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| ✓ Verified - theguardian.com
I Swear’s Robert Aramayo had Bafta’s feelgood moment, but the night belonged to Paul Thomas Anderson
#Bafta 2026#Robert Aramayo#Paul Thomas Anderson#I Swear#One Battle After Another#British cinema#film awards#acting honors
📌 Key Takeaways
Robert Aramayo won Best Actor for 'I Swear' in a surprise victory over Hollywood stars
Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' dominated with six Bafta awards
The ceremony had a distinctly British character with royal attendance and traditional snacks
Jessie Buckley and Wunmi Mosaku also received major acting awards for their performances
📖 Full Retelling
British actor Robert Aramayo emerged as the surprise winner of the Best Actor award at the 2026 Bafta ceremony in London, where Paul Thomas Anderson's political film 'One Battle After Another' dominated the night with six awards, recognizing the US director's commitment to complex drama about American resistance. The ceremony had a distinctly British character with the Prince and Princess of Wales in attendance, while Hollywood A-listers including Emma Stone, Timothée Chalamet, and Leonardo DiCaprio received traditional British snacks on the red carpet. Aramayo's victory for his performance in 'I Swear,' a film about Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson, marked a significant moment for British cinema over Hollywood, with the actor also receiving the rising star award. Anderson's film, which satirizes Trump's America and ICE immigration policies, also secured Sean Penn the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of a reactionary military figure. The evening also celebrated Jessie Buckley's anticipated win for playing Agnes Hathaway in 'Hamnet,' Wunmi Mosaku's supporting actress award for 'Sinners,' and Guillermo del Toro's three awards for 'Frankenstein,' while Akinola Davies Jr. received the outstanding British debut Bafta for 'My Father's Shadow.'
🏷️ Themes
Awards, British Cinema, Political Films, Acting Performances
One Battle After Another is a 2025 American black comedy action-thriller film produced, written, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is inspired by the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. The film's ensemble cast is led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana T...
Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation, his accolades include two Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Critics Choice Awards, and nominations for fourteen Academy Aw...
Robert Michael Aramayo (born 6 November 1992) is an English actor. From 2016 to 2017, he played the role of young Eddard Stark in the sixth and seventh season of the HBO series Game of Thrones. In 2021, he starred in the Netflix psychological thriller miniseries Behind Her Eyes.
British cinema has significantly influenced the global film industry since the 19th century. The oldest known surviving film in the world, Roundhay Garden Scene (1888), was shot in England by French inventor Louis Le Prince. Early colour films were also pioneered in the UK. Film production reached a...
I Swear’s Robert Aramayo had Bafta’s feelgood moment, but the night belonged to Paul Thomas Anderson Peter Bradshaw Six wins for US director’s ICE-baiting film of American resistance recognised Anderson’s commitment to complex drama, while best actor win for rising British star was thoroughly deserved News: One Battle wins six Baftas Full list of winners The night as it happened T his turned out to be a very British night for the Baftas , a smidgen more British than usual in fact. It started out with the Hollywood A-listers in the audience being presented with hilarious British snacks, of whose existence they had no more idea than they had of life forms on the moons of Saturn. Emma Stone got some Hula Hoops, Timothée Chalamet had a bag of Scampi Fries and Leonardo DiCaprio got his laughing gear around a Hobnob flapjack. The other intensely British thing was the red-carpet appearance of the Prince and Princess of Wales (the former being Bafta’s president); their presence enforced that other terribly British tradition of everyone, as if in a Mike Leigh film, avoiding the subject. Everyone trying not to talk or think about the elephant in the room or the elephant slumped and stricken in the speeding car on the way home from the police station. Well, at least William never liked him. And a British star gave us the biggest upset: Hollywood A-listers in the best leading actor list like DiCaprio and Chalamet were sensationally beaten by English up-and-comer Robert Aramayo, who got the top acting award along with the rising star Bafta. This was for his terrific performance in the marvellously warm and emotionally generous movie I Swear about the life and times of Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson, who has struggled throughout his life both with his condition and with people’s attitudes, and was also in the audience. It was the thoroughly well-deserved feelgood moment of the night (I had also been hoping for an award for Peter Mullan playing Davidson’s big-hearted m...
