A FORMER Vale of Clwyd schoolgirl has beaten Lady Gaga to a major accolade.

Joanna Scanlan was named as the best actress at the BAFTA film awards for her role in the film drama After Love.

Born in West Kirby, Joanna moved with her parents to Ruthin when she was just three years of age.

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Her parents, Pat and Mike, bought the Castle Hotel, in Ruthin, and Joanna attended Howell's School, in Denbigh.

During her acceptance speech at the BAFTA film awards, a stunned Joanna said: "Come on!

"Diolch yn fawr iawn, as we say in my country.

"BAFTA, thank-you so much.

"Some stories have surprise endings, don't they?"

As she continued her speech, an emotional Joanna added: "Thank you to my parents.

"I want to say thank you to Pat and Mike, my mum and dad, who that I told them when I was giving up a really good job with a pension, they said go for it.

Rhyl Journal: Joanna Scanlan in the press room after winning the Leading Actress award for After Love at the 75th British Academy Film Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Picture date: Sunday March 13, 2022.Joanna Scanlan in the press room after winning the Leading Actress award for After Love at the 75th British Academy Film Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Picture date: Sunday March 13, 2022.

"My family, my brothers, my sisters-in-law, my dearest lifelong friends, everybody - some of them in this room - thank you, thank you.

"And also I just want to say to my husband Neil, he's the living proof that there is no such thing as After Love."

She came to prominence in the role of Terri Coverley in BBC comedy The Thick of It, alongside Peter Capaldi, while in After Love, Joanna portrays Mary Hussain, a widow who discovers her late husband's secret family.

In the leading actress category at the BAFTA awards, she was up against the likes of Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza).