Andy Serkis took a swipe at home secretary Priti Patel over the Ukrainian refugee crisis during an appearance at the Baftas on Sunday.
The actor and director, known for playing Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings, condemned the politician, saying her debut film would be called “hostile environment”.
Whilst introducing the award for Best Director, Andy said: “A world-class director is a visionary empowered to change the world with a story that they are burning to tell.
“Bringing together and leading a huge family of supremely talented strangers on a difficult and chaotic journey, whilst hopefully creating an atmosphere that inspires inclusivity and values every single member of that family equally.
“So it is no surprise that Priti Patel on her debut feature ‘Hostile Environment’ found enormous problems.
“And that her follow-up movie ‘All refugees are welcome but some are more welcome than others’ is a complete nightmare.”
On the red carpet of the event, Andy admitted it was “a difficult situation having a celebration like this when such horrendous, horrific things are happening not too far away from here”.
“But I think it’s also important that arts are celebrated because arts do hold humanity together, and actually freedom of speech and the power of storytelling is something that I think Ukrainians would totally applaud,” he told the PA news agency.
“So if we hold them up tonight and reflect the enjoyment and the passion back to them, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
During the ceremony, host Rebel Wilson had a very clear message for Russian president Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine.
As the Australian star Introduced Emilia Jones’ musical performance, she explained that there would be two sign language interpreters on stage.
“And this is the gesture for Putin,” she said, giving the middle finger.
