Who won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2026 BAFTAs?

Jessie Buckley won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards.

Buckley received the award for playing Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet, Chloé Zhao’s historical drama adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel. The film imagines the emotional life of Agnes, traditionally identified as Anne Hathaway, after the death of her young son Hamnet and its connection to William Shakespeare’s later work.

At the 79th BAFTAs, Buckley’s win was one of Hamnet’s two major victories: the film also won Outstanding British Film. She prevailed over Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Chase Infiniti and Renate Reinsve; Emma Stone was also among the nominees, making the category especially star-studded.

The award is often casually called Best Actress, but BAFTA’s formal category is Leading Actress. It is separate from Supporting Actress, which went to Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners. Buckley’s performance also helped make Hamnet one of the ceremony’s most prominent British productions.