The Newport Beach Film Festival has revealed the outstanding names being honoured in the ICON and Artist of Distinction categories at its 2025 UK and Ireland Honours event, taking place on 13th February, hosted by Edith Bowman and Cat Deeley.
This year, the prestigious ICON Award will be presented to Sir Stephen Fry, celebrating over 25 years of his staggering contribution and success in the global film and television industry. The ICON Award is the highest accolade issued at the honours event, with previous recipients including Bill Nighy, Lesley Manville, Richard E. Grant and Sir Patrick Stewart.
Fry’s recent work includes a range of roles across acclaimed film and television series including Heartstopper, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, The Dropout and The Morning Show. His most recent filmography includes Treasure, a moving film about an American journalist (played by Lena Dunham) who travels to Poland with her father (Fry), a Holocaust survivor to visit significant places from his childhood. Notable previous roles include his award-winning performance in Wilde, his iconic projects with Hugh Laurie such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster and Blackadder, and his memorable turns in blockbuster projects V for Vendetta, the Sherlock Holmes films and The Hobbit series. This accomplished and diverse body of work, alongside his unwavering commitment to LGBTQ+ and mental health advocacy, has served to cement Fry as a true icon of the British and Irish entertainment industry.
Also announced today within the Artists of Distinction category are the BAFTA and Oscar nominated Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Emma Corrin (Nosferatu, Deadpool & Wolverine), and Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters). This honour recognises established talent, whose work has made a continued impact on the UK and Ireland entertainment industry over several years. Previous recipients of this award include Paul Mescal, Letitia Wright, Toby Jones and Taron Egerton.
These exceptional names join previously announced honourees Ambika Mod, Harris Dickinson, Jessica Gunning, Joe Alwyn and Will Sharpe (Spotlight category) and Adam Pearson, David Jonsson, Joe Locke, Marisa Abela and Mia Threapleton (Breakout category).
President & CEO of Visit Newport Beach, Gary Sherwin said, “The Newport Beach Film Festival is delighted to be adding four more outstanding performers to this year’s list of UK and Ireland honourees. Sir Stephen Fry is a British national treasure and thoroughly deserving of the accolade of ICON, whilst Emma Corrin, Felicity Jones and Sharon Horgan have all worked on acclaimed projects of the highest calibre in the last year – so we cannot wait to celebrate them at this year’s event.”
Variety, who partner with the Newport Beach Film Festival for this event, will also be honouring their list of ‘10 Brits to Watch’ at the event. This list, which has been a key element of the event since 2013, will comprise talent from across the entertainment industry, who are about to have a significant breakthrough moment.
For 26 years, the Newport Beach Film Festival, one of the largest luxury lifestyle film festivals in the United States, has included a dedicated UK showcase during its eight-day program. In 2015, the Film Festival and Visit Newport Beach partnered to elevate the connection to the UK industry by honouring talent via the Newport Beach Film Festival UK Honours.
Recent honourees have included Bill Nighy, Paul Mescal, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Richard E Grant, Ncuti Gatwa, Sir Patrick Stewart, Letitia Wright, Celia Imrie, Toby Jones, Nicola Coughlan, Taron Egerton, Aimee Lou Wood, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Lesley Manville, Charles Dance, Simon Pegg, Gemma Chan, Andy Serkis, Lydia West, Erin Doherty, Asa Butterfield and many more.
