BAFTA Awards: Benedict Cumberbatch Says ‘Selma’s’ David Oyelowo Should Have Been Nominated

British and Hollywood stars alike on Sunday evening hit the red carpet at the BAFTA film awards in London.

BAFTA streamed the red-carpet arrivals on its web site. Benedict Cumberbatch said he would have loved to see the star of Selma at the awards ceremony.

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“I wish David Oyelowo was here tonight,” Cumberbatch, nominated in the best leading actor category, said. “I don’t understand it. He would have got my vote.”

He also added: “I wish he was here tonight – he’s a good friend – but he wasn’t nominated, which I can’t understand. He’s a superlative actor.”

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Nominated for the best actor award are Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything),
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel).

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Tom Hiddleston told BBC reporters on the red carpet that he “would love to be on stage again soon,” but not this year. He was in Coriolanus until last year. “It is very different kind of work from film,” he said.

Hiddleston also said: “There are some amazing performances that haven’t been nominated, like David Oyelowo [for Selma] and Timothy Spall [for Mr. Turner].”

Rene Russo expressed excitement over her first-ever BAFTA nomination, quipping that she never gets nominated for any awards. “It’s totally wild and weird and surreal,” she said.

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Russo added that she was not nervous, predicting that she wouldn’t win anyway. She said it was “so cool” to be nominated. She added that others say the same “and you think bulls—,” but she said she really meant it.

Other people hitting the red carpet included David Beckham and Stephen Hawking, subject of nominated film The Theory of Everything. Both were set to present awards later in the night.