ALISON BOSHOFF: Screenwriter and heiress Jemima Khan’s big BAFTA bash buddy – Monica Lewinsky! The former White House intern is spotted doing the rounds at the awards parties last weekend
They may make an unlikely couple, but screenwriter and heiress Jemima Khan has been hanging out in London with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky — with the latter staying at Khan’s London home for an extended period.
Khan, 49, invited the American to the premiere of her film What’s Love Got To Do With It? last week; and they were seen together doing the rounds at the Bafta parties last weekend.
The pair met around six years ago. Khan made a documentary, The Clinton Affair, about Lewinsky’s entanglement with President Bill Clinton, and went on to produce the 2021 TV series Impeachment, in which Beanie Feldstein played Lewinsky and Sarah Paulson portrayed Linda Tripp, who illegally recorded Monica’s confidential phone calls.
Khan recalled that they met at a Vanity Fair party in New York. ‘Monica was really vulnerable, because a famous actress had just said: “Why did they let you in?” I don’t think in England we have any real sense of the extent to which she was demonised.’
Screenwriter and heiress Jemima Khan (pictured) has been hanging out in London with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky (right) has been staying at Khan’s London home for an extended period
Khan invited the American to the premiere of her film What’s Love Got To Do With It? last week
Why Di’s dance was a tall order for Wayne
There was no shortage of criticism of The Crown when its last series was screened, but dancer Wayne Sleep is convinced the late Princess of Wales would have relished its depiction of her life and marriage.
He says: ‘Diana would have absolutely loved it. It spares nobody! Everybody gets their innings.’
Sleep’s 1985 dance to Uptown Girl with Princess Diana was recreated in Season 4, with Jay Webb playing the flamboyant star who accompanied the Princess (Emma Corrin) for her surprise performance at the Royal Opera House.
‘He could have been camper,’ Sleep, 75, comments, ‘but I was happy with my portrayal. He could point his feet, he could dance classically and he was handsome, like me.’
There was no shortage of criticism of The Crown when its last series was screened, but dancer Wayne Sleep is convinced the late Princess of Wales would have relished its depiction of her life and marriage
Like others, though, he takes issue with Peter Morgan’s dramatised version of events. ‘The audience didn’t clap. There was an intake of breath from 2,500 people as soon as she walked on stage. At first, they thought it was a lookalike . . . There was a gasp from the audience as they realised it really was her, and they started to warm up to cheers, and by the end we got eight curtain calls. It was super.’
Sleep will discuss his friendship with the Princess on Radio 3’s Private Passions this Sunday. He said: ‘I first met Diana early in the morning at a small dance studio, and when she suggested us dancing together, I thought it wouldn’t work because she was so tall.
‘I said: “Do you mind if I sit down?” And she said: “Why?” And I said: “Because I’ve had a very late night.” And she said: “You naughty boy.” And we both burst into hysterics.
‘Then I realised we could make it work, and do it tongue in cheek, upstaging each other.’
Screenwriter Lesley Paterson had the time of her life at the Baftas, where her movie All Quiet On The Western Front scooped seven awards. However she confides that she took a tumble as she made her way across the ‘slippery’ floor to collect the Best Adapted Screenplay gong — ending up in the arms of Jamie Dornan.
Paterson tells me: ‘I was in very high heels and the floor was shiny and slippery. After they announced the win I was running to the stage and just went over and someone caught me as I fell and put me back on my feet. Later that night Jamie Dornan came up to me and told me that he was the person who had saved me.’
She adds: ‘I actually had taken my shoes off by the time that they later announced Best Film and was barefoot, so there was no problem getting up there.’
The former triathlete, who spent 16 years trying to get the film made, also had a long conversation with Prince William, Bafta president, after the ceremony.
‘We spoke at length and very specifically about certain aspects of it, so he had definitely seen it. He said that he loved the film,’ she said.
Who’s this A-list star? (Nike work if you can get it)
Rocking a shellsuit, mirrored shades and what appears to be a perm, here is Ben Affleck as he’s never been seen before
Rocking a shellsuit, mirrored shades and what appears to be a perm, here is Ben Affleck as he’s never been seen before.
The actor looks hilarious as Nike executive Phil Knight in this first image from the film Air, which will tell the story of how the (then) unfashionable sportswear company staked everything on landing a deal with basketball rookie Michael Jordan in 1984.
Affleck also directs the movie, which stars his friend Matt Damon. Jordan himself isn’t seen in the picture. Oscar-winner Affleck explains: ‘I thought: “The minute I turn the camera on somebody and ask the audience to believe that person was Michael Jordan, the whole movie falls apart.”
‘I want Michael Jordan to have the effect in this story that he had in the world. In a way, he’s a presence that’s felt and discussed. Everybody else around him is there, but you never see his face.’
The film will be in cinemas from April 7 and then stream on Prime Video.
Jackman: Wolverine shredded my voice
Hugh Jackman is a song and dance man, as well as an action hero — just watch his performances in Les Mis and The Greatest Showman if you doubt it.
But he says that playing Marvel’s Wolverine has affected his vocal range. He told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row: ‘My teacher at drama school would have been horrified by some of the things I did in Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman is a song and dance man, as well as an action hero — just watch his performances in Les Mis and The Greatest Showman if you doubt it
‘I’ve done some damage to my voice, through playing Wolverine.
‘My falsetto is not as strong as it used to be, and I put that down directly to some of the growling and yelling I did.’
Film icon Sandy Powell (below) became the first costume designer ever to be honoured with a Bafta Fellowship on Sunday and I hear rumours that a very prestigious new project is in the offing: creating the costumes for the sequel to Cruella.
Three-times Oscar winner Powell is apparently being wooed by Disney to take on the job — and the film, again starring Emma Stone, will be set in the 1980s — which is very much Powell’s era.
Her recent projects have included making the costumes for Snow White, which comes out next year; as well as working on Mary Poppins Returns, in 2018, and Disney’s live action Cinderella starring Lily James. Powell will be among the luminaries giving talks and masterclasses at The Power Of Film event in London next week (tickets are available via Eventbrite).
Film icon Sandy Powell became the first costume designer ever to be honoured with a Bafta Fellowship on Sunday
Director Ken Loach and actor Matthew Modine will also be taking part.
It’s been put on by film-maker and publisher Charles Finch.
Jenny Beavan did the costumes for Cruella — an origin story for the 101 Dalmatians villain — and got an Oscar for her amazing designs.
Some of the biggest names in cinema walked the red carpet at the Baftas — but it seems Leonardo DiCaprio was only around for the party scene.
DiCaprio, 48, steered clear of the official events and instead took a suite at the Chiltern Firehouse, which was apparently the epicentre of all kinds of goings-on. He hosted actor Jamie Foxx and musician Dua Lipa, along with ‘dozens’ of models (Leo has famously never dated a woman older than 25).
Awkwardly, his former girlfriend Camila Morrone was also in town, but they seem to have managed to avoid each other. Luckily it’s a big city!
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