As enthralling as awards season can be, a lot of the time it is the same category winners being read out again and again. This makes the BAFTA Rising Star Award even more exciting—and to make it even better, it is the only BAFTA voted for by the public.
James McAvoy won the first-ever award back in 2005, ahead of names such as Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michelle Williams, and the Scotsman is still going strong 20 years later. Since then, Tom Holland, Daniel Kaluuya and most recently Mia McKenna-Bruce have received the accolade.
The Industry trio of David Jonsson, Marisa Abela and Nabhaan Rizwan were all in the running this time around, alongside Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight and When They See Us) and Mikey Madison (Scream V and Anora). It was Jonsson though, also known for Rye Lane and Alien: Romulus, who prevailed as BAFTA’s Rising Star.
Meanwhile, three of the four acting categories went as expected with Adrien Brody and Zoe Saldaña taking to the stage for best actor and supporting actress respectively, plus Jesse Eisenberg made his way up on behalf of Kieran Culkin for supporting actor.
The potential outlier saw Mikey Madison win Best Actress as the tug-of-war between her and Demi Moore continues. Moore won the Golden Globe for her role in The Substance whilst Madison has snagged this major award, leaving it all up in the air ahead of next month’s Oscars.
Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance didn’t go away empty-handed, with a much-deserved Make-Up & Hair award going their way, whilst Anora also snagged Best Casting.
Emilia Pérez enjoyed another awards-laden evening but Conclave and The Brutalist were the big winners of the night, taking home four awards each. Best Film and Best Editing went the way of the former whilst Brady Corbet won Best Director and his film was also recognised in Cinematography and for Daniel Blumberg’s Original Score.
Elsewhere, Denis Villeneuve won a pair of technical BAFTAs but continues to be overlooked in the primary categories. Eisenberg and‘A Real Pain won Best Original Screenplay – against the odds perhaps with Anora and The Brutalist in the same category – and Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl won Best Animated Film and Children & Family Film. Rich Peppiatt was the Outstanding British Debutant for Kneecap.
Last but by no means least was perhaps the most emotional moment of the evening, with the legendary Warwick Davis receiving the BAFTA Fellowship and paying homage to his wife who sadly passed away last year. Harry Potter co-star Tom Felton spoke so highly of him before Davis delivered a classically funny speech before expressing his love for his wife, visibly holding back the tears and choking up numerous audience members both in person and at home.
Full BAFTA award winners (first and italicised) and nominees:
BEST FILM
Conclave
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Emilia Perez
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Conclave
Bird
Blitz
Gladiator II
Hard Truths
Kneecap
Lee
Love Lies Bleeding
The Outrun
Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt (director, writer)
Hoard – Luna Carmoon (director/ writer)
Monkey Man – Dev Patel (director)
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Conclave – Peter Straughan
A Complete Unknown – James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Emilia Perez – Jacques Audiard
Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing – Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield
LEADING ACTRESS
Mikey Madison – Anora
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofia Gascon – Emilia Perez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Demi Moore – The Substance
Saoirse Ronan – The Outrun
LEADING ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Hugh Grant – Heretic
Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez
Selena Gomez – Emilia Perez
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Felicity Jones – The Brutalist
Jamie Lee Curtis – The Last Showgirl
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Yura Borisov – Anora
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice
CASTING
Anora – Sean Baker, Samantha Quan
The Apprentice – Stephanie Gorin, Carmen Cuba
A Complete Unknown – Yesi Ramirez
Conclave – Nina Gold, Martin Ware
Kneecap – Carla Stronge
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Conclave – Stephanie Fontaine
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Emilia Perez – Paul Guilhaume
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke
EDITING
Conclave
Anora
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Kneecap
COSTUME DESIGN
Wicked
Blitz
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Nosferatu
MAKE-UP & HAIR
The Substance
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
Wicked
ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
The Wild Robot
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Wicked
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
SOUND
Dune: Part Two
Blitz
Gladiator II
The Substance
Wicked
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune: Part Two
Better Man
Gladiator II
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
Wicked
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Wander To Wonder
Adios
Mog’s Christmas
BRITISH SHORT FILM
Rock, Paper, Scissors
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
Marion
Milk
Stomach Bug
BAFTA RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
David Jonsson
Marisa Abela
Jharrel Jerome
Mikey Madison
Nabhaan Rizwan