momentarily, before deciding to come over. As he drew near, he was scanning the crowd and not honed in on anyone in particular. Once he was reasonably close, I asked, "Ralph, can I get a photo with you?" and he moved right to me. Again, the security man took my camera and I quickly had my friend move in to my left (Ralph was on my right), so that she could squeeze in to the photos as well. I put my arm around his back and the photo was taken. I thanked him for the photo, took a photo for another person who wanted one with him, and Ralph left shortly thereafter. He did not utter a single syllable but his presence was commanding. After he was gone, my friend and I of course basked in the glory of the fact that we had just gotten a photo with Ralph "Lord Voldemort" Fiennes and joked about our luck in having survived the encounter.
When Benedict Cumberbatch finally arrived, the crowd erupted with excitement. Nearly all of the fans that were in attendance had come in the hopes of meeting him. He first went to the crowd of fans outside, and we stepped in front of the rope we had been standing behind, in anticipation of his entering the hotel. When he finally came inside, he had been prepared to move straight into the event but immediately spotted the massive crowd of people and heard us all calling out to him. He immediately changed course and walked over, stopping right in front of us (I was wearing my "Get Sherlock" shirt and my friend a Benedict shirt). He began signing things for a few folks and even took a photo with a young girl. One fan was even brash enough to ask him on a date, and he responded with nervous, uncomfortable laughter. Given the fact that he was standing only three feet in front of me, I was not only able to enjoy seeing him at close range, but have him look back at me. He was entirely beautiful, not only physically with his tailored suit and gravity-defying cheekbones, but in the way that he so graciously tried to spend as much time as he could with us before he inevitably had to remove himself from the frenzy that others were creating. He muttered something about trying to come back out later, but when the event was over, the crowd had re-formed and it was too crazy for him to even attempt it. He left promptly, without even visiting the after-party, but my friend and I were too proud of him and happy to have even had him in our presence to be upset by his quick departure. Given the fact that he was the primary reason we had made the trip to the event, we were and are plenty satisfied with the time we had with him.
One final gem of the night was that while Karen Gillan was passing through to move from the event into the after-party, another Wholockian (fan of Doctor Who and Sherlock) standing near me was able to get her attention and get a photo with her. (A bit earlier, she had also been able to get a photo with Alex Kingston and I was tremendously happy for her). This Wholockian had recognised me, and I her, since we had briefly spoken to one another at the "Thor: The Dark World" premiere. After Karen took a photo with this girl, I asked if I could get one too, and she agreed to do so. She crouched down, since she was standing over six feet tall with her heeled shoes, and I held the camera out to snap a selfie of the two of us. I thanked her, and basked in the glory of the fact that I had met and gotten a photo with yet another Who cast member.
Though the Britannia Awards may be a smaller awards show for now, its reputation seems to be growing each year. Though I would rather attend the actual BAFTAs in London, it was overall a fantastic experience, and I would like to take this moment to congratulate each of the recipients for their tremendous work, especially Benedict Cumberbatch (given the absurdity in his having to cross the Atlantic in order to finally receive a BAFTA).
To see the photos of the event that were mentioned but not included in this post, check out my videos documenting the experience:
(Part 1)
(Part 2)
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