Cate Blanchett at the BAFTAs

Cate Blanchett at the BAFTAs

Cate Blanchett dedicated her BAFTA award for Lead Actress to Philip Seymour Hoffman at the awards in London on Sunday night.

The Australian actress took the Lead Actress trophy at tonight's (16.02.14) British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) ceremony in London for her role in Woody Allen's 'Blue Jasmine' and spoke in memory of Philip, who died earlier this month from an apparent overdose of heroin in New York.

Calling him a "monumental presence," she praised his "talent, generosity and unflinching quest for truth not just in art but in life."

She added: "You raised the bar continually. Phil, buddy, this is for you, you b*****d, I hope you're proud."

Cate had appeared alongside Philip in 1999s 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'.

Meanwhile, Barkhad Abdi was named Supporting Actor for his film debut in 'Captain Philips'- in which he plays a Somali pirate - beating Bradley Cooper, Daniel Bruhl, Matt Damon and Michael Fassbender to claim the prize.

Accepting the award, he thanked the film's director, Paul Greengrass "for believing in me before I believed in myself".

Barkhad - a former a limousine driver, shop worker and a DJ who moved from Somalia to the US when he was 14 - also paid tribute to other actors, adding: "We came from nothing and we have this."


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