“BAFTAs 2025 Highlights: Tennant, Take That, Timothée Chalamet, and Kylie Jenner Steal the Show”
Conclave and The Brutalist were the night’s big winners at the BAFTA Film Awards, taking home four gongs each. But outside the main prizes, there were plenty of other talking points following the ceremony in London.
Tears, laughter and some Take That fangirling from a best actress nominee – this year’s BAFTA Film Awards had it all.
Conclave and The Brutalist were the night’s big winners, taking home four awards each – including best picture and outstanding British film for Conclave, and best actor for The Brutalist star Adrien Brody and directing award for its filmmaker, Brady Corbet.
But as always with these big entertainment awards ceremonies, there were plenty of moments to remember outside the big prizes.
Here are our BAFTA 2025 key talking points.
The return of Tennant
Hosts can make or break an awards ceremony, so when you get a good ‘un you want to keep them. After a successful stint in 2024, Doctor Who and Rivals star David Tennant was back to take the helm once again.
This time round, the Scottish actor, sporting a kilt and sporran at first, kicked things off by calling on the “BAFTA gods” – acting legends Dame Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Brian Cox, naturally – before a sketch performance of The Proclaimers’ hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).
Of course, this needed some audience participation – including from US stars Camila Cabello, Colman Domingo and Anna Kendrick, who probably didn’t have a clue what was going on but joined in with gusto.
Tennant joked about actors “freshening up” while they age, after referencing that Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa took on his role in the BBC series, as well as the length of films such as The Brutalist (three-and-a-half hours).
“Who doesn’t like a chance to have a wee halfway through?” he asked, while talking about the film’s much-needed intermission.
Emilia Perez awards despite controversy – and Saldana’s speech
It went into awards season as one of the favourites, but Emilia Perez has been surrounded by controversy in recent weeks.
As stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez enjoyed the show, leading actress Karla Sofia Gascon was notably absent from the ceremony following the resurgence of offensive tweets, and the film has also come under fire for its portrayal of Mexico and of trans people.
Despite this, it picked up the BAFTAs for best film not in the English language and best supporting actress for Saldana.
Earlier this month, director Jacques Audiard said Gascon’s tweets were “inexcusable” and that he was “very sad” to see the issue “taking up all the space” around the film.
However, collecting the BAFTA for best film not in the English language, the French filmmaker namechecked all his stars, including Gascon – and blew her a kiss through his translator.
“I’m deeply proud of what we have all achieved together – long live Emilia Perez,” he said.
In her speech, an emotional Saldana said the film defied categorisation and also paid tribute to her co-stars, before realising she was taking too long and being given a countdown. “F***, f***, f***”, she panicked, before continuing with her speech anyway.
Thanking her mother for “being such a selfless person”, she broke down in tears, and added: “Films are supposed to change hearts and challenge minds and I hope Emilia Perez did something like this, because voices need to be heard.”
Take That perform – and Saoirse Ronan fangirls
If you’ve seen Anora, you’ll know the filmmakers behind it are fans of Take That, specifically the 2008 hit Greatest Day.
The band, now a trio of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald, performed the hit remix used in the film on stage at the ceremony.
As host Tennant made his way through the crowd afterwards, he came across best actress nominee Saoirse Ronan and her husband Jack Lowden.
Is Ronan a Take That fan? “I’ve seen you twice,” she shouted at the boys as they made their way off stage.
That’s a yes, then.
Kieran Culkin couldn’t attend – so Jesse Eisenberg stepped up
Following best supporting actor wins at earlier ceremonies including the Golden Globes, Kieran Culkin has been a favourite when it comes to speeches this awards season.
It was no surprise to see him honoured at the BAFTAs, but as he sadly couldn’t attend the ceremony in person, his co-star and director Jesse Eisenberg stepped up – not only collecting the award on his behalf but also delivering the laughs, too.
In A Real Pain, the pair play two very different cousins on a trip exploring their Jewish grandmother’s roots in Poland.
The BAFTA was “like the fifth” award Eisenberg has picked up for Culkin, he told the audience. “We have a similar life, but his is 20% better than mine,” he added.
Accepting the award for best original screenplay, Eisenberg also joked that his wife had not attended the ceremony as she did not think he would win.
Kneecap: ‘It’s a movement’
Irish-language film Kneecap, a semi-autobiographical story starring a trio of rappers of the same name from Belfast, picked up the award for outstanding debut for a British filmmaker.
Band member JJ O Dochartaigh always wears a balaclava featuring the Irish flag – but for the BAFTAs he went all out, matching his suit.
The award went to director and writer Rich Peppiatt, who collected the prize on stage.
“Within two weeks of moving to Belfast I met Kneecap and now I’m standing here,” he told the audience, saying his movie was “more than a film, it’s a movement – about how everyone should have their language respected, their culture respected, their homeland respected.
“This award is dedicated to everyone out there fighting that fight.”
