Billy Goes Belly-Up

British hopes were dashed at the European Film Awards this weekend in Paris with just a smattering of nominations and no wins. Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliott received three nominations - for Best Film, Best Actor (Jamie Bell) and Best Actress (Julie Walters), but was scooped on two of those by Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark. So how did director Stephen Daldry rate his chances before the event? 'I think they're pretty small,' he told us. 'Very poor!' Daldry's star Jamie Bell had equally low expectations, which was just as well. 'This is my first awards,' said Jamie who had come with his whole family. 'It's very nerve-wracking, but very exciting. Did he expect to win? 'It's just a reward, we're not expecting a lot.' In the wake of Billy Elliott, Jamie's been inundated with offers, but he's taking his time deciding what's next for him. 'I've got a few scripts that I'm looking at at the moment, and there's one in particular I really like so I'm hoping to do that next year. 'Nothing's certain yet. It's British, I can tell you that.' The only other British film to be nominated this year was Chicken Run which also lost out in the European Film 2000 category to Dancer in the Dark.