Daniel takes gong for ‘Gangs’

IRISH star Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for his role in Martin Scorsese’s epic Gangs of New York, the only prize which the film took at the British version of the Oscars last night.

And sexy superstar Nicole Kidman was named Best Actress for a role in which she is virtually unrecognisable.

The Aussie star was rewarded for her role in director Stephen Daldry’s film, The Hours, at the movie Baftas in London for her performance in which she looked dowdy and wore a false nose.

British star Catherine Zeta Jones took Best Supporting Actress prize for her high-

kicking role in the musical, Chicago, making her first public appearance since her High Court battle. The Welsh beauty was in court earlier this month in a privacy battle after Hello! magazine published pictures of her wedding.

Show host Stephen Fry took a jovial swipe at her and husband Michael Douglas as he presented the star-studded event. “You’ll get a very warm response if you go up and say ‘hello’,” he told guests at the ceremony in London’s Leicester Square.

However, her film failed to sweep the board last night picking up just one other prize, Technical Award for Best Sound.

None of the big blockbusters which had collected numerous nominations managed to make a massive impact on the awards, with the biggest winner being Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which picked up three.

They were Best Costume Design, Best Special Effects and the Orange Film of the Year prize which is voted for by cinemagoers.

The Best Film prize went to The Pianist and its maker Roman Polanski was named Best Director.

He beat Daldry who took a Golden Globe for The Hours last month and is strongly tipped to land an Oscar. However, The Hours did pick up a second award with composer Philip Glass taking the award for Best Music.

Other multiple winners included The Warrior, The British-made foreign-language film, which was named Outstanding British Film of the Year. Its director Asif Kapadia landed the Carl Foreman Award for Best Debut.

Best Supporting Actor was Christopher Walken for the Spielberg film, Catch Me if You Can, although he was unable to attend the ceremony.