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A grand day out for Brits at the Oscars
SPECIAL REPORT
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLOS ANGELES, California -- Actress Rachel Weisz and the creators of animated pair Wallace and Gromit were the British winners at the 78th Academy Awards. Weisz was named best supporting actress for her performance as an aid worker in the political thriller "The Constant Gardener," while "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won best animated feature film. Weisz, who is nearly seven months pregnant with her first child, described her win as "a tremendous, tremendous honor." The 34-year-old thanked her "luminous" co-star Ralph Fiennes as well as John Le Carre, author of tale of corruption in the pharmaceutical industry set in Kenya. "He wrote this unflinching, angry story and he really paid tribute to the people who are willing to risk their own lives to fight for justice. They are greater men and women than I," she said. Backstage, Weisz joked that she had felt her baby kicking all the way through the ceremony -- until the moment she went up to collect her award. "With the lead up to that, the adrenaline, the baby was going crazy," she laughed. "Poor baby. It was kicking around, but once I went onto the stage I think it's so overwhelming that I could have hardly told you my name. So I didn't feel anything when I was up on stage." Asked what she was thinking when her name was called out, she replied: "Because I'm pregnant my brain is a bit like porridge. I think I was a big blank. It's a very surreal, strange feeling. I was just feeling kind of strange." Weisz can add her Oscar to the Golden Globe and Screen Actors' Guild awards she has already won for the role. Bow ties for OscarMeanwhile, Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park scooped his fourth Oscar -- although it was his first for a full-length feature film. Park and co-director Steve Box of Aardman Animations in Bristol, England, took to the stage wearing giant bow ties -- and produced matching miniature versions for their Oscars. "We've brought bow ties for Oscar -- for co-ordination," they joked. "We just happened to bring them along." Later, Box revealed that his wife had made the mini accessories -- while designer Paul Smith made theirs. "My wife made these when we were over here waiting," Box said. "It was kind of a last-minute idea. We were very nervous about it because we know how sacred the Oscars are. So we thought, what the heck." The voice of madcap inventor Wallace -- veteran actor and "Last Of The Summer Wine" star Peter Sallis, 85 -- made the trip to Hollywood's Kodak Theatre for the ceremony. Park paid tribute to him by telling the audience: "Peter is here tonight. He has been the voice of Wallace for the past 23 years and you have been an absolute gem, Peter. You have sparkled all the way." Backstage, Park and Box spoke of their delight. "It's a great boost just to be treated in the animated feature category as a proper film," Box said. "I think from the earliest days we wanted to make movies. For Wallace and Gromit actually to come here and win, it's just amazing. All our references are from the real movies and from movie history." Asked why the film has been so successful around the world, he said: "I think Nick's great invention was Gromit because he's a character that doesn't speak. So many films these days seem to be full of wise-cracking comedians desperate to keep their job. "People can experience the film through Gromit's eyes on a kind of deeper level. It rises above words." Aardman won three previous Oscars for best animated short film -- for "A Close Shave" (1996), "The Wrong Trousers" (1994) and "Creature Comforts" (1991). 
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