Jack Whitehall will host the 2017 AMD British Academy Britannia Awards, after a successful turn as host of the 2015 ceremony.
He joins previously announced honorees Dick Van Dyke, who will receive the Britannia Award for Excellence in Television, and Ava DuVernay, who will receive the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing presented by The GREAT Britain Campaign.
This year’s event will take place on Friday, October 27, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and is presented by Jaguar Land Rover and American Airlines
“I am thrilled to be back hosting BAFTA’s biggest event in America for a second time.” said Whitehall. “I hope my return doesn’t disappoint, and lives up to the common understanding in Hollywood that sequels are always much better, funnier, and more captivating than the originals.”
“The UK has enjoyed a long-standing reputation for bringing stellar comedic talents to a global stage.” said BAFTA Los Angeles Chairman Kieran Breen “We are thrilled that Jack will be returning to the US this year to host BAFTA’s big night in Hollywood, and bringing that perfect balance of charm, sincerity and irreverence that he does so well”
The AMD British Academy Britannia Awards is BAFTA’s biggest event outside of the UK, where Brits and anglophiles alike come together in Los Angeles in celebration of exceptional members of the creative community who have dedicated their careers to advancing the art forms of the moving image in the US, UK and beyond. The AMD Britannia Awards are BAFTA Los Angeles’ highest accolades, recognizing both outstanding British talent, and exceptional international talent by virtue of their strong connection to British entertainment through their body of work. Known to be an enjoyable evening that captures a unique blend of sincerity and British irreverence, the evening also serves to celebrate the long-standing collaboration between the British and American industries. Proceeds from the event support BAFTA’s Access for All campaign, a range of impactful educational initiatives created to provide a foot-in-the-door and a pathway to success for talented individuals, uninhibited by background, demographics or personal circumstance.
The 2016 ceremony took place on Friday, October 28 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and was hosted by British actor and comedian Ben “Doc Brown” Smith. Ang Lee was honored with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing presented by the GREAT Britain Campaign, Samuel L. Jackson was honored with the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment, Ricky Gervais was honored with the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy, Ewan McGregor was honored with the Britannia Humanitarian Award, Felicity Jones was honored with the British Artist of the Year presented by Burberry, and Jodie Foster was honored with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film presented by the Arya Group. World-renowned television and event production company Done + Dusted produced the ceremony, with Event Management by MTA Events.
BAFTA’s other key events include the highly-anticipated TV Tea on September 16, 2017, the BAFTA Tea Party in January and the EE British Academy Film Awards in London on February 18, 2018.
Jack Whitehall is an award-winning comedian, writer and actor.
As a successful and much sought-after stand up, actor, writer and presenter, Jack has firmly established himself as one of the UK’s most exciting and successful comedy talents, a status cemented by his People’s Choice Award for the King of Comedy at the 2012, 2013 & 2014 British Comedy Awards.
A talented actor, Jack received critical acclaim and another British Comedy Award nomination for his portrayal of former public schoolboy JP in the hit C4 comedy drama Fresh Meat. Jack received similar praise for his revival of JP in the subsequent three series of the show, which were each critically acclaimed and earned him a nomination for Best Comedy Performance at the Royal Television Society Awards.
In 2012 Jack created hit school-based sitcom Bad Education, which concluded in 2014 after three critically-acclaimed series. Jack starred in the show as hapless history teacher Alfie Wickers alongside a stellar cast including Matthew Horne and Harry Enfield. It was nominated in 2013 for Best Sitcom at the British Comedy Awards. A film adaptation, The Bad Education Movie, was released in summer 2015. He also appeared alongside Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts in Hollywood film Mother’s Day, released in the UK in June 2016. 2016 also saw him film a new adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Decline and Fall for BBC2 alongside David Suchet and Eva Longoria.
Jack hosts his own chat show with his father Michael Whitehall on BBC 3 entitled Backchat and is a regular panellist for Sky 1’s A League of Their Own. He also hosted 2015’s Royal Variety Performance, the youngest performer in the history of the show to do so. Other recent television appearances include QI, Big Fat Quiz of the Year, The Graham Norton Show, Sunday Night at the Palladium and Have I Got News For You. Jack is currently working on a travel show with his Father, Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father will be airing on Netflix on September 22nd.
In 2014 he completed his first arena tour, performing Jack Whitehall Gets Around to packed houses across the UK. The show saw Jack performing in a unique ‘in the round’ setting on a circular stage at the centre of the arena, a UK first for a solo stand-up tour. The DVD of the tour show, Jack Whitehall Gets Around: Live From Wembley Arena, was released on 24th November 2014. Latest tour Big Time will also see him perform to arenas and starts in 2017.
Jack has performed several sell-out solo stand-up shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival garnering rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. In August 2009, Jack was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his debut solo Fringe show, Nearly Rebellious. In 2010 he returned to Edinburgh with a brand new stand up show entitled Learning Difficulties. In 2011, Jack brought two shows to the Fringe, performing his solo stand up show Let’s Not Speak Of This Again at the EICC and the chat show Back Chat with his father Michael. Jack completed the tour of Let’s Not Speak Of This Again in the winter of 2011, during which he filmed his first stand-up DVD, Jack Whitehall Live, at the Hammersmith Apollo. The DVD was released in November 2012 and entered into the Top Ten Comedy DVD Charts for Christmas 2012.
In July 2010 Jack performed at the invite-only Montreal Just For Laughs Festival as part of the prestigious New Faces line-up and was picked out by Hollywood industry bible Variety as one of their “10 Comics to Watch”. A nomination for the 2010 British Comedy Awards in the Best Male Comedy Breakthrough Artist category capped a truly incredible year for Jack which also saw him have the honour of performing for the Prince of Wales at the Royal Variety Performance for the first time and jetting off to New York to record a special for Comedy Central Presents. Jack returned to the U.S. in May 2011 to feature as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and in March 2012 to perform at the first ever Secret Policeman’s Ball to be presented at the Radio City Hall in New York. In 2015 he appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden and in 2016 performed stand-up on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
In October 2013 Jack released his first book, Him & Me. Written with his father Michael Whitehall, Him & Me is a hugely entertaining and irreverent account of a unique relationship between a father and son. Written in two distinctive styles, it reflects the larger-than-life personalities of its authors, Jack and Michael Whitehall.
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