Richard E. Grant presents the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards

Actor Richard E. Grant has been named host of the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards, which take place on February 19 at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre.

Grant takes over from Rebel Wilson, who hosted last year’s edition, the first in-person ceremony since the pandemic. The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK. This year’s nominations will be announced on January 19. The longlists were released earlier this month.

British presenter Alison Hammond has been announced as the host of the BAFTA studio, a new behind-the-scenes look introduced for this year’s ceremony. The awards panel said the BAFTA studio would “bring viewers home with an Access All Areas experience.”

Film critic Ali Plumb and presenter Vick Hope present the BAFTA red carpet.

As previously announced, the ceremony will also culminate in a live broadcast of the final four categories for the first time in BAFTA history. In previous years, the event was pre-recorded and broadcast with a time delay.

Speaking of his new role, Grant said, “I feel incredibly privileged to host the EE BAFTAs for the first time and to have the opportunity to celebrate the very best of this year’s extraordinary film line-up.”

Also new this year are musical performances during the broadcast by newcomers and legends. Shirley Bassey brought the house down last year singing “Diamonds Are Forever”.

This year’s award ceremony takes place for the first time in the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. The BAFTAs were previously held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Royal Festival Hall has hosted the world premieres and gala screenings of the BFI London Film Festival for the past two years.

The live broadcast will be jointly provided by BAFTA and Spun Gold TV, and the changes are part of a pledge to reinvent and significantly expand the production and format of both the film and TV awards shows.

Jane Millichip, BAFTA Executive Director added: “We’ve been blessed with an incredible line-up of hosts for our 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards, all of whom ooze humour, charm and warmth. I can’t wait to see Richard E. Grant on stage Richard is very popular with our home crowd and well respected by his peers in the industry, and I can’t think of anyone who could complement Richard’s razor-sharp wit and lead our brand new BAFTA studio better than Alison Hammond, with her brilliantly entertaining and candid interview style. On the red carpet, Ali Plumb and Vick Hope are masters at capturing the excitement and anticipation leading up to the ceremony. The EE BAFTA Film Awards are central to BAFTA’s mission to recognize extraordinary stories and the extremely talented people who bring those stories to the big screen, inspiring audiences and future filmmakers.”