Boy from Harrow takes on Hollywood in Baftas battle

A TEENAGER from Harrow is to take on Brad Pitt in the Baftas.

Dev Patel has been nominated for best actor in the British Academy Film and Television Awards for his lead role in Slumdog Millionaire - going head to head with Hollywood's biggest male star.

The Danny Boyle-directed tale of a young man from the Mumbai slums who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has 11 nominations at this year's British Oscars.

At the age of 18, Patel has been shortlisted against not only Brad Pitt but fellow Hollywood heavyweights Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke.

Slumdog Millionaire's nomination tally is rivalled only by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the adaptation of an F Scott Fitzgerald story in which Pitt plays a man born old who grows younger throughout his life.

The British Academy has given Kate Winslet, 33, two chances of being named leading actress.

She could bag her second Bafta - after her best supporting actress award for Sense and Sensibility 14 years ago - for her performances in The Reader, in which she plays a former concentration camp guard, or as an unhappy housewife in Revolutionary Road, directed by her husband Sam Mendes.

But by going head to head against herself she could split the vote, leaving rivals, including Angelina Jolie, for her role as an anguished mother of a missing child in Changeling, to take the prize. Changeling has eight nominations including one for Clint Eastwood in the best director category. He is against Stephen Daldry for The Reader, Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire and Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon, the film version of the Donmar Warehouse play.

The late Heath Ledger, a winner at Sunday's Golden Globes in the US, is in the best supporting actor category for his role in The Dark Knight.

Other British talent in contention include Tilda Swinton, for Burn After Reading, Kristin Scott Thomas for the French film I've Loved You So Long and Garth Jennings, the writer of the comedy Son of Rambow.

But there is no nomination for Sally Hawkins, who has been feted in the US for her performance in Happy-Go-Lucky. Mike Leigh's picture has also failed to win a nomination for outstanding British film.

This will be contested by Hunger, the story of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands; documentary Man on Wire and Mamma Mia!

The ceremony, sponsored by Orange, will be at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 8 February and hosted by Jonathan Ross.

DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood — Changeling
David Fincher — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard —Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry —The Reader
Danny Boyle —Slumdog Millionaire

BEST FILM
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Hunger
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Man On Wire
Slumdog Millionaire

LEADING ACTOR
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Kristin Scott Thomas – I've Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Downey Jr – Tropic Thunder
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Brad Pitt – Burn After Reading

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Freida Pinto – Slumdog Millionaire
Tilda Swinton, – Burn After Reading
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler