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I Swear, One Battle After Another and Sinners dominate Baftas 2026

Jessie Buckley, Ryan Coogler and Sean Penn all took home major prizes – but it was a British unknown who was the star of the evening

Robert Aramayo full speech after winning Bafta for Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet went home empty-handed at Sunday’s Baftas, after a little-known British actor named Robert Aramayo pulled off a shock Best Actor win.

Aramayo, the star of the British drama I Swear, held back tears during his acceptance speech, saying: “I absolutely can’t believe it. I can’t believe that I’m looking at people like you, in the same category as you, never mind that I’m stood here.”

While DiCaprio didn’t win Best Actor, his film One Battle After Another was otherwise the big winner of the night, taking home six trophies, including Best Picture and Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson. During one of his speeches he paid tribute to his long-time first assistant director Adam Somner, who died in 2024. The film additionally won the awards for Best Cinematography and Best Editing.

The Shakespearean weepie Hamnet proved successful, with Jessie Buckley winning Best Actress and the movie itself winning Best British Film. In her acceptance speech, Buckley recalled her first meeting with her agent Lindy King when she arrived in London from her native Ireland.

“I had a nuclear bad fake tan on, white hoop earrings, a polka-dot red skirt and had the audacity to say one day I wanted to be like Judi Dench,” she joked.

‘I Swear’ actor Robert Aramayo with his two Baftas
‘I Swear’ actor Robert Aramayo with his two Baftas (AP)

Sinners took home Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress, for writer/director Ryan Coogler and the British actor Wunmi Mosaku, respectively, while Sentimental Value was awarded Best Film Not in the English Language. Aramayo, easily the breakout name of the evening, also pocketed the EE Rising Star award.

Despite receiving 11 nominations in total, the sports drama Marty Supreme failed to win a single award.

While the ceremony largely went off without a hitch, host Alan Cumming had to at one point apologise to viewers who may have heard bad language during the show. He explained that the Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson – whose life inspired I Swear – was in attendance, and experiences involuntary tics and outbursts.

“Tourette Syndrome is a disability and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette Syndrome has no control over their language,” Cumming explained. “We apologise if you are offended tonight.”

Jessie Buckley with her Best Actress Bafta
Jessie Buckley with her Best Actress Bafta (PA Wire)

In his opening monologue and throughout the show, Cumming avoided politics or any of the withering jokes about attendees that typically dominate awards shows, but he did lightly gesture to the current political climate in his final monologue of the night.

“We have welcomed people from all over the world, people who look and sound and love differently, for a celebration of stories and ideas and culture – in fact, a celebration of diversity and equality and inclusion,” Cumming said. “And guess what? Nobody died.”

The full list of tonight’s winners can be found here, while the best red carpet looks have been collected here.

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