Nobody can make an entrance like Meryl Streep. Unfortunately, this one didn't turn out quite as she intended at last night's BAFTAs when the A-list actress ascended the stage to collect her Award for Best Leading Actress.
Streep's shoe (a neat black Jimmy Choo as it turned out) went flying and had to be retrieved by the chivalrous efforts of Colin Firth, Streep's friend and co-star in Mamma Mia!
"That couldn't have gone any worse," Streep commented before launching into her thank you speech for her award for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
The episode seemed good-humoured and harmless enough at the time, but Streep was nearly in tears afterwards - because, in the confusion surrounding her lost shoe and near-fall, it seemed she had forgotten to thank someone very close to her, her makeup and hair assistant of 35 years' standing - Roy Helland.
"I forgot to say his name, and all because of my f***ing shoe," she revealed afterwards.
Streep, like the cast and crew of The Artist, now seems set for Oscar success after taking home yet another award. Her nearest rivals, Viola Davis of The Help and Michelle Williams for her portrayal of Monroe in the British nostalgia trip My Week With Marilyn, not only didn't win, but neither did their respective films in any category.
The Iron Lady won two awards in all, Streep's gong and that for Best Make Up and Hair, which went to Marese Langan.
Surprising though the thought is that she may have needed any help in this area, Streep also revealed what she had learnt from the real-life Lady Thatcher - namely, the art of being interviewed.
"She had an amazing way of controlling an interview, by continuing to talk," the actress explained. "You'd think, 'she has to stop talking soon, she's got to breathe.'"
PICTURES: BAFTA stars brave the cold to grace the red carpet: