'The King's Speech' Gets 14 BAFTA Nominations

The BAFTA Film Awards—ostensibly the British version of the Oscars—announced its nominees this morning. Unsurprisingly, the very British The King's Speech scored the most nominations with 14, including Best Film, Director, and acting nods for stars Colin Firth, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Geoffrey Rush.

The BAFTA nominations tend to closely mirror the eventual Oscar nominees—announced next week—but with a few surprise choices, usually of the European variety. Pete Postlewaithe, who passed away earlier this month, is posthumously nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in The Town. Javier Bardem is an unexpected Best Actor nominee for Biutiful.

The surprise nomination of True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld in the Best Actress category—she's received supporting nods all season long—and the snub of Golden Globe-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) in Best Supporting Actress made room for Lesley Manville (Another Year) and Miranda Richardson (Made in Dagenham) to score their first major awards nods of the season. And whereas Mila Kunis has been picking most of the awards notice for her supporting work in Black Swan, it's Barbara Hershey who is nominated for the film here.

Here are the nominees in the major categories:

BEST FILM

* BLACK SWAN
* INCEPTION
* THE KING'S SPEECH
* THE SOCIAL NETWORK
* TRUE GRIT

DIRECTOR

* 127 HOURS - Danny Boyle
* BLACK SWAN - Darren Aronofsky
* INCEPTION - Christopher Nolan
* THE KING'S SPEECH - Tom Hooper
* THE SOCIAL NETWORK - David Fincher

LEADING ACTOR

* JAVIER BARDEM - Biutiful
* JEFF BRIDGES - True Grit
* JESSE EISENBERG - The Social Network
* COLIN FIRTH - The King's Speech
* JAMES FRANCO - 127 Hours

LEADING ACTRESS

* ANNETTE BENING - The Kids Are All Right
* JULIANNE MOORE - The Kids Are All Right
* NATALIE PORTMAN - Black Swan
* NOOMI RAPACE - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
* HAILEE STEINFELD - True Grit

SUPPORTING ACTOR

* CHRISTIAN BALE - The Fighter
* ANDREW GARFIELD - The Social Network
* PETE POSTLETHWAITE - The Town
* MARK RUFFALO - The Kids Are All Right
* GEOFFREY RUSH - The King's Speech

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

* AMY ADAMS - The Fighter
* HELENA BONHAM CARTER - The King's Speech
* BARBARA HERSHEY - Black Swan
* LESLEY MANVILLE - Another Year
* MIRANDA RICHARDSON - Made in Dagenham

Read the full story at Awards Daily.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/01/the-kings-speech-gets-14-bafta-nominations/69708/