Press Assoc. - Friday, November 2 01:13 pm
Link: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/...bb3_1.html

Hollywood's finest actors turned out in Beverley Hills to salute Bafta's LA off-shoot as it hosted its 16th Annual Britannia Awards.

The likes of Dame Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster, and Pierce Brosnan stepped out for the night to honor Denzel Washington, who picked up the prestigious Excellence in Film award, whilst actress Kate Winslet was named British Artist of the year.

Speaking before the ceremony Denzel revealed he was pleased to be recognized by the Brits: "It feels good, it's a very prestigious group of people I'll be standing next to in there so it's good to be among that group." The actor explained "I've spent a lot of time in England, in London in particular, and I love the country so to be recognised is a great honor"

Hosting the night was The Queen actor Michael Sheen who revealed he was looking forward to seeing old friends: "I have no favorites, they're all my children, but I've got some friends who are out tonight - Pierce Brosnan, Julia Roberts who I did the first film ever in my career with, Paul Bettany, Bill Nighy and Helen Mirren of course, so there's some great old faces to see"

One of Britain's most successful exports to the States, Cat Deeley wore a striking fuscia pink dress to the ceremony and was accompanied by a very dapper looking Will Young. The singer kept a low profile, passing under the radar of most US reporters.

Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding explained how she was at the party for a very important reason: "I'm presenting an award to Richard Curtis for his humanitarian work," she jokingly explained "I've known him since I was 19 which is about 5 or 6 years now!"

The writer/director was downplaying his charity work despite the honour: "It's a bit peculiar, the thing is what I do is try to fund raise so in fact I get money from hundreds of thousands of people, favours from thousands of people so I consider myself receiving it on behalf of others rather than just for myself"

Richard's wife Emma Freud explained how her husband was easily embarrassed by the recognition he was getting: "I love it - he hates it".

I Love, Love, Love Denzel, we have the same Birhtday!