Jessie Buckley wins best actress at 2026 Baftas
jessie buckley’s triumphant run through Oscar season continued with a best actress win at the EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) awards on Sunday night. The victory, announced at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank, comes just two days after she took the equivalent Irish Film and Television Academy award in Dublin and marks the first time an Irish performer has won Bafta’s best actress prize.
Jessie Buckley’s acceptance at the Royal Festival Hall, presented by Cillian Murphy
Buckley, nominated for playing a wracked Agnes Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, delivered a characteristically warm acceptance speech at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. She received the award from compatriot Cillian Murphy, a gesture described in the ceremony as a canny move by Bafta, and stood "luminous in blue" as she told the room, "This is nuts. "
She added, "This really does belong to the women past, present and future who taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently, " speaking directly to the mentors and peers who shaped her performance.
Her remarks about motherhood and awards commitments
The ceremony underlined how Buckley has been managing awards season while balancing personal commitments. 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. " She promised, "I will continue to be disobedient so you can belong to a world in all your complete wildness as a young woman. "
Hamnet’s haul and the dominance of One Battle After Another
Hamnet managed to win best British film, but could not get past Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another for overall best film. One Battle After Another took six Baftas, including best director and best adapted screenplay, and its lead victory in best film left Hamnet short of the night’s top prize.
Supporting categories: Paul Mescal, Sean Penn and the Oscar picture
Paul Mescal, nominated for playing William Shakespeare in Hamnet, lost out in best supporting actor to an absent Sean Penn, who was described in the ceremony as "sinister as a messianic despot" in One Battle After Another. Stellan Skarsgård had looked the favourite in that category, and Penn’s win was noted as opening the corresponding Oscar race up considerably.
Irish behind-the-scenes success: Richard Baneham and Element Pictures
There were further Irish successes behind the camera. Richard Baneham, the Tallaght man, took a second Bafta in special visual effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash. From the podium he said, "I have to say go raibh maith agat to Jim Cameron, our visionary director, " and added, "We have to thank the crew in our stage and lab in New Zealand and in LA. "
Element Pictures, the Oscar-winning Dublin-based production company, were listed as proud co-producers of Akinola Davies jnr’s My Father’s Shadow, which won outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer. Akinola Davies jnr shared that prize with his co-writer Wale Davies.
Shocks and other major winners: Robert Aramayo, Sinners and Wunmi Mosaku
The biggest surprise of the evening came when Robert Aramayo, the young star of Kirk Jones’s drama I Swear, beat Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio to the best actor prize. I Swear tells the story of John Davidson, a courageous Scottish campaigner for those with Tourette syndrome; the film was a significant hit in the UK and Ireland but has barely registered with awards bodies elsewhere. The Yorkshireman, who also won rising star, seemed stunned by the prize.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, described in the ceremony as an ingenious vampire flick, 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 called a minor upset, and commentators noted that Anderson’s film now looks a healthy favourite for best picture at the Oscars with Sinners next in its wake. Mosaku said from the podium, "Thank you Bafta for this incredible honour. To my daughter, you are my greatest teacher. I am so proud of you, eve"—text unclear in the provided context.
jessie buckley’s win closed a night that mixed expected industry heavyweights with a string of surprises and strong Irish representation across acting and technical categories.
