BAFTAs 2024: Emotional moment the cream of showbiz give Parkinson’s-stricken Michael J. Fox, 62, a standing ovation as he takes to the stage in a wheelchair to present Best Film to Oppenheimer – one of SEVEN gongs for the biopic as it dominates the night

Michael J Fox received a standing ovation from Hollywood’s biggest stars at the 2024 British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, as he took to the stage in a wheelchair to present Best Film to Oppenheimer.

The actor, 62, who has battled Parkinson’s since 1991, was helped to the podium to announce that Best Film had been awarded to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, one of seven gongs for the epic.

After entering the stage in a wheelchair, Michael earned a hugely warm reception from stars including Margot Robbie, Bradley Cooper and Barry Keoghan, who were in attendance at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

The legendary 80s film star was visibly touched by the reaction, as he supported himself on the podium to reveal the nominees and eventual winner. 

Oppenheimer proved to be the big winner on the night, earning seven gongs including Best Film, Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr and Director for Christopher Nolan. 

The Back To The Future star previously walked the red carpet with his glamorous wife Tracy Pollan.

Michael was  just 29 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, and went public with the information in 1998. 

In 2023, the star released an Apple TV+ documentary about his career and living with the devastating disease, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.

While Michael did present the final award of the night, he was also in attendance after his documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Story received a nod for Documentary. 

Speaking to BBC in light of the documentary’s nomination, Michael said: ‘I would say it’s a gift and people would look at me and I’d say it’s a gift that keeps on taking, but it’s a gift.’

Since being diagnosed, Michael has been praised for his tireless work fundraising in a bid to find a cure for Parkinson’s. He founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation to aid research efforts.

Michael said: ‘I realised I had to turn it around and turn it into something and make it some positive thing that affected other people in a positive way.

‘So I think that’s why I started the foundation, but it took me a long time to get there.’

In his documentary, which was released in May 2023, Michael looks back on his blockbuster career with director Davis Guggenheim and shares how he first noticed the signs of what would be diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease.

He said the documentary is about when ‘an incurable optimist meets an incurable disease’ as he spoke about his battle with the condition.

‘I have Parkinson’s, I struggle with it,’ he said. ‘It’s hard, it’s annoying, it’s a bit more than annoying but it can be devastating for some people.’

Michael displayed symptoms of early-onset Parkinson’s as early as 1991 while shooting the film Doc Hollywood, and was told by doctors that in a few years he would not be able to work.

After being diagnosed, Michael started drinking heavily and became depressed. But after seeking help, he found sobriety and publicly disclosed his condition in 1998.

On why he concealed his Parkinson’s for so many years, Michael said: ‘Yeah I didn’t know what it was going to do, how it was going to manifest itself.

‘I didn’t know what to expect and no one could really tell me what to expect.’

Michael received the Lifetime Achievement honour at the 2023 Spring Moving Image Awards for his impressive Hollywood career as well as his dedication to finding a cure for Parkinson’s.

In his documentary, Michael detailed the devastating moment in which he revealed the diagnosis to his wife of 35 years Tracy and how she vowed to support him all along the way.

Michael, who continued to act for years, recalled: ‘I told Tracy the news. “In sickness and in health,” I remember her whispering.’

He added that ‘no one outside my family’ knew of his diagnosis and he took pills to ‘hide’ his symptoms.

The actor did not specify if it was were recreational or prescription drugs that he was self-medicating with.

In behind the scenes footage, he is pictured dodging explosions and gunfire and unmanned vehicles as he runs through the desert in a scene from Tim Burton’s black sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks, which was shot before he had announced his diagnosis.

In an interview on CBS Mornings in November, Michael says he’d have forgiven wife Tracy Pollan if she had decided to ‘step out’ during their 35-year marriage as he battles Parkinson’s disease.

‘At any time she would have been forgiven to say, “I’m just gonna step out,”‘ the 62-year-old actor said of his spouse, 63. ‘But, she didn’t do that.’

‘I love Tracy obviously and she’s an amazing person and has gone through a lot,’ Fox said. ‘I realize she has a life separate from me having Parkinson’s, from me being Alex Keaton or Marty McFly, she’s a person. I think that’s why it’s gone okay.’

Fox said of their marriage, ‘She had indicated to me by saying, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. She was able to get me through it, and go through it with me. And she has for 35 years.’

Fox and Pollan are parents to son Sam Michael, 34, twin daughters Aquinnah Kathleen and Schuyler Frances, 28, and daughter Esmé Annabelle, 21.

On the CBS broadcast, the Spin City star explained how Pollan has stayed by his side amid his health woes.

‘We knew the bus was coming and we knew it was going to hit, but we didn’t know how far away it was or how fast it was going,’ he said.

Oppenheimer won Best Film as well as sweeping the board in major categories at the BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall.

The epic biographical thriller swept the board the wins with seven gongs, including Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr and Best Director for Christopher Nolan. It had the most nominations with 13.

The biggest night in British film returned with actor David Tennant as host, with an array of guest presenters on hand to deliver awards throughout the night. 

Cillian, 47, – who plays the titular role in Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb saga – picked up the prize at the prestigious British awards ceremony.

He triumphed against Bradley Cooper for Maestro, Colman Domingo for Rustin, Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, Barry Keoghan for Saltburn and Teo Yoo for Past Lives.

Accepting the trophy he said: ‘Oh boy, holy moly, thank you very, very much Bafta.’

