'I am buzzing!' says BAFTA-winner Nicôle Lecky.
Last night, actor, writer and singer Lecky won the BAFTA for best mini-series for Mood, the BBC Three TV adaptation of the play she wrote and starred in, Superhoe, which was critically-lauded when released in 2022 for its nuanced depiction of sex work in the social media era. The award was actually Lecky's second BAFTA, after winning a BAFTA Craft award earlier this year for Mood's soundtrack which - no big deal - she also wrote, composed and performed herself.
'People were telling me last night that when you have two you use them as bookends,' she jokes on the phone to ELLE UK, the morning after her big win. 'But I think I'm going to put them on a nice shelf at home.'
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The fact she had already won a BAFTA did not mean Lecky expected to win again. Nominated against NHS drama This Is Going To Hurt, Damian Lewis' A Spy Among Friends and ITV's true crime adaptation The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe, the category was a tough one.
'I honestly was really shocked,' Lecky explains. 'I think perhaps we were a lesser known show and were up against more famous casts or whatever. So, I just didn't necessarily think it would be us. I'd already got the BAFTA Craft, and so I sort of went "you know, I'm happy with that, I'll go and have a really nice day, get dressed up, put on an amazing dress and have such a great time with the glam team" that was my aim for the day. I really didn't go thinking I would win. When they said Mood, I was absolutely flabbergasted. All my family and friends have sent me screenshots of my shocked face with crying emojis. I'm already a meme in the family.'
Accompanying Lecky as her date for the evening was her very proud father, who Lecky tells us she last left at a BAFTA afterparty dancing the night away. Lecky's speech was one of the most powerful and emotional of the evening, urging those watching to dream big, saying: 'For me to be here, a working class, mixed, Black woman stood here I'm just really proud of that and I hope it really does inspire the next generation of storytellers.'
Lecky also dedicated the award to her late mother and drew on her experiences with grief after losing her when she was 19 years old to remind any viewers struggling at home that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.
'I just felt like if I was watching it, 10 years ago, I'd want to know somebody's story or their journey,' Lecky says reflecting on her speech. 'Sometimes you can feel like people are so removed from you and I just thought, "well, actually, I've come from very humble beginnings, as it were," I want people to know that so they can go, "Okay, well, it could be me". Genuinely it could because it's happened to me.'
One thing that did slightly ease Lecky's nerves ahead of the show was her beautifully bold red Stella McCartney gown with a dramatic cape from the brand's archive collection, paired with Cartier jewels and red Christian Louboutins. The look was also something of a full circle moment for Lecky given that she also wore Stella McCartney to present a BAFTA at last year's TV awards. 'I worked with the amazing stylist Cheryl Konteh and she just understood my body,' says Nicole. 'I told her I just wanted to feel really special and really confident and we thought, well red? Red is a really strong choice.'
Despite the red dress and the sparkling new BAFTA in her hand, Lecky admits to still feeling a little startstruck in the room, particularly when seated across from Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy at dinner. 'I was too shy to speak to him,' she laughs. 'I just sort of waved across and offered him some champagne.'
The BAFTA win rounds off Lecky's Mood journey perfectly. While she's not against making a second series, Lecky is currently prioritising other writing and acting projects and basking in her incredible self-made success story continuing with the celebrations for her 33rd birthday followed by an Ibiza holiday with her best friends, including I May Destroy You's Weruche Opia. 'I'm elated, I'm still definitely on a high, which I'm hoping is going to last for a really long time.'
Olivia Blair is Entertainment Editor (Luxury) at Hearst UK, working across ELLE, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Olivia covers all things entertainment and has interviewed the likes of Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, Michaela Coel and Ryan Gosling over the years.
