The King's Speech leads BAFTA nominations with 14 nods... with Colin Firth set to grab another award

By SARAH BULL

Nominated: Colin Firth has been nominated for a Bafta award for Leading Actor for his role in The King's Speech

Following on from his triumph at the Golden Globes, Colin Firth looks set to receive another accolade for his performance of George VI in The King's Speech.

The critically acclaimed film, which sees Firth star as the stammering monarch, has been nominated for 14 BAFTA awards including Leading Actor for Firth, Best Film and Best Director for Tom Hooper.

And the latest award nomination for Firth, who took home the Best Actor award at the Globes this weekend, bodes well for the actor's predicted success at the Oscars later this year.

Meanwhile, British actor Pete Postlethwaite, who died earlier this month, has received a posthumous Supporting Actor nomination for his role in The Town.

Critically-acclaimed: Natalie Portman is among those nominated for the Leading Actress award for Black Swan

While Firth is hotly-tipped to be nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the film, he first faces tough competition from fellow Bafta nominees Javier Bardem in Biutiful, Jeff Bridges in True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network and James Franco in 127 Hours for Leading Actor.

Speaking about The King's Speech's critical reception earlier this year, Firth said: 'It’s gratifying to get attention for a performance. I’m not going to wish any of it away, talk as big as you like. I welcome all of it.'

The Black Swan follows close behind The King's Speech in the number of Bafta nominations it received with 12 nods, including Best Actress for Natalie Portman.

Posthumous: Pete Postlethwaite, who died earlier this month, has been nominated for Supporting Actor for his role in The Town

Portman faces competition from Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, both nominated for The Kids Are All Right, Noomi Rapace for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit.

Thriller Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, follows with nine nominations, while rock-climbing drama 127 Hours and True Grit, the Coen brothers film, are in eight categories.

And The Social Network, a film about the founding of Facebook, received six nominations, including Best Actor for Jesse Eisenberg, and Best Film.

Other films nominated in the Best Film category include Black Swan, True Grit and Inception.

And Firth's fellow The King's Speech star, Helena Bonham Carter, is up for best supporting actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the film.

Famous faces: Dominic Cooper and Talulah Riley at Bafta in London where they announced the nominations for this year's Bafta Awards

Gearing up for the main event: St Trinian's actress Riley looked stunning in a geometric black and grey dress

Other Supporting Actress nominees are Amy Adams in The Fighter, Barbara Hershey in Black Swan, Lesley Manville in Another Year and Miranda Richardson for Made In Dagenham.

The King's Speech director Hooper competes against Danny Boyle for 127 Hours, Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan, Christopher Nolan for Black Swan and David Fincer for The Social Network in the Director category.

Meanwhile, Gemma Arterton and Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield have received nominations for the Orange Rising Star Award.

Nominated: The Social Network received a total of six nominations, including Leading Actor for Jesse Eisenberg

Speaking when the nominees for the category were announced earlier this month, Arterton said: 'I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to be one of the shortlisted actors for the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award.

'2010 was an incredible year for me and to be recognised in this way by both my peers and the film-going public is amazing.

'I’m in very good company with the other actors who have been nominated, so it is a huge compliment to be considered to win this prestigious award.'

Home again: Colin Firth and his wife Livia arrived back at Heathrow Airport from Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, following his Golden Globes victory

It bodes well: Natalie Portman and Annette Bening, who are both nominated in the Leading Actress BAFTA category, took home Golden Globes at the weekend

Deputy Bafta Chairman David Parfitt said of the nominations: 'It's a very good year for the Brits. Even some of the American films that are nominated have British directors.

'British film has always punched above its weight in the film world. British film is always quite well represented in the Oscars as well as the Baftas.

'It's not that we have a particular bias. British film in general plays well around the world because it's very good.'

The nominations were announced this morning by actors Dominic Cooper and Tallulah Riley.

The February 13th ceremony, which will be hosted the fifth year by Jonathan Ross, is the biggest movie bash in the UK.

Last year, Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker won six BAFTAs, including Best Film - then repeated the feat at the Oscars.