Bafta Awards 2026: bafta awards 2026 — Robert Aramayo stunned as One Battle After Another dominates

The 2026 ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London left Robert Aramayo visibly stunned after he was named Best Actor in a Leading Role. The bafta awards 2026 saw Aramayo win for I Swear while One Battle After Another led the night with six wins.

Best Actor and Rising Star

Robert Aramayo, the 33-year-old English actor, was unveiled as the Best Actor in a Leading Role winner and appeared tearful as he told the audience, "I absolutely can't believe it, I can't believe that I'm looking at people like you (Leonardo DiCaprio), in the same category as you, never mind that I'm stood here. " He added, "I honestly cannot believe that I have won this award. I really, really cannot. Everyone in this category blows me away. " Aramayo beat nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, Timothée Chalamet, Jesse Plemons and Michael B. Jordan for the prize for his performance in I Swear.

He thanked director Kirk Jones and campaigner Davidson, recalling a drama-school story about Ethan Hawke: "When I was in school, Ethan Hawke came in to speak to us at Juilliard and he gave an amazing talk on longevity as an actor, about protecting your instrument and avoiding self-destructive behaviours, " the 33-year-old recalled. "And it had a really great impact on everyone in that room. So to be in this category with you tonight is incredible. Thank you, Ethan. " He concluded, "OK, I'm going to stop talking now. Thank you so so so so much. " Earlier in the evening the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor also won the EE Rising Star Award, which is voted for by the public.

Bafta Awards 2026: Major Winners

One Battle After Another took the lead with six wins, including Best Film and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn. Ryan Coogler's Sinners nabbed three wins, with Wunmi Mosak taking home Best Supporting Actress. Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein scored three design prizes: Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Make-up & Hair. Jessie Buckley won for Hamnet. Robert Aramayo is listed as a winner for I Swear.

Full winners and nominees

The broadcast evening included a wide field of films and names cited across categories: Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, Sinners, The Ballad of Wallis Island, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Die My Love, H Is for Hawk, Mr Burton, Pillion and Steve. Directing and writing names in the programme included Jack King (Director, Writer), Hollie Bryan (Producer), Lucy Meer (Producer), Akinola Davies Jr. (Director), Wale Davies (Writer), Harry Lighton (Director, Writer), Myrid Carten (Director), Cal McMau (Director), Hunter Andrews (Writer) and Eoin Doran (Writer). Other director names cited in listings included Yorgos Lanthimos, Chloé Zhao, Josh Safdie, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joachim Trier and Ryan Coogler.

Acting nominations and placements named Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan, Jesse Plemons, Odessa A’zion, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Carey Mulligan, Teyana Taylor, Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, Peter Mullan, Stellan Skarsgård, Benicio Del Toro and Jacob Elordi among others. Specific winners identified in the listings included Sean Penn for One Battle After Another and Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners; individual wins noted included ArcoBoong as a winner in a listed category alongside other titles such as Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia 2 in animation-related mentions.

Ceremony time and broadcast

The ceremony at London’s Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall was hosted by Emmy-winning actor Alan Cumming. The event was scheduled to air at 7 p. m. GMT in the UK and at 8 p. m. ET/PT in North America. Davidson was in attendance to help support I Swear, and after Aramayo's Rising Star win host Alan Cumming apologised to anyone who may have been offended by Davidson's strong language: "Tourette's Syndrome is a disability, and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologise if you are offended tonight, " he said. Editors said Davidson "left of his own accord" during the second half of the ceremony.

Other notes and snapshots

The wider content accompanying coverage of the evening included a range of unrelated sports and culture notes that appeared alongside awards coverage: a clue reference to puzzle #722; LeBron James calling out Jaylen Brown for "that s*** he said about Bronny at Summer League" in 2024 on Sunday night; Showtime-era Lakers figures Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy attending Riley's statue ceremony; Kara Braxton spending a decade in the WNBA and winning a pair of titles with the Shock; Liu not ready to retire from figure skating after securing dual Olympic gold and that the 2030 Games are a long way out; the Longhorns winning both the men's and women's titles; Hughes losing two teeth to a high stick but scoring an overtime goal that lifted the U. S. to gold over Canada; and the U. S. men's ice hockey team holding up Johnny Gaudreau's No. 13 jersey and bringing two of his children onto the ice to celebrate winning gold in Milan Cortina. The context also emphasised that it all comes down to Team USA and Team Canada in a listed contest.

The ceremony combined major film wins, surprise personal moments on stage and a spread of winners across technical and acting categories, with One Battle After Another and I Swear among the night's most prominent successes.