Robert Aramayo Wins the BAFTA Award for ‘I Swear’ – He Deserves It
by Alex Billington
February 23, 2026
Big news from London! I don’t usually cover the BAFTA Awards from the UK but this win deserves a special mention. Last night at the BAFTA ceremony in London, which is essentially the UK version of the Academy Awards, a young English actor named Robert Aramayo won the Best Actor award. He took the top prize for Best Actor over other more well-known names like Leonardo DiCaprio (for One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (for Blue Moon), and Timothee Chalamet (for Marty Supreme). While this was a surprise for many Americans, it’s not a surprise for everyone in the UK. Aramayo absolutely deserved this award for his performance in a film called I Swear, where he plays a real Scottish man named John Davidson with Tourette’s. I already opened in the UK last fall but still hasn’t opened in the US yet. It’s a version of his story and the goal is to continue to build awareness around Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological disease that many are familiar with but not comfortable truly understanding. I hope this win and this film will change things and enlighten people worldwide as to what the experience of living with Tourette’s & with tics is really like.
Most people will recognize Robert Aramayo from the Prime Video LOTR series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in which he stars as the beloved Half-Elven character Elrond. He was also in the “Game of Thrones” series (as Young Ned Stark) and other films including Dance First, Nocturnal Animals, Exit Plan, Antebellum, The King’s Man, and the recent Palestine 36. I Swear is a Scottish film written and directed by Kirk Jones based on the true story of John Davidson and what happened to him during his life because of the challenges with society understanding Tourette’s. Before this BAFTA ceremony, he was most famous for exclaiming to the Queen of England “f**k the Queen” during his coronation ceremony (here’s a clip from the film). Kirk Jones’ film I Swear originally premiered at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival last year & opened in UK cinemas in October last fall. It was a huge hit over there – which is how I first heard about it. However, this brings up an issue getting in the way of cinema thriving globally nowadays – idiotic local distribution decisions. The US distributor of I Swear, Sony Pictures Classics, hasn’t released the film yet – it’s only set to open in April in the US. It will already be playing on Netflix UK (only – unless you have a VPN) in March.
This is really the bigger issue here. If more people would’ve been able to watch and see I Swear by now, they would’ve been able to understand why he won this award (over DiCaprio, Chalamet, and everyone else) and why he absolutely deserves this award. I was lucky to have a chance to watch I Swear a few months ago and let me comment on it now – this film is outstanding. And Robert Aramayo is wonderful in it. It’s truly impossible not to connect with him and feel moved by him and this story. And all the lovely people who look out for him. And the doggies. And Scottish green hills. And everything about this movie. I was completely taken away by it and swept up in it. And as soon as you see it, it’s pretty clear why he was set to win. Yes of course there’s a major home-field advantage – he’s a British actor competing for a British award. However, his performance is something that anyone from any country can appreciate. Instead of delaying the release of this film for almost an entire year after it was already a huge hit in the UK makes no logical sense. In our interconnected, digital world nowadays, everyone all over the world is aware and it’s so much better to make sure everything is released at the same time worldwide. This is something that has bothered me for years – distributors don’t seem to understand this archaic delayed local release strategy just doesn’t work anymore.
Aramayo was also surprised by this win – you can see in the acceptance video below from the BBC he was so shocked by all of it. During his speech, he also specifically thanked Ethan Hawke saying how moved he was by a talk he gave when he was studying a Julliard (and Hawke then said to his friend “that’s better than winning” – having an influence on the next generation). The BAFTA Awards ceremony had another surprise – the real-life John Davidson, who Aramayo portrays in I Swear, was invited and in attendance at the ceremony. The BBC & BAFTAs discussed this with the audience at the beginning, explaining that because of Tourette’s he has involuntary tics and may shout out profanities. One particular profanity has become the center of attention because of its racist connotations. This has caused quite a stir – I think everyone should watch this video from a young Black woman with Tourette’s who responds to the situation (here & here). It’s also quite interesting that if only more people would’ve actually watched I Swear, or even just had the chance to see it (in the US), they would understand this situation better and what his experiences are living with Tourette’s and how these vocal tics are uncontrollable. And it’s nothing we should be so upset about – this is literally exactly what I Swear is about. Suffice it to say, now everyone seriously needs to see the film.
Despite all the controversy and commentary and everything going on with this win and the BAFTA Awards situation. I just think it’s important to say clearly & honestly – he absolutely deserved this Best Actor prize for a truly magnificent, unforgettable, important performance. He also won the BAFTA Rising Star Award and took home two prizes last night. This is only the beginning of the many awards Aramayo will win over the course of his acting career. And for now, above all – whenever you have a chance, please watch I Swear.
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