‘I share this with my daughter’: Jessie Buckley wins best actress at 2026 Baftas
Jessie Buckley won the best actress prize at the 2026 Baftas for her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, becoming the first Irish performer to take that award and doing so just two days after winning the equivalent Irish Film and Television Academy prize in Dublin.
Buckley’s speech at the Royal Festival Hall
Buckley accepted the Bafta at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank, wearing blue and opening her speech by saying, “This is nuts. ” The award was presented to her by compatriot Cillian Murphy. Buckley thanked the women who taught her how to do the work differently and said, “I share this with my daughter, who has been with me since she was six weeks old on the road with this. ” She added, “It’s the best role of my life being your mum and I promise to continue to be disobedient so you can belong to a world in all your complete wildness as a young woman. ”
Jessie Buckley and Hamnet’s Irish connections
Hamnet, adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel and starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, took home the award for best British film. Chloe Zhao said at the winners’ press conference that she has a “very personal” connection with Ireland and that the film has “some energy” from the country. Zhao said she could not share what that personal connection is but praised the land, culture and a desire to remember what might have been forgotten, calling those forces “really, really strong. ” She said that when she read O’Farrell’s book she felt the author’s being Irish contributed something—“some spirit. There’s some energy in it that came from her part of the world. ”
Casting, source and Irish talent on screen
Author Maggie O’Farrell, from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, joked about the casting process and said the filmmakers went “straight to Ireland” because the actors were “simply the best people for the job. ” The film follows the family life of William Shakespeare after the death of their young son; Buckley plays Agnes Hathaway, historically known as Anne. Buckley is from Killarney in Co Kerry, and Paul Mescal, from Dublin, has been nominated across awards season for his role but had not taken a prize at this ceremony.
Major winners, shocks and industry moves
Paul Mescal, nominated for playing William Shakespeare in Hamnet, lost best supporting actor to an absent Sean Penn, who won for playing a messianic despot in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Stellan Skarsgård had been viewed as a favourite in that category, and Penn’s win was noted as opening up the corresponding Oscar race. One Battle After Another was the evening’s big winner, taking six Baftas including best film, best director and best adapted screenplay.
Other Irish successes and surprise victors
Richard Baneham, described as a Tallaght man, won his second Bafta for special visual effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash and thanked Jim Cameron along with crews in New Zealand and LA, saying, “I have to say go raibh maith agat to Jim Cameron. ” Element Pictures, the Oscar-winning Dublin-based production company, co-produced My Father’s Shadow, which won the outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer prize; Akinola Davies jnr shares that prize with his co-writer Wale Davies.
Shock best actor and other category winners
The ceremony produced a surprise when Robert Aramayo beat Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio to win best actor for Kirk Jones’s drama I Swear; Aramayo, the Yorkshireman, also won rising star. I Swear tells the story of John Davidson, a Scottish campaigner for those with Tourette syndrome, and the film was a significant hit in the UK and Ireland but has barely registered with awards bodies elsewhere. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners won three categories—original screenplay, original score and best supporting actress for Wunmi Mosaku. Mosaku’s victory over Carey Mulligan and Teyanna Taylor drew applause; she said, “Thank you Bafta for this incredible honour. To my daughter, you are my greatest teacher. I am so proud of you, ” (the quote in the provided context ended abruptly).
Hamnet’s Bafta successes and Chloé Zhao’s remarks about Irish influence reinforced the film’s position in awards season, and Buckley has been described as a frontrunner for the Oscars after dominating the season so far. Paul Mescal remains a multiple nominee but had not won at this ceremony.
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