Robert Aramayo Wins BAFTA Best Actor for I Swear in One of the Night's Biggest Upsets
Robert Aramayo has pulled off one of the most stunning victories in recent BAFTA history, claiming the Best Leading Actor award for his transformative performance in I Swear — a Scottish biographical drama about real-life Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson. The win was announced Sunday evening, February 22, 2026, at the EE BAFTA Film Awards ceremony held at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Robert Aramayo Shocks the BAFTA Room With I Swear Victory
Aramayo defeated a category stacked with Hollywood's biggest names to take home the prize. The room visibly reacted with surprise as his name was called. A tearful Aramayo took the stage and said he "absolutely cannot believe" the win, crediting his fellow nominees and dedicating the award to director Kirk Jones and the real John Davidson.
The actors he defeated:
| Nominee | Film |
|---|---|
| Leonardo DiCaprio | TBA |
| Timothée Chalamet | TBA |
| Ethan Hawke | TBA |
| Jesse Plemons | TBA |
| Michael B. Jordan | TBA |
Earlier in the same ceremony, Aramayo also claimed the EE Rising Star Award — making him a double BAFTA winner on the night. Casting director Lauren Evans also won for her work on I Swear.
What Is I Swear and Who Is John Davidson?
I Swear is a 2025 Scottish biographical drama written and directed by Kirk Jones, the filmmaker behind Waking Ned Devine and Nanny McPhee. The film follows John Davidson, a man diagnosed with severe Tourette syndrome as a child in 1980s Galashiels, Scotland, at a time when the condition was barely understood or recognized.
Robert Aramayo plays Davidson across several decades, tracing his journey from a misunderstood working-class teenager through his rise as a national Tourette's advocate. Davidson became widely known through a series of BBC documentaries, and the film opens with a striking scene in 2019 when he involuntarily shouts an expletive during his MBE ceremony.
Robert Aramayo's Road to I Swear
Aramayo, a Hull-born actor of Basque descent, trained at New York's Juilliard School and first gained wide recognition playing young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones. He later starred as the half-elf lord Elrond in Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, alongside I Swear co-star Peter Mullan.
Director Kirk Jones never asked Aramayo to formally audition. Instead, he brought the actor to Galashiels to meet Davidson in person and made the casting decision on instinct. Aramayo then spent months studying the condition — reading books, meeting people with Tourette's, and working with a movement coach to capture how Davidson physically occupies a room, not merely his vocal and motor tics.
Critical Reception: I Swear Earns a Perfect Score
The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2025 ET, before its UK theatrical release on October 10, 2025. Sony Pictures Classics later acquired US distribution rights.
Critics have been virtually unanimous in their praise, driven largely by Aramayo's central performance.
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% on 31 reviews, average rating 9.8/10
- IMDB Score: 8.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: "A knockout performance… doesn't sugarcoat Tourette syndrome while delivering an uplifting tale of resilience."
Earlier in 2026, Aramayo had already won Breakthrough Performer of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards, signaling the BAFTA momentum building around I Swear.
Awards Outlook: I Swear Now an Oscar Contender
With its US release now completed, I Swear becomes eligible for the Academy Awards. Robert Aramayo's BAFTA Best Actor win — combined with the EE Rising Star Award and the film's perfect critical score — positions him as a legitimate Best Actor Oscar contender heading into awards season. The film is currently streaming on Prime Video in the UK.
The I Swear story, once a small Scottish biopic, has become one of the defining awards narratives of the cycle — and Robert Aramayo is now firmly at the center of it.
