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Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Billy Connolly: BAFTA award

Scots comedy legend Billy Connolly in tears as he accepts BAFTA award
Kevin Bridges presented the Big Yin with the Outstanding Contribution in Television and Film award, and thanked him for being an inspiration to Scottish comedians.



Kevin Bridges and Billy Connolly
Kevin Bridges and Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly sobbed  as he received a Scottish Bafta award last night (10 Dec)
He was presented with a gong for an Outstanding Contribution in Television and Film by stand-up comedian Kevin Bridges.
Kevin thanked Billy for being a inspiration to generations of Scots comics and Billy replied: “This is a delightful thing, especially coming from Scotland.
“I’ve been nominated for loads of things and got b***** all. I occasionally get these good attendance things, like the guy in remedial class getting a prize for being kind.
“Genuinely, to get this from Scotland, I almost say it breaks my heart. It just hits me somewhere where I live.”
As Billy burst into tears, the crowd in Glasgow’s Fruitmarket applauded wildly.
He continued: “I don’t know what to do now. It’s been a real pleasure to talk to you. I guess you only get these things once … but could we meet every second week?”
The presentation came at the end of a 90-minute discussion about Billy’s Life In Pictures alongside a few dodgy jokes about thalidomide and the Gorbals.
The Big Yin talked about his roles in films such as 1978’s Absolution with Richard Burton and Mrs Brown with Judi Dench.
Of Burton, he said: “The funny thing was, I was drunk and he was sober.
“They shot the graveyard scene from the back and what you couldn’t see was him singing I Belong to Glasgow.
“He was a priest and I showed him where the pocket was in the cassock for his fags.”
Mrs Brown also left a big impression. Billy said: “At one point, I thought that Judi Dench fancied me. She kept giving me the eye in one scene and I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ I danced about more and she started doing it again.
“It was getting worse and then it dawned on me that she was being Queen Victoria, so I fancied her back.”
Billy admitted he was disappointed to miss out on a Bafta for Mrs Brown – instead it went to Ewan McGregor for Trainspotting.
He said: “Ewan beat me with that filth about drugs in Edinburgh – and that language, too.
“I hate Ewan for beating me. When you get beaten by somebody you like, it’s worse. “
However, Billy said he never likes to watch himself and branded method acting as “pretentious c**p”.
And he admitted he sometimes calls his wife Pamela Stephenson for acting tips when he is on the film or TV set.
He also confessed he wasn’t a fan of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit before he starred in the film.
Billy said: “I hadn’t read The Hobbit and don’t like people who have. They’re not my cup of tea.”
He said two of his favourite current comedians are Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey.
But he added: “Most of the others are Americans and Robin Williams beats everybody when it comes to sheer invention.”
Source (including photo): Daily Record

Billy Connolly Interview - The British Independent Film Awards 2012
Published on Dec 9, 2012
Stefan Pape from HeyUGuys interviews acting royalty and comedy legend Billy Connolly at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards
Source: YouTube

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