Diana Rigg, who rose to stardom in “The Avengers” in the 60s and continues to attract admirers today in “Game of Thrones,” received the Variety Icon Award at Canneseries Friday.
The actress, who won a BAFTA for “Mother Love” and an Emmy for “Rebecca,” underscored the longevity of her career, and the progression of the series artform. “I date back to when the series were in black and white, and so I can tell you about how far series have come,” she told the audience at the Cannes Palais. “They are coming into their own because they are being recognized as a major cultural power in the world, and rightly so.”
Lindsey Morgan, the star of sci-fi drama “The 100,” received the festival’s Rising Star award. Morgan paid tribute to the potential of series to “inspire” and “empower.”
“Sharing someone’s story has the power to inspire and empower someone else’s [life] and that’s what’s great about storytelling,” she said.
Morgan added that series have the power to “move something deep within us in order to make us feel more connected with each other, with ourselves, with our world, our past, our future.” Series allowed people to share “the most epic story of all: the story of the human spirit,” she said.
Other guests at the opening included “Sex Education” star Emma Mackey, “Vikings” star Katheryn Winnick, Baran bo Odar, the co-creator of Netflix’s “Dark,” and Italian actress Miriam Leone.
Among the shows screening at the festival, which continues until Wednesday, are Gregg Araki’s “Now Apocalypse,” Gurinder Chadha’s “Beecham House,” “The Rook,” created by Karyn Usher, Lisa Zwerling and “The Night Manager’s” Stephen Garrett, and “Years and Years,” starring Emma Thompson, and created by Russell T. Davies, best known for revamping “Doctor Who.”
Actress Lindsey Morgan at the opening of Canneseries (Courtesy of Shutterstock)
