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Gossip from the Baftas: Helen Mirren's plans for green hair, Ben Affleck's sneaking around and Simon Pegg on Star Trek 3

 

Matilda Battersby
Monday 11 February 2013 12:39 GMT
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Helen Mirren is set to turn people green with envy. The 67-year-old’s newly pink hair drew attention at last night’s Baftas but she has no intention of stopping at pink.

Currently performing on stage in The Audience wearing a wig means she “can go any colour I like.” The Hitchcock star is in no danger or joining the blue rinse brigade and says she’s intending to dye her hair green next.

“I’m doing a play and I wear a wig, so I can go any colour I like. So watch this space. It’s going to be… I think green’s going to be next. Yeah,” she told Absolute Radio.

Best director winner Ben Affleck admitted he's been sneaking in to the back of cinemas to watch Argo with real audiences. He has found for the first time since Good Will Hunting that audiences have actually laughed at the right bits.

The American actor-turned-director said he felt “he’d been kept out of the Baftas” in the past. He said: “I’ve never been nominated for a Bafta. I’ve never been invited to present at the Baftas. I’ve been kept out of the Baftas, and getting to come here and look around, and be part of this really important time in British cinema is deeply flattering. And I am really, really excited.

Forget the statuettes, Hugh Jackman said the real reward was “being in” Les Miserables. His highlight of the evening was “not hosting it and just getting to watch the show”.

He gushed: “I’ll be honest, the reward was being in it. Don’t tell anyone here that but that was honestly a dream, and I don’t think I even dreamed it would be Les Mis.”

Quentin Tarantino told Empire that he is planning to turn Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained into the first two parts of a “rewritten history” trilogy. He said: “This begs a trilogy, it begs to have a third movie on this theme. I haven’t decided about what yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised…”

British comic Simon Pegg said the upcoming JJ Abrams film Star Trek Into Darkness, in which he stars, is “shrouded in secrecy”. But he did say: “We’re just trying to protect the film, you know. We seem to be up against a continual barrage of people trying to spoil it so we’re just trying to protect it. And then everyone says, ‘Well, why can’t you tell us?’ ‘Well, it’s because we want you to enjoy it when you see it.’ So that’s it.”

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But Pegg did confirm that JJ Abrams, who has just been signed up to direct the next Star Wars films, will also direct the third Star Strek film. “He will do Star Trek 3,” he said.

Barry Norman spoke plainly about the "intellectual snobbery" that has led to the 007 franchise's historic lack of recognition at the Baftas (despite Skyfall scooping nest British film last night).

"Truth to tell, Bafta is ashamed of the James Bond franchise. It shouldn't be. It should be proud and even, dare I say it, grateful," he said.

I'd Do Anything runner-up and Les Mis star Samantha Barks said Andrew Lloyd Webber was proud of her rise to fame. She said: "He called me and said he was so proud and congratulations and that he’s so, you know, proud of what I’ve achieved. So that was so kind of him to say that. It was a call from the Lord. I couldn’t believe it!"

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