Timothée Chalamet. Leonardo DiCaprio. Michael B Jordan. Ethan Hawke. Jesse Plemons. Most of Bafta’s Best Actor nominees this year are certified Hollywood stars and household names. But we've got our eye on a brilliant British outlier.
Chalamet received his fourth acting nomination for his breathless role in Josh Safdie’s table tennis drama Marty Supreme, which received 11 nods in total, and he’s the strong favourite going into the ceremony.
The actor is tipped to win an Oscar for his role, and he reigned supreme at the Golden Globes earlier this month, but it seems he could be usurped at the Baftas by rising star Robert Araymayo.
To some, British actor Aramayo was a surprise nominee in the Leading Actor category alongside Chalamet, DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Jordan (Sinners), Hawke (Blue Moon) and Plemons (Bugonia). But to anyone who’s seen the film I Swear, his presence alongside these Hollywood heavyweights is no shock.
In the film – one of the best of 2025 – Aramayo plays real-life figure John Davidson, a young boy who started suffering severe Tourette’s syndrome in the 1980s at a time when the world was uneducated on the condition.
The actor plays Davidson to perfection – his balancing of emotion with comedy providing the film with its beating heart. It’s the kind of performance that deserves to launch an actor to superstardom.
Aramayo’s performance was one of 108 that were submitted for Bafta consideration, and after making his way onto the longlist, voters watched the film and appreciated what they saw.
“If you are nominated for a Bafta, you have every chance of winning,” Bafta CEO Jane Millichip told The Independent. “You’re down to a very small, very special list of people, and I wonder what Robert Aramayo’s thinking, shoulder-to-shoulder with the others. I’m sure they would welcome him aboard!”
In 2022, Joanna Scanlon beat Lady Gaga, Alana Haim and Tessa Thompson to a surprise win for independent drama After Love – and there’s a feeling that Aramayo could echo this, snatching the gold from presumed favourite Chalamet.
To date, Aramayo’s credits include Game of Thrones (in which he played Eddard Stark) and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – and he can currently be seen on stage in Guess How Much I Love You? at the Royal Court.
