Sunday’s BAFTAs were pretty baffling.
Especially if your name is Timothée Chalamet.
In the past, Britain’s awards showhonoring the year’s movies has proved an excellent predictor of the eventual Best Actor Oscar winner.
Ten of the last 11 victors in London have gone on to take home the Academy Award in LA. (Sorry, Austin Butler).
But this weekend, for the first time since Jamie Bell pirouetted to the podium for playing the title role in “Billy Elliot” in 2001, an actor not even nominated at March’s Oscars triumphed in the category — 33-year-old Englishman Robert Aramayo of “I Swear.”
Never heard of it? That’s because “I Swear” has not yet been released in the United States or anywhere outside of the United Kingdom for that matter.
Chalamet, always the bridesmaid, is still narrowly in the lead for “Marty Supreme,” having so far notched the Critics Choice and Golden Globe awards.
But, considering 25% of academy voters live overseas — with significant BAFTA overlap — his loss Sunday shows he’s weaker than was once thought.
Perhaps the international contingency could sway toward Leonardo DiCaprio of BAFTA Best Film winner “One Battle After Another,” Michael B. Jordan of “Sinners” or Brazil’s Wagner Moura of “The Secret Agent.”
Chalamet sure could use the momentum from an Actor (SAG) Award win next weekend. That’s what ultimately propelled Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) to knock out Butler (“Elvis”) in 2023.
However Chalamet won at SAG last year for “A Complete Unknown,” and no man has ever taken the top prize there twice in a row.
There were more gasps across the pond.
Another Brit, Wunmi Mosaku of “Sinners,” won Best Supporting Actress — her first major award of the season. Until now, Teyana Taylor (“One Battle”) and Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) had been duking it out to the finish line. For the next three weeks, though, it’s a three-way tussle.
And Sean Penn from “One Battle,” who had been passed over for months for co-star Benicio del Toro and Stellan Skarsgård of “Sentimental Value,” finally heard his name called. So, that’s another tight fight.
What’s 99% certain? Incandescent Irish actress Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), who won Best Actress, will likely win the Oscar, too. Her closest competitor Rose Byrne’s indie “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is too weird and divisive.
And “One Battle After Another” and its writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson are poised to have a terrific night on March 15 at the Dolby Theater.
As the Brits would say, a real corker.
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