Redmayne, Knightley among nominated Brits toasting with tea

LOS ANGELES — For some Golden Globe nominees, awards season began with a cup of tea.

 

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts held its annual pre-Globes tea party Saturday at the Four Seasons Hotel, where Keira Knightley, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and Patricia Arquette were among those toasting the season with scones and finger sandwiches. Other guests included Niecey Nash, Marion Cotillard, Dominic West, Anna Kendrick, Steve Carell, "Game of Thrones" star Kit Harrington and "Into the Woods" star James Corden.

 

"I love this event," said Gerald McRaney, a star of "House of Cards," up for TV drama series at Sunday's Golden Globes. "It's casual. It's not the big, pressurized thing. You sit, you have a cuppa, and that's it."

 

"I actually really need tea right now because of my throat," said nominee Gina Rodriguez, star of TV's "Jane the Virgin," which is up for best comedy or musical series.

 

There was also a crafts component to the afternoon. Ethan Hawke went straight for the leatherworking table presented by British fashion brand Mulberry. The supporting actor nominee for "Boyhood" made a pair of personalized leather bracelets, using a tiny hammer to pound out the design letter by letter.

 

Nominees who wanted to take home more than a bracelet could pop into the HBO Luxury Lounge upstairs, where stars could receive Nautica rain jackets (on a rare rainy afternoon in LA) and play Pandora Plinko to win jewelry. Viola Davis, nominated for her starring role in "How to Get Away With Murder," scored a pair of sparkly earrings she loved so much, she wore them out.

 

Arquette, meanwhile, said she wishes she was still working on film she's nominated for, best picture (drama) candidate "Boyhood."

 

"I missed the process before we stopped," she said of filming the 12-year project. "I told (best director nominee) Richard (Linklater), 'This isn't a 12-year movie. This is a movie that wraps when I die.'"