Robert Aramayo wins best actor as robert aramayo stuns Bafta ceremony

robert aramayo took home the best actor prize at the 2026 Baftas for his portrayal of John Davidson in I Swear, and also received the Rising Star prize. His victory, alongside a night of multiple wins for other films, prompted strong reactions from his home city of Hull.

One Battle After Another dominates Baftas

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was the night’s biggest winner, taking six awards including best film, best director, best cinematography, best editing, best supporting actor and best adapted screenplay. The counterculture comedy about a washed-up revolutionary trying to protect his daughter from a ruthless military officer was inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland and went into Sunday’s ceremony having been nominated for 14 awards, the most of any contender. Nominations and nods attached to the film included stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor.

Accepting best director, Anderson said: “Anybody who says movies aren’t good anymore can piss right off, because this is a great fucking year. We have a line from Nina Simone we stole in our film. She says, ‘I know what freedom is, it’s no fear. ’ Let’s keep making things without fear. ” He also paid tribute to the film’s late producer Adam Somner, who died in 2024: “You may think your greatest export was Alfred Hitchcock or Charlie Chaplin, but to me it was Adam Somner. Three weeks into our film he found out he was sick, and he made it through production. If you’ve ever worked with somebody who is very ill, it is very miraculous, it makes you pay attention and it reminds you of the privilege of this work we do. Thank you for sending him to me. ”

Hamnet and Jessie Buckley

Hamnet, Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell novel about William Shakespeare, his wife Agnes and the tragic death of their son, took home two awards, including outstanding British film and leading actress for Jessie Buckley. Buckley became the first Irish performer to win a leading actress Bafta. Critics widely praised her raw and intimate performance as a mother grieving the loss of her 11-year-old son, and she is also in the running for a best actress award at the Oscars this March.

Accepting the prize, Buckley said: “This is such an incredible honour. I love what I do, I love cinema. I believe in storytelling to bring us together as a community, I believe in women’s voices to tell us those stories. Chloé Zhao, you are making history tonight as a storyteller, thank you for your uncompromising artistry. And Maggie O’Farrell, thank you for this gift of a role. ” Buckley added 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, and I promise to continue to be disobedient, so you can belong to a world in all your mad, complex, wildness as a young woman. ”

Sinners and other winners

Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller exploring racial and cultural erasure, won three awards: best original screenplay, best original score and best supporting actress. Other prizes across the night reflected a wide spread of storytelling and technical recognition.

Robert Aramayo's upset win

In one of the biggest upsets of the night, Robert Aramayo beat the favourite Timothée Chalamet as well as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke and Michael B Jordan to win best actor for his performance in I Swear, the British Tourette syndrome biopic about writer and campaigner John Davidson. Through tears, a clearly shocked Aramayo, who had earlier won the EE Bafta rising star award, said: “I absolutely can’t believe it, I can’t believe I’m in the same category as you never mind being stood here. ”

As well as best actor, Robert Aramayo also received the Rising Star prize at the 2026 Bafta Awards. I Swear was nominated in five categories and also won the prize for casting. Aramayo described Davidson as “the most remarkable man I have ever met”. I Swear follows Davidson’s struggle growing up with Tourette’s in 1980s Scotland; Tourette’s syndrome is an incurable condition, external that causes someone to make sudden, repetitive sounds or movements, known as tics. Davidson was made an MBE in 2019 for his efforts to increase understanding of the condition and help families deal with it.

Aramayo’s win prompted local celebration. People in his home city of Hull hailed him an inspiration. He studied performing arts at Wyke College in the city and attended Hull Truck Theatre. He broke down in tears on stage and said afterwards: “It totally blows my mind. ” Laura Bulless of Wyke College said: “It felt like the whole of Hull was behind him to get that newcomer award and then to get leading actor, it’s just absolutely phenomenal. ” Bulless added: “It’s an amazing thing to happen for a lad from Hull and for our students to see. That is just something they can take with them now on whatever they are going to do next. ”

Hull Truck Theatre’s artistic director, Mark Babych, described the result as a “jump up and down” moment and said he was not surprised because “Rob is a phenomenal actor”, adding the recognition was also great for “theatres like ours” and the role they play in encouraging young talent. “We are just incredibly proud of Rob, who is clearly an enormous inspiration to people, ” Babych said, and that Aramayo had demonstrated “a great deal of authenticity, respectfulness and insightfulness” in tackling the role.

Robert Aramayo walks to the stage to receive the leading actor award, marking a night in which a mix of established auteurs and breakthrough performers were celebrated across multiple categories.

Closing the ceremony, the spread of awards—from One Battle After Another’s six wins to Sinners’ three and Hamnet’s two—underscored a wide-ranging programme of winners, with I Swear and Robert Aramayo among the evening’s standout stories.