Robert Aramayo and Jessie Buckley win big as One Battle After Another dominates Baftas

robert aramayo captured the best actor prize at this year's Baftas for his performance in I Swear and earlier in the night took the rising star award, making him the first performer to win both categories in the same year. The ceremony also saw Jessie Buckley claim leading actress for Hamnet while Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another emerged as the biggest winner.

Robert Aramayo's double win and I Swear success

Robert Aramayo, identified in coverage as Hull’s Robert Aramayo, won best actor for I Swear, the British Tourette syndrome biopic about writer and campaigner John Davidson. robert aramayo beat competition that included Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet, and was later noted to have also prevailed over Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke and Michael B Jordan in the category.

He was visibly emotional collecting the award, at one point telling the crowd: "I honestly cannot believe this. " Earlier he had won the EE Bafta rising star award, and in his acceptance he said through tears: "I absolutely can’t believe it, I can’t believe I’m in the same category as you never mind being stood here. " I Swear was nominated in five categories and also won the prize for casting.

Jessie Buckley takes leading actress for Hamnet

Jessie Buckley, the favourite for the leading actress prize, won for her portrayal of Agnes, Shakespeare's grieving wife, in Hamnet. It was noted as the first time an Irish actress has won the award and critics praised her raw, intimate performance as a mother grieving the loss of her 11-year-old son.

Accepting the trophy, Buckley said: "This is nuts. This really does belong to the women past, present and future that taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently. " In a longer speech she described the honour as "such an incredible honour, " thanked Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell for the role, and said she was sharing the award with her daughter, "who has been with me since she was six weeks old on the road with this. It’s the best role of my life, being your mum. " Buckley was also reported to be in the running for a best actress award at the Oscars this March.

One Battle After Another wins six of 14 nominations

Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another was the night's biggest winner, taking six awards out of the 14 it was up for. The film won best film and best director for Anderson, along with awards that included best cinematography, best editing and best adapted screenplay; it also took best supporting actor, a prize given to Sean Penn.

Sean Penn played the reactionary villain Colonel Steven Lockjaw in the film but was not in attendance. The film, inspired by Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and sees a father, played by DiCaprio, reconnect with his former group of revolutionaries following the kidnap of his daughter, played by Chase Infiniti. Anderson, accepting best director, said: "Anybody who says movies aren’t good anymore can piss right off, because this is a great fucking year, " and paid tribute to the film’s late producer Adam Somner, who died in 2024, noting that "three weeks into our film he found out he was sick, and he made it through production. "

Sinners, Wunmi Mosaku and red carpet names

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, described as a vampire thriller exploring racial and cultural erasure, won three awards: best original screenplay, best original score and best supporting actress. Wunmi Mosaku was also highlighted with a Bafta win and coverage described her performance as showing "ancestral power. " The Baftas red carpet included stars Wunmi Mosaku, Paul Mescal and Teyana Taylor among those attending the film awards.

Royal attendance and notable moments at the Southbank Centre

The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the ceremony. The Prince of Wales, attending in his capacity as Bafta's president, told the Southbank Centre's chief executive Elaine Bedell that he had yet to see the emotion-laden film and said: "I need to be in quite a calm state and I'm not at the moment. " The Princess of Wales told Bafta film committee chair Emily Stillman she had watched the drama about the death of Shakespeare's son on Saturday and said: "I think it was a very bad idea actually... (I) ended up with very puffy eyes. "

Their appearance was their first joint public outing since Prince William's uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office last week.