| DUNEDIN: Presenter Gus Willis, his eyelids painted a sort of warrior blue, did not know he was supposed to read nominees from the scribbled post-it note before opening the envelope. "You could have told me," Gus quipped as he tried to explain his confusion while giving out the first award - best actress - at the 1st annual Gus and Bev awards yesterday.
In a scene watched by an estimated worldwide audience of flatmate Clint, producer Bev had to race on stage and stop celebrity presenter Gus from opening the envelope for best actress before naming the nominees and "spoiling the suspense". It was just one of the unscripted moments in an awards show that cherishes the unexpected and sometimes delivers it - like naming Gladiator star, Australian based, Australian raised, Australian Accented, "I'm an Australian damn it," New Zealander Russell Crowe, as best actor. Another surprise was the naming of Rene Zellweger, as best actress in a comedy film for her work as a stalker in Nurse Betty. Zellweger like so many other nominees refused to attend the ceremony to claim her reward and went to the unusual step of calling the North Hollywood and New Zealand Police after "several" requests were made to Bev to please stop calling her in the middle of the night. Other winners included Stickmen as best picture, Ridley Scott as best Director for Gladiator and Gavin Jackson as best cinematographer in a foreign language documentary or musical for Rhonda, Rhonda, Rhonda. All monies raised from this years Gus and Bev Award go towards the upkeep of Gus's vintage 1988 Casio Video recorder.  Russell Crowe on his way to winning a Gus and Bev® in Gladiator |
| Crowe Wins Gus And Bev Award® |
Thursday, 01 February 2001 12:00
