BAFTA predictions: Will the Irish sweep many awards tonight?

Cillian Murphy, Claire Foy and Barry Keoghan are among the BAFTA nominees who will attend the star-studded film awards in London this Sunday night, February 18.

Irish stars Murphy and Keoghan are both nominated in the best actor category for their turns in Oppenheimer and Saltburn respectively.

Cillian Murphy famously plays J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist described as the father of the atomic bomb, in Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic.

While Barry Keoghan is nominated for his role as a student at Oxford, who becomes enthralled by a wealthier classmate and pays a visit to their estate in Emerald Fennell’s viral black comedy.

The Crown star, Claire Foy is nominated for the best supporting actress prize for her performance in All Of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh’s searing drama about grief and loneliness.

Her co-star Andrew Scott was a notable absence from the best actor contenders but will be in attendance at the ceremony as a presenter, alongside co-star Paul Mescal, who is nominated for the supporting actor prize.

Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who was presented with the British Film Institute (BFI Fellowship) on Wednesday, will also attend the ceremony, where he is considered a frontrunner to win the best director prize.

The ceremony will feature performances by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Hannah Waddingham.

It was previously announced that Ellis-Bextor would perform her 2001 hit Murder On The Dancefloor, which experienced a surge in popularity after it featured in the closing moments of Saltburn.

Also in attendance will be Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, who are both nominated for their roles in Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, and Colman Domingo, who is nominated for his role in Rustin, as the man who helped Martin Luther King Jr and others organise the 1963 March on Washington.

Carey Mulligan’s best actress rivals Margot Robbie, who is nominated for Barbie; Emma Stone, who is nominated for Poor Things; Sandra Huller, who is nominated for Anatomy Of A Fall; Fantasia Barrino, who is nominated for The Color Purple and Vivian Oparah, recognised for British romantic comedy Rye Lane, will also be in attendance.

Margot Robbie’s Barbie director Greta Gerwig, who was snubbed in the directing category, will also attend alongside her husband and co-writer Noah Baumbach, and co-star Ryan Gosling, who is nominated for best supporting actor.

Gerwig and Baumbach are nominated for their screenplay for the film, which was the highest grossing of 2023.

Other famous faces due to present include David Beckham, Dua Lipa, Hugh Grant, Idris Elba, Cate Blanchett and Daisy Edgar Jones.

It was previously announced that the Bafta Fellowship, the film academy’s highest honour, would be presented to actress Samantha Morton.

The EE Bafta film awards will be hosted by David Tennant at the Royal Festival Hall on February 18.

The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer from 7pm.