WATCH: Aisling Bea’s BAFTA acceptance speech is hilarious and moving in equal measures

The Kildare actress and comedian won a BAFTA Craft Breakthrough Talent winner for her comedy-drama This Way Up, that she wrote and starred in.

Last night, Aisling Bea won a BAFTA Craft Breakthrough Talent award for her excellent show This Way Up, and her acceptance speech was enough proof that she was a worthy winner for anyone who hadn’t seen the programme.

As the event was a virtual one, once she was announced as the winner, we cut to a stream of Aisling at home, wearing a blue top and looking a little alarmed.

She told the audience, after taking a big breath, that she had “45 allocated seconds to tell you that this is an absolute dream come true. Thank you so much to BAFTA for making it happen.”

To all who have watched #ThisWayUp, thank you SO much. It’s ALL out in America NOW on @hulu If you ARE American, have ever met an American or just have a baseball cap -we’d love if it if you could spread the word – we worked our FANNIES off making it (in both the UK & US) sense. pic.twitter.com/Q02jeSMhQm

— Aisling Bea (@WeeMissBea) August 23, 2019

With her seconds rapidly ticking down, and a panicked look, she said that there are so many people she wants to thank, and spends the next few seconds trying to cram them all in, impressively barely taking a breath to save precious time.

As well as those you’d expect, such as the cast and crew on This Way Up, collegues in the comedy industry, and her family, she also gets a thank-you in for “my enemies, for always keeping me thirsty”, with impeccable comic timing and a deadpan wink to camera.

Her brief speech then moves to a more emotional note, as she thanks Sharon Horgan, who executive produced and appeared in the show with Aisling: “my pretend sister, mentor and friend, for changing my life”.

She then dedicated the award to her father, Brian, “who didn’t get to be any older than I am today, and for whom I wrote the show”. In a 2017 article in The Guardian, Aisling wrote movingly about her father, who took his own life when she was just three years old.

With this moving tribute, she finally takes a breath and checks the timer on her phone, counting down the final few seconds. “Oh, I had loads of time, actually,” she quips.

You can watch Aisling’s full acceptance speech in full below:

Only @WeeMissBea can use her acceptance speech time wisely after being named the 2020 #BAFTATV Craft Breakthrough Talent winner for #ThisWayUp! ? pic.twitter.com/0LRyNP6MqQ

— BAFTA (@BAFTA) July 17, 2020

Featured image: BAFTA

Read more: WATCH: We are swooning at Paul Mescal’s piano duet with his younger sister

Read more: An Irish short film about love under lockdown has been longlisted for the 2021 Oscars

Read more: WATCH: Meghan Markle delivers an inspiring speech to young girls at a virtual leadership summit