Jessie Buckley — jessie buckley wins best actress at 2026 Baftas
jessie buckley continued a triumphant awards run by winning the best actress prize at the EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards on Sunday night, the first time an Irish performer has won that award. The win, for her portrayal of a wracked Agnes Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, came just two days after she took the equivalent Irish Film and Television Academy award in Dublin.
Jessie Buckley accepts on London’s South Bank, presented by Cillian Murphy
Buckley delivered a warm acceptance speech at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank, appearing luminous in blue as she was handed the award by compatriot Cillian Murphy — a move the ceremony was described as canny. "This is nuts, " she said after taking the prize, and added that the honour "really does belong to the women past, present and future who taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently. "
Family and awards season: the daughter she shares the win with
jessie buckley spoke directly of family in her remarks. She said, "I share this with my daughter, who has been with me since she was six weeks old on the road with this, " calling motherhood "the best role of my life" and promising to remain "disobedient so you can belong to a world in all your complete wildness as a young woman. " The Bafta victory arrived amid what the coverage described as Buckley managing awards season with notable commitments.
Hamnet’s haul and the competition from One Battle After Another
Hamnet won best British film but ultimately lost out in the overall best film category to Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. The Anderson film took six Baftas, including best director and best adapted screenplay. Paul Mescal, nominated for playing William Shakespeare in Hamnet, was beaten in best supporting actor by an absent Sean Penn, sinister as a messianic despot in One Battle After Another; Stellan Skarsgård had looked the favourite in that supporting category, and Penn’s victory was said to open the corresponding Oscar race up considerably.
Other notable winners: Baneham, Element Pictures, Aramayo and Sinners
Richard Baneham secured a second Bafta for special visual effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash; the Tallaght man was described as now among the most respected professionals in his field. From the podium he said, "I have to say go raibh maith agat to Jim Cameron, our visionary director, " and thanked the crew in their stage and lab in New Zealand and in LA.
Element Pictures, the Oscar-winning Dublin-based production company, were named as proud co-producers of Akinola Davies jnr’s 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.
The evening’s biggest shock was Robert Aramayo, the young star of Kirk Jones’s drama I Swear, who beat Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio to the best actor prize. I Swear, which tells the story of John Davidson, a courageous Scottish campaigner for those with Tourette syndrome, was a significant hit in the UK and Ireland but had barely registered with awards bodies elsewhere. The Yorkshireman, who also won rising star, seemed stunned by the prize.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners triumphed in three categories: original screenplay, original score and, for British performer Wunmi Mosaku, best supporting actress. Mosaku’s victory over Carey Mulligan and Teyanna Taylor was described as a minor upset. One comment on the night suggested Anderson’s film now looks a healthy favourite for best picture at the Oscars with Sinners next in its wake. Mosaku thanked the ceremony from the podium and addressed her daughter, calling her "my greatest teacher" and saying she was proud of her.