He paid tribute to ‘the most dynamic, kindest producer-director partnership in Hollywood: Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, thank you for seeing something in me that I probably didn’t see in myself.’

The Irish actor said to Nolan: ‘Thank for always pushing me and demanding excellence because that is what you deliver time and time again.’

He also acknowledged his ‘fellow nominees and my Oppenhomies’, adding: ‘I know it’s a cliche to say, but I’m in awe of you.’

He said J Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, was a ‘colossally knotty character’, adding: ‘We have a space to debate and interrogate and investigate that complexity and it’s a privilege to be a part of this community with you all

Robert, 58, collected a BAFTA for his role as Lewis Strauss in Hollywood blockbuster Oppenheimer, which has swept the board during awards season.

Robert admitted he owes the award to the film’s director Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and leading man Cillian Murphy, as well as ‘British influence’.

Gesturing to Nolan, he said: ‘Recently that dude suggested I attempt an understated approach as a last ditch effort to resurrect my dwindling credibility.’

Robert’s win set a new record for the longest gap between wins by any performer.

His award, for the film Oppenheimer, comes 31 years after his previous BAFTA, for the 1993 film Chaplin.

The previous record was 27 years, set by Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2021 when he won the award for best actor for The Father, nearly three decades after his 1994 win for Shadowlands.

Nolan won the Best Director BAFTA for Oppenheimer, his epic tale of how the nuclear bomb was created.

Before accepting the award from actor Hugh Grant, Nolan hugged his Irish star Cillian Murphy who played physicist J Robert Oppenheimer.

Nolan joked that his brother ‘beat him up here’ by being in a chorus of a production 40 years ago.

Nolan has previously lost out despite numerous commercial successes such as Inception and The Dark Knight, the UK-born filmmaker won out against Jonathan Glazer [The Zone of Interest], Justine Triet [Anatomy of a Fall], Alexander Payne [The Holdovers], Bradley Cooper [Maestro] and Andrew Haigh [All of Us Strangers].

He paid tribute to Murphy and added to those who backed the film: ‘Thank you for taking on something dark’.

The director also acknowledged the efforts of nuclear disarmament organisations to bring peace.

Oppenheimer swept up in the big name categories, but it was closely followed by the surreal black comedy Poor Things.

It marked five awards for the film, as Emma Stone collected the gong for her turn as Bella Baxter.

Accepting her award, she said: ‘Since we’re in London, I want to start by thanking dialect coach. She praised him for not laughing at her when he taught her how to say ‘water’.

‘I really wanted to thank my mum, because she’s the best person I know. Without her none of this would exist, including my life, so thank you for that Mum.’

Meanwhile, Da’Vine was crowned victorious in the Best Supporting Actress category for her part in The Holdovers as she continues her march to Oscars glory.

She took to the stage and told the presenter ‘you are so handsome’ – prompting laughter from the audience.

‘Thank you for trusting me with this beautiful character,’ she says.

Becoming emotional, she says that being able to ‘wear this beautiful gown, standing on the stage in London, is not a responsibility I take lightly’.

Randolph plays school cook Mary in the film set at a boarding school in the early 1970s.

Director Jonathan Glazer and producer James Wilson’s The Zone Of Interest won the BAFTA for outstanding British film.

Wilson told the audience they were ‘stunned’ the film had won three awards during the ceremony, and while it was shot in Poland, the team who made it was assembled from the UK.

The night kicked off with French legal drama Anatomy Of A Fall winning the Original Screenplay award after premiering in Cannes back in May.

Collecting the award, co-writer and director Justine Triet, said: ‘The last time I I was in London, a woman said to me: ‘After I saw your movie I called my ex and told him to see it to understand why I dumped him.’

‘Someone else said ‘Did you put a mic in my kitchen?’

Gesturing to her co-writer and partner Arthur Harari, Triet said ‘I would like to make a statement tonight: it’s a fiction and we are reasonably fine.’

Harari referred to the plot of the courtroom drama when he joked that he had recently found himself near a window in an attic.

He added: ‘I want this room as my witness, if something happens to me, I loved insulating that attic and I’m quite happy tonight.’

Next up, black comedy Poor Things won the BAFTA for special visual effects. 

Following this, drama film Earth Mama was honoured with the BAFTA outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, presented by David Beckham.

The director was given the award alongside Irish producers Shirley O’Connor and Medb Riordan.

The Zone Of Interest won the BAFTA for a film not in the English language.

Comedy drama American Fiction won best adapted screenplay at the Bafta film awards ceremony.

Composer Ludwig Goransson won the BAFTA for original score for epic biopic Oppenheimer while Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers scooped the honour for best sound for Holocaust film The Zone Of Interest.

The Bafta for production design went to Shona Heath, James Price and Zsuzsa Mihalek for surreal comedy Poor Things, about a woman who is reanimated and begins a new life.

It was previously announced the BAFTA for outstanding British contribution to cinema would go to programmer and archivist June Givanni, founder of the Pan African Film Archive, who collected the prize during the ceremony from Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh.

Northern Ireland actor James Martin, from Oscar-winning film An Irish Goodbye, presented the British short film Bafta to Yasmin Afifi and Elizabeth Rufai for Jellyfish And Lobster, a tale about care home residents.

Samantha Morton collected the BAFTA Fellowship from producer David Heyman, who she worked with on Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

The BAFTA Rising Star award was won by Mia Mckenna-Bruce following a public vote.

The star of coming-of-age film How To Have Sex appeared emotional on stage as she thanked her family and her ‘beautiful baby boy’.