Acclaimed British actor, writer and director Samantha Morton will be awarded a Fellowship at the upcoming EEBAFTA Film Awards.
The award is the highest recognition given by BAFTA to an individual for their exceptional contribution to the film, games or television industry.
After earning plaudits in theater and television, Morton’s breakthrough film role was Carine Adler’s “Under the Skin (1997) that earned her a BIFA nomination and the Boston Film Critics Award for best actress. She has been Oscar nominated twice – for best supporting actress for Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown” (1999), and for best actress for Jim Sheridan’s “In America” (2003).
For her portrayal of child-murderer Myra Hindley in “Longford” (2006) Morton scored best actress nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and BAFTA Television Award, and won a Golden Globe. In 2009, she made her directorial debut with television film “The Unloved,” a semi-autobiographical film based in the British children’s care system, which won the BAFTA Television Award for best single drama.
Other notable film credits include Lynne Ramsay’s “Morvern Callar” (2002), for which she won best performance, Toronto Film Critics Award and a BIFA for best actress; Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” (2002); Michael Winterbottom’s “Code 46” (2003); Shekhar Kapur’s “The Golden Age” (2007); Harmony Korine’s “Mister Lonely” (2007); Anton Corbijn’s “Control” (2007), earning her a supporting actress BAFTA Film Award nomination; Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” (2008), David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” (2012), Andrew Stanton’s “John Carter” (2012), Spike Jonze’s “Her” (2013), David Yates’ “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016), Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” (2022) and Maria Schrader’s “She Said” (2022).
The Fellowship will be presented as part of a commemoration of Morton’s work during the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at London’s Southbank Centre Royal Festival Hall.
Morton said: “As a proud BAFTA member I am honored, profoundly humbled and grateful to BAFTA for giving me this award.”
Anna Higgs, chair of BAFTA’s film committee, added: “Samantha Morton is a mesmerising storyteller with incredible range. She has made an extraordinary impact on the British film industry – consistently shining a light on complex characters and championing underrepresented stories. On-and-off screen, she always works to break down societal barriers and change the make-up of the screen industries for the better – often against great odds. Samantha is hugely respected by her peers in Britain and Hollywood alike for her versatility, talent and passion for the craft of acting, and we are delighted to be honoring her exceptional body of work at the EE BAFTA Film Awards next week.”
Past Fellowship honorees include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Martin Scorsese, Alan Parker, Helen Mirren, Mike Leigh, Sidney Poitier, Mel Brooks, Sir Ridley Scott, Thelma Schoonmaker, Kathleen Kennedy, Ang Lee, Sandy Powell and Meera Syal.
