Harry Potter star slates ‘unacceptable’ Bafta TV Awards and says he ‘wouldn’t do it again’-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

A Harry Potter star has taken aim at the Baftas (Picture: John Wilson/HBO)

A Harry Potter star has slammed the Bafta awards after attending the ceremony.

The biggest night in British TV was held in London on Sunday night, with shows like Happy Valley, Top Boy and The Sixth Commandment walking away with several awards each.

However, the focus of one of the documentaries that missed out on an award has now taken aim at the organisers.

David Holmes, 40, was nominated in the single documentary category for the project The Boy Who Lived.

For the first six films of the Harry Potter franchise, David was the stunt double for Daniel Radcliffe however in 2009 he broke his neck and was left partially paralysed after an accident during the filming of a stunt test for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The documentary that was nominated at the Baftas told the story of his life, but the award went to Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family.

David Holmes’ documentary was beaten by Ellie Simmonds’ at the awards ceremony (Picture: David Holmes/ Instagram)

The day after the event David congratulated the Paralympian, 29, but also pointed out what he labelled an ‘unacceptable’ fact about the awards.

‘The BAFTAs last night was a fun adventure. My documentary was nominated but unfortunately didn’t win. I want to congratulate Ellie Simmonds and her team for the well deserved win and also say congrats to every one at the event,’ he posted alongside a series of snaps taken on the night,

He continued: ‘It’s still unacceptable that I was the only stunt performer in the room and if I’d of won I’d have said something on stage about my department being overlooked.

‘Honestly it was fun but unless BAFTA starts recognising stunts I wouldn’t do it again. I didn’t see any other department members who were willing to risk their lives and bodies for the sake of storytelling and I just sat in a room too cold for a quadriplegic surrounded by people from a whole industry who don’t think stunt performers deserve a category.’

His sentiments were supported by many.

He went on to call for a stunt double category to be created after finding himself paralysed in 2009 (Picture: Jeff Spicer/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

‘Stunt performers definitely deserve a category! Your documentary was exceptional- heartwarming, interesting and inspiring!! Bravo and thank you for sharing the intimate and hard moments of your story and life, and how you are triumphing and making a difference in the face of adversity,’ user Matilda commented on his Instagram post.

‘Completely agree with you that stunt performers deserve their own category at awards. I watched an interview where Ryan Gosling and David Leitch were saying the same (promo for The Fall Guy). It’s 2024, shamefully late in the day to still not recognise the hard work and risk to life that stunt performers put in every single day,’ Sarah added.

Even actress Joely Richardson weighed in, writing: ‘Stunt performers deserve a category !!!!’

David’s documentary marked the first time he’d ever spoken about his accident, 14 years after it happened.

The Harry Potter films were released between 2001 and 2011 (Picture: Warner Bros)

David recently said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to not be able to work on all of the films (Picture: Sky)

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, he said it was ‘heartbreaking’ that he couldn’t return to set and ‘see Harry to the end’.

‘It was heartbreaking for me that I couldn’t go back to work and see Harry to the end,’ David said.

However, he added that he quickly came to terms that his ‘risky’ job made him ‘own (what happened) very quickly’.

‘In all things in life, you’re either a survivor or a victim, and I chose and still choose to be a survivor, despite all the challenges that I live with, and might possibly be in my future.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted the Baftas for comment.

The Bafta Television Awards are streaming on BBC iPlayer.

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