Actor James Tolkan, best known for his appearance in the Back to the Future franchise, died on Friday at the age of 94.

Tolkan featured in Robert Zemeckis’ original 1985 Back to the Future movie as Hill Valley High School chief Mr. Strickland.

He returned to the role for the 1989 sequel Back to the Future Part II.

Bob Gale, who, along with director Zemeckis, created the franchise, confirmed to TMZ that Tolkan died peacefully at his Lake Placid home.

His cause of death was not revealed.

Tolkan’s acting journey began in the 1960s series Naked City.

Another best-remembered character was Stinger, the commanding officer of Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards’ characters in the 1986 classic Top Gun.

‘Tom Cruise was most impressive. I knew he was going to be great right from the beginning,’ Tolkan reflected of his experience on set.

He continued working onscreen, guest-starring on such classic series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alongside Will Smith.

His career spanned five decades, with his final credit appearing in the 2015 film Bone Tomahawk.

The actor enjoyed the affection he received from Back to the Future fans, who would ask him to call them ‘slackers.’

And as recently as last year, he attended a Back to the Future fan expo in New Orleans where he and Michael J. Fox enjoyed a reunion on camera.

Before making it big in Hollywood, he served in the Korean War as a member of the United States Navy.

He was eventually discharged due to a heart condition. Following this, he pursued his passion for acting and earned a BA in drama from the University of Iowa.

Tolkan is survived by his wife of 54 years, Parmelee, and his three nieces.

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The 2026 Oscars marked a huge night for Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley, who triumphed in the most coveted categories, best actor and best actress.

Hosted for the second time by Conan O’Brien, the 98th Academy Awards saw Hollywood’s biggest names descend on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for a celebration of another epic 12 months of cinema.

Ahead of the night, Ryan Coogler’s horror/action blockbuster Sinners led the way with a record-breaking 16 nominations, while acting titans including Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, and Kate Hudson had hopes of winning big.

Jordan’s portrayal of the dual role of twin brothers Smoke and Stack in Sinners ultimately secured him a leading gong, as did Buckley’s performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet.

Meanwhile, it was Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another that emerged the most decorated, taking home six of its 13 noms. This included best picture and Anderson’s first-ever Oscar win after 14 nominations.

Taking to the stage for his acceptance speech, Jordan, 39, was visibly stunned, taking to the mic and declaring: ‘God is good.

‘I stand here because of the people that came before me,’ he continued, name-checking Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Will Smith.

‘To be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys. Thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it.

‘I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keep betting on me, and I’m gonna keep stepping up, and I’m gonna keep being the best version of myself I could be.’

His gratitude undeniable, he concluded: ‘Thank you for everybody in this room that has something to do with my success.

‘I love you guys and everybody at home who supported Sinners, who went to go see the movie, once, twice, three, four or five times, thank you, because you guys made this movie what it is. I love you. I love you. I love you.’

Jordan faced competition from DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Hawke (Blue Moon), Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent), but proved the bookies right as he collected the golden statue, having been the favourite with odds of over 50%.

And when it came to best actress, Buckley’s winning moment was equally emotional as she hugged her husband, Freddie Sorensen, and her ecstatic co-star Paul Mescal.

Through tears, the Irish actress, 36, dedicated the award to the ‘beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart’.

‘This is really something,’ she began in disbelief. ‘Thank you to the incredible women that I stand beside. I am inspired by your art and your heart, and I want to work with every single one of you.

‘Mum, Dad, thank you for teaching us to dream and to never be defined by expectation but to carve from your own passion.’

She went on to note that it is Mother’s Day in the UK: ‘We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds.’

‘Thank you for recognising me in this role,’ Buckley finished off. ‘This is the greatest honour. I can’t even believe it.’

Other main categories saw the cast and crew of action-thriller One Battle After Another collect best picture, during which Anderson, who also bagged best director, said proudly: ‘What a night. Let’s have a martini. This is pretty amazing!’

The filmmaker also used the night to honour his friend ‘on the other side of the shadows’, Adam Somner, who was Anderson’s long-time collaborator and died in 2024 before the film was released.

Anderson said: ‘He’s at the bar having a gin and tonic, and he’s so happy for me.’

Looking at the award, he added: ‘There will always be some doubt that you deserve it, but there is no doubt in the pleasure at having it for myself.’

Other notable wins of the night came from the supporting actor and actress categories, which went to Sean Penn and Amy Madigan, respectively.

For Penn, it was his third Oscar thanks to his portrayal of corrupt military officer Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another, and for Madigan, following a successful awards season run, she added another accolade to her collection for playing the villainous Aunt Gladys in horror flick Weapons.

While Penn, 65, stayed true to tradition by opting not to attend, Field of Dreams star Madigan, 75, told the audience how ‘overwhelmed’ she felt upon winning.

