Rebel Wilson will host the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards, the British Academy has announced.
The Australian actor, known for roles in Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect, will present the ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, March 13.
In her announcement statement, Wilson refers to Prince Andrew over a “peculiar medical condition where I can’t sweat” and jokes about her weight loss.
“I am very honoured to be hosting the EE British Academy Film Awards in March, where COVID will no longer exist because it will clearly have been cancelled by then,” Wilson said.
“It’s going to be so much fun! I don’t wanna put any pressure on this – I know I’m not going to be funny because I am no longer fat. And besides, I’m not going to ‘sweat-it’ with nerves because I have a peculiar medical condition where I can’t sweat… or cause offense to people because of my adorable Australian accent.”
She added: “So basically I’ll just be there to hang out with Dame Judi Dench and together we’ll both try and bond with Daniel Craig. And yes, I do mean ‘bond’. This show will be an anniversary celebration of some important British film franchises such as Harry Potter and not such as Cats. Everybody’s going to love it, I’m sure! See you guys in March!”
Amanda Berry, chief executive at BAFTA, said: “Rebel has stolen the show at several previous film awards, and we’re hugely excited to see her bring her fantastic charisma and humour to the whole show as we celebrate the very best in film.”
Last year’s ceremony was hosted by Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary, with no audience and social distancing measures in place. The format for the 2022 event is yet to be announced.
BAFTA recently revealed the longlist for this year’s nominations, led by Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story with 15 mentions each. The official nominations will be announced on February 3.
This year’s ceremony is also set to compete with the Critics Choice Awards, which recently rescheduled its Los Angeles-based event to the same night as the BAFTAs.
