Timothée Chalamet and Jessie Buckley have surged into serious contention for the Oscars after winning the top acting prizes at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday. Chalamet took best actor for his role in Marty Supreme, while Buckley won best actress for Hamnet.
Chalamet, who plays a wannabe table-tennis champion in the early 1950s, defeated Oscar favourite Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Michael B Jordan (Sinners) and Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon). In his acceptance speech, he thanked his partner Kylie Jenner, saying: “Thank you to my partner for three years … I love you. I couldn’t do this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Buckley, who played William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes opposite Paul Mescal, confirmed her frontrunner status by defeating Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), Emma Stone (Bugonia) and Amanda Seyfried (The Testament of Ann Lee). She paid tribute to Mescal, saying: “Paul, I bloody love you man … I could drink you like water working with you every single day. You’re a giant of the heart and thank you so much for making me a little bit more human.”
One Battle After Another won best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson, bolstering its Oscar momentum. However, Frankenstein and Sinners each won four awards, including best supporting actor for Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) and best original screenplay for Ryan Coogler (Sinners).
In television, teen-violence drama Adolescence won best limited series and three acting awards for Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty. Seth Rogen’s The Studio won best comedy series and acting prizes for Rogen and Ike Barinholtz, while The Pitt won best drama series and acting awards for Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa.
The ceremony also featured jabs at Donald Trump: South Park won best animated series, and Jimmy Kimmel won best talkshow after sustained pressure from Trump. In a quirk, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy won best movie made for television due to its US premiere on Peacock, despite theatrical releases elsewhere.
