Timothy Spall has said he was “genuinely surprised” to beat Succession star Brian Cox at the Bafta awards last year.
The 68-year-old collected the trophy for Best Actor in 2024 amid widespread praise for his performance in BBC’s true crime dramaThe Sixth Commandment, in which he played Peter Farquhar, a cherished and inspirational teacher who was murdered in 2015.
Cox had been the heavy favourite to take home the award for his role as billionaire patriarch Logan Roy in Succession, with Steve Coogan also a strong contender for his portrayal of celebrity paedophile Jimmy Savile in The Reckoning.
“I thought it was a shoo-in for Brian Cox because Succession was such a popular show, and he was brilliant,” Spall told Saga.
“It was my sixth Bafta nomination, and I got used to doing the ‘smile’, so I thought it was going to be another one of those. When I won it, I was genuinely surprised.”
Spall earned praised for his candid acceptance speech. During his address, he described the acting profession as being “a soppy old thing, standing up pretending to be somebody and pissing around in costume”.
He told the audience: “The reality is, sometimes you get a chance to play people that have had a terrible thing happen to them, and all they wanted is love. This is a story about many things, about terrible crimes, but it’s also about love.
“We’re just storytellers, aren’t we, really? When it makes a difference and we can all share in the human condition… even though acting is a silly stupid thing, it’s lovely.”
Gesturing at the trophy, he muttered: “I’ve always wanted one of these.”
Spall was first nominated at the Bafta Film awards in 1996 for Secrets and Lies, and again in 2000 forTopsy-Turvy . He earned additional nods at the Bafta TV awards for lead performances in Our Mutual Friend (1999), Shooting the Past (2000), and Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise (2002), before finding success with The Sixth Commandment.
He is also renowned for his performances in the Harry Potter franchise, Sweeney Todd, The King’s Speech, and collaborations with acclaimed director Mike Leigh such as the 2002 drama All or Nothing.
Elsewhere in the interview, Spall said that his weight loss in 2016 completely changed the type of opportunities he was offered.
“I wanted to lose weight for a part in The Enfield Haunting, so I stopped drinking wine, and that regulated my diet,” he said.
“The weight came off and I started to get parts I wouldn’t have had before. Funnily enough, I’m currently filming a Netflix movie directed by Kate Winslet called Goodbye June where I had to fatten up by wearing a strap-on belly!”
In the film, Spall plays father to three daughters (played by Winslet, Andrea Riseborough and Toni Collette) and a son (Johnny Flynn). Their mother is played by Helen Mirren.
The film is slated for release on 1 December 2025.
#Timothy #Spall #genuinely #surprised #beating #Brian #Cox #Bafta #award
