DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, BAFTA.
Just on the chance that I might one day have to speak on an evening such as this, I have actually stayed in character as myself for the last 55 years, and I had a various selection of BAFTA sets, downscaled, dated from the late 50s placed in every single room of every house that I ever lived in. Every time I rise from a chair, it spontaneously unleashes a soundtrack of thunderous applause, with a few boos and some drunken hecklers. Well …
I am so very grateful to BAFTA for this and for all the encouragement you have given me over the years; it has meant a great deal to me. And for such generous recognition of our film. My fellow nominees, I don’t know if I deserve this, but I do know that every single one of you deserves it at least every single bit as I do.
My colleagues, represented here by the wonderful producer Kathleen Kennedy, I miss you, I wish we were still on this expedition together, and it turns out we weren’t on a rudderless boat. Steven Spielberg was the rudder, the helm, the helmsman, the boat builder, the boat and the sea we sailed on, and to the end of my days, thank you Steven, thank you BAFTA. Good night.