Robert Aramayo pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Bafta history on Sunday night, winning Best Actor for his role in the British biopic I Swear. The 33-year-old newcomer beat Hollywood heavyweights Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet and Michael B Jordan, and later also collected the EE Rising Star award. He appeared visibly shocked as he accepted the prize at the Royal Festival Hall.
Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another was crowned Best Picture, with Anderson also taking Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Jessie Buckley was named Best Actress for Hamnet, which also won Best British Film. Ryan Coogler made history as the first Black writer to win Best Original Screenplay for Sinners, while Wunmi Mosaku won Best Supporting Actress for the same film. Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor for an undisclosed role but was absent from the ceremony.
The night was less kind to Marty Supreme, which went home empty-handed despite receiving 11 nominations. That ties the record for the most nominations without a win, previously set by Ken Russell's Women in Love and Finding Neverland.
Host Alan Cumming had to apologise after the Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson, whose life inspired I Swear, made involuntary outbursts during the broadcast. Cumming explained that Davidson's language was due to his condition. It also emerged that BBC censors had cut a joke from Cumming's opening monologue in which he referenced the plot of Zootropolis 2, asking whether it echoed real-world events especially for American viewers.
Jessie Buckley provided one of the night's lighter moments, recalling in her acceptance speech how she arrived in London with a bad fake tan and white hoop earrings, telling her future agent she wanted to be like Judi Dench. With the Oscars approaching, the supporting categories remain wide open, with Bafta, Golden Globes and Critics Choice award winners all differing.
