GQ Australia celebrated its 20th anniversary last night and presented the 12th annual GQ Men of the Year Awards.
Twenty awards were presented at a black tie gala at The Star in Sydney, with winners appearing in the special GQ Men of the Year issue, that goes on sale today.
The awards recognise and honour extraordinary men and women who lead by example, striving for positive change, and achieving great success in their chosen field. Film director and actor Joel Edgerton took out the top honour, being named the magazine’s man of the year.
Edgerton first gained prominence as an actor appearing in the popular TV series The Secret Life of Us. He has gone on to appear in Hollywood blockbusters and direct feature films. His most recent work Boy Erased has shone a light on the practice of gay conversion therapy.
Accepting the award Edgerton said he felt humble and weird, noting that as an actor he spent most of his time pretending to be someone else. He said he realised his latest film had the power to make significant change i nthe world.
“Getting behind the Boy Erased project dragged me along with it. I’ve always asked to be involved in jobs as an actor. I’ve always tried to insinuate myself into other people’s projects, and this was something that I got involved in that went well above and beyond myself. It’s something that we realised along the way that has an incredible ability to create change.
“I’m actually going to accept this honour with grace considering that I feel like given that project, we stand a chance to affect people’s lives, and stand a chance to open people’s eyes to something that’s not just going on in the United States, but very much in Australia too. Conversion therapy, and the constant walking back of the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ people.” Edgerton said.
GQ Australia editor Michael Christensen said the awards highlighted people who were inspirational to other Australians.
“The GQ Men of the Year Awards presented by Audi are our chance to celebrate the country’s true inspirations; to champion the people who are making a difference in their fields; and to shine a light on the men and women deserving of the highest praise. Turning 20 years old, we have 20 winners – icons and legends from the past two decades alongside the breakout stars leading us into the future.
The awards were attended by some of the most well known Australians including models Jarrod Scott, Jordan Barrett and David Jones Ambassador Jessica Gomes, cricketer Michael Clarke, actors Jonathon LaPaglia, Ryan Corr, Jackson Gallagher and Ben Mingay, TV star Todd Sampson, and radio’s Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.
Also walking the red carpet were sporting icons Kurt Fearnley, Adam Goodes and Michael Klim, comedian Joel Creasey, rock band The Rubens, and Labor politician Anthony Albanese.
Among the award recipients was Elizabeth Debicki, who was named GQ’s Woman of the Year, Love Simon’s Keiynan Lonsdale who was named actor of the year.
OIP Staff
