Bafta winner Emma Stone said she was juggling the effects of “cold medicine and incredible excitement” after scoring the leading actress award for La La Land.

Emma, who is now the presumptive frontrunner to take home the Oscar for her performance as an aspiring actress in the whimsical musical, defeated Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Natalie Portman.

Speaking backstage after the ceremony, she said: “I feel very overwhelmed and the jitters are incredible. It’s a crazy shaky feeling, that might be cold medicine as well but its cold medicine and incredible excitement, I’m so honoured.”

While La La Land triumphed at the ceremony, Emma’s co-star Ryan Gosling was conspicuously absent and the film’s producer Marc Platt said: “Ryan regrets not being here, he had a family matter and he’s sad not to be here.

“He’s the consummate actor and prepares to extraordinary ends. He was rehearsing playing the piano by hard work and the tone and inner life he brings, that’s all Ryan Gosling.

“La La Land was a whole lot of wonderful challenges all in the name of joy, it was a magical experience from the beginning.”

emma stoneEmma Stone (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Fellow producer Jordan Horowitz added: “We started this process about six years so it’s incredibly rewarding being up here right now.

“I don’t know if in our wildest dreams we could have imagined it, it was about the spirit of the piece and every day was an absolute thrill.”