Newport Beach honors Jennifer Saunders during the UK-Ireland Honors Event

The Newport Beach Film Festival has announced the names to be honored this year in the Icon and Artists of Distinction categories, ahead of next week’s British and Irish Honors event, hosted by Nick Mohammed and Edith Bowman.

This year the Icon Award will be presented to comedian and actor Jennifer Saunders. The Icon Award is the most prestigious award presented at the event, with previous winners including Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy, Lesley Manville, Richard E. Grant and Patrick Stewart.

BAFTA Award-winning and BAFTA colleague Saunders’ roles include the sitcom ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and the sketch comedy series ‘French and Saunders’, with collaborator Dawn French. In addition, Saunders has starred in global blockbusters such as ‘Shrek’, ‘Sing’ and ‘Death on the Nile’, as well as the feature film ‘Allelujah!’ by Richard Eyre. and Harlan Coben’s Netflix series “The Stranger,” among many other projects.

Saunders will next be seen in Neal Street Productions’ highly anticipated upcoming blockbuster, “The Magic Faraway Tree,” where she will play the role of Grandma Thompson.

Meanwhile, the Artist of Distinction Award honors established talent whose work has had a significant impact on the British and Irish entertainment industries in recent years. The winners for this category are Jack O’Connell (“Sinners”, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple”), Sam Claflin (“Hunger Games”, “Lazarus”), Shirley Henderson (“I Swear”, “Bridget Jones”), Sophie Turner (“Game of Thrones”, “Steal”) and Timothy Spall (“Death Valley”, “Hamlet”).

O’Connell has appeared in films including the recent ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’, ‘Sinners’ and ‘Back to Black’, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA. Claflin’s credits include “Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Love, Rosie” and “Daisy Jones and the Six,” for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Henderson has become a mainstay of British film and television, with roles in ‘Bridget Jones’, ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Wild Child’, as well as her recent role in the BAFTA Award-nominated film ‘I Swear’. In her SAG and Emmy Award-nominated career, Turner has played roles from the infamous Sansa Stark in “Game of Thrones” and jewel thief Joan Hannington, to Lara Croft in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s upcoming adaptation of “Tomb Raider.”

BAFTA award winner Spall is a veteran of the British film and television industry with career highlights including his roles in the Harry Potter franchise, ‘Mr Turner’ and ‘Enchanted’.

President and CEO of Visit Newport Beach, Gary Sherwin, and CEO of Newport Beach Film Festival, Gregg Schwenk, said: “We are thrilled to announce the latest list of honorees for this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival UK and Ireland Honors event: Jennifer Saunders is a true titan of industry and national treasure in the United Kingdom, and this year’s Artists of Distinction, Jack O’Connell, Sam Claflin, Shirley Henderson, Sophie Turner and Timothy Spall all have long-running, diversely successful career. This year’s winners exemplify the exceptionally high standard of work coming from Britain and Ireland, and we can’t wait to celebrate them at this year’s ceremony.”