Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley and I Swear’s Robert Aramayo win big at the Baftas
48 minutes agoEmma SaundersCulture reporter
Reuters/EPAI Swear star Robert Aramayo beat competition from the likes of Hollywood A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet to win best actor at this year’s Bafta awards.
The actor, who depicted the life of John Davidson, a campaigner for Tourette’s syndrome, was in tears as he collected his award, telling the crowd: “I honestly cannot believe this.”
Earlier in the evening, he also won the Bafta rising star award, given to up-and-coming actors. It marks the first time an actor or actress has won both categories in the same year.
Jessie Buckley was the favourite to win best actress and came through, accepting the award for her portrayal of Shakespeare’s grieving wife Agnes in Hamnet.
She said: “This is nuts. This really does belong to the women past, present and future that taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently.”
It’s the first time an Irish actress has won the award.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s darkly comic thriller, One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was the biggest winner on the night, picking up six awards out of the 14 it was up for.
It won best film, best director for Anderson and best supporting actor for Sean Penn, who played reactionary Colonel Steven Lockjaw but wasn’t in attendance.
It also won best editing, best cinematography and best adapted screenplay.
Getty ImagesAnderson told the audience: “Anybody that says movies aren’t any good anymore can (expletive) right off. Let’s keep making movies without fear.”
The veteran filmmaker has never won that category before. His only other Bafta came for best original screenplay for coming-of-age drama Licorice Pizza in 2022.
Having already picked up awards momentum with wins at the Golden Globes for best film (musical or comedy), Critics Choice (best film) and best director for Anderson, it’s looking like the one to beat at the Academy Awards on 15 March.
I Swear won three awards in total, with casting director Lauren Evans adding to its tally by winning best casting, describing the performance from Aramayo as “stellar.”
Davidson, who featured in a 1989 BBC documentary entitled John’s Not Mad about having Tourette’s syndrome, used some strong language while in the audience. Host Alan Cumming apologised but explained that Tourette’s syndrome was a disability.
In his acceptance speech, Aramayo described Davidson as “the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”
Getty ImagesVampire horror hit Sinners also won three awards, including a best supporting actress prize for Wunmi Mosaku, which marked the first British winner in this category for four years.
The Mancunian plays Annie in Ryan Coogler’s film, a role which has also earned her an Oscar nomination. This could bode well for her chances at the Academy Awards next month.
She said she “found a part of myself in Annie, a part of my hopes, my ancestral power and connection, parts I thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in.”
Nominated for 13 awards in total, it also won best original screenplay for Coogler, plus best original score.
Films with the most wins
One Battle After Another – 6
Sinners – 3
I Swear – 3
Frankenstein – 3
Hamnet – 2
Norwegian family drama, Sentimental Value, beat back stiff competition in the best film not in the English language category, including Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent.
Although the main categories are often dominated by Hollywood, the Baftas have additional categories that specifically recognise UK talent, including outstanding British film, which went to Hamnet.
The Princess of Wales told Bafta film committee chair Emily Stillman that she watched the emotional drama, about the loss of Shakespeare’s son, on Saturday.
“I think it was a very bad idea actually… ended up with very puffy eyes.”
NetflixGuillermo Del Toro’s take on the classic tale Frankenstein, starring Jacob Elordi, swept the design categories, first taking home best production design. The ambitious gothic Netflix film featured an Arctic explorer ship frozen on the ice, and Frankenstein’s horror lab on top of a Victorian water tower.
It also won best hair and make-up and best costume design.
Its impressive prosthetics brought Frankenstein’s vision to life via Elordi, who had to spend up to 10 hours a day in the make-up chair.
Other technical category winners were FI, the Formula One film starring Brad Pitt, which was up for three awards, winning one for best sound.
Best special effects went to James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar: Fire and Ash, replicating its win in the same category for the original movie in the hit franchise back in 2010.
Best documentary went to BBC Storyville’s Mr Nobody Against Putin, an expose of what is happening in modern-day Russian schools, filmed covertly.
Director David Borenstein thanked his co-director Pasha Talankin for his bravery in “sacrificing his entire life” to smuggle footage out of Russia.
Other award winners included Indian movie Boong, which took the best children’s and family prize, presented by everyone’s favourite bear, Paddington.
Best animated film went to the hit sequel, Zootropolis 2, which recently became Hollywood’s highest-grossing animated film of all time, after taking $1.7bn (£1.3bn) at the box office globally.
Performances on the night included the K-Pop Demon Hunters trio singing Golden, while Jessie Ware sang a moving rendition of Barbra Streisand’s The Way We Were to accompany the In Memoriam segment, which paid tribute to those we have lost from the creative arts this year including Catherine O’Hara, Rob Reiner, Gene Hackman, Brigitte Bardot and Robert Redford.