Referring to her husband of more than 40 years, she said: ‘The most important is my beloved Ed, who’s been with me forever, and that’s a long-ass time, and none of this would mean anything if he wasn’t by my side.

‘Thank you, I’m very overwhelmed.’

Further winners included Netflix hit Kpop Demon Hunters, which took two prizes, for best original song for Golden, plus best animated feature film, whole

And, interestingly, in the best live-action short film category, there was a tie for the seventh time in Oscars history, meaning it was won by both Two People Exchanging Saliva and The Singers.

After the winners left the stage, host O’Brien congratulated them and quipped: ‘You just ruined 22 million Oscar pools.’

The first tie came in 1932, while the last was in 2012, when Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty both took home best sound editing.

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The 2026 awards season is set to come to a spectacular close on Sunday with the Oscars, the glitzy climax of months of campaigning – and the final say on the best movies of the year.

With varied winners across the categories in industry ceremonies over the past few months, it’s an excitingly hard-to-predict culmination at the 98th Academy Awards.

Jessie Buckley’s best actress win for her gut-wrenchingly raw performance in Hamnet is considered the only sure bet, although Sinners goes into the evening as the most nominated film in history with a massive 16.

But there is robust competition from the likes of satirical thriller One Battle After Another, the gorgeously evocative Train Dreams, and the stunning cohort of international features, including Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident and The Secret Agent.

There’s also the high-octane Marty Supreme (if recent bad press for both director Josh Safdie and leading man Timothée Chalamet hasn’t damaged its chances) and the beautiful artistry of Frankenstein.

So as nominees, celebrities, and guests prepare to don their grandest gladrags, here are my predictions for who will walk away with the ultimate prizes.

Best director

A category that’s shown little variation so far, the Oscars have previous winner Chloé Zhao for Hamnet, Ryan Coogler for Sinners, Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, and Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value in play.

They all helmed some of the most popular films of the past year and represent a great variety of genres, from drama to horror to sports biopic to thriller and period drama weepie.

However, it’s been widely predicted – since even before official nominations were announced – that it will finally be Anderson’s year to win. He has amassed a whopping 14 nods in the screenplay, picture, and director fields over the past nearly 30 years without a single win yet.

He’s so far picked up the Bafta, Golden Globe, and Critics’ Choice Award this year, too.

However, he faces stiff competition from Coogler for the win, another filmmaker who, while earlier in his career, has already had a major impact on cinema with Black Panther and Creed. And then came Sinners’ record-breaking run of nominations…

Prediction: Paul Thomas Anderson

Dark horse: Ryan Coogler

Best actress in a leading role

Let’s not beat about the bush; Jessie Buckley is the overwhelming favourite and has been for months.

Claiming every prize so far on the road to the Oscars, the Irish star is rightfully having her moment to shine after her astonishingly vulnerable turn as William Shakespeare’s grieving wife, Agnes.

She’d already convinced me she was Oscar-worthy when she was first nominated in 2022 for The Lost Daughter in the supporting actress category, more than holding her own opposite Olivia Colman in an intimate generational drama.

Her fellow nominees are Rose Byrne for her deliciously chaotic performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (the only other person I’d be happy to see triumph after the role of a lifetime), as well as Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue (a sentimental but sweet nod, years after she was last nominated for Almost Famous).

Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) and Emma Stone (Bugonia) complete the category with effortlessly good performances too, ones that could easily win in another year – but this one is a comfortable bet.

Prediction: Jessie Buckley

Dark horse: Rose Byrne 

Best actor in a leading role

This is where we reach some of the most unpredictable territory, with a category that’s had fluctuating frontrunners and winners during this awards season.

Timothée Chalamet started the year as a favourite as audiences revelled in the pacing and audacity of Marty Supreme, picking up a Golden Globe for best actor in the comedy or musical category, while The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura won in the drama category. Some fancied him as the eventual Oscar winner after he scooped the best actor prize at Cannes, too, where the film premiered.

DiCaprio was beaten by Chalamet already at the Globes in January, but for an established acting icon on his eighth Academy Award nomination, it seems foolish to ever truly rule him out.

Ethan Hawke hasn’t had enough fanfare for my liking, though, given his outstanding turn as the witty but petty lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon, watching the beginning of the end of his successful musical partnership with Richard Rodgers on the opening night of Oklahoma! on Broadway.

It’s a gorgeously theatrical performance in the best way, thanks to Hawke’s live-wire interpretation, and if Academy voters were in a sentimental mood, I could see them making him a surprise winner. It would also mark the 55-year-old’s first Oscar after five nominations (although it’s been lovely to witness his enjoyment over just being along for the ride).

But the odds are currently in Michael B. Jordan’s favour for his technically accomplished (and just genuinely impressive) performance as twins Smoke and Stack in boundary-pushing vampire horror Sinners. A first-time nominee at 39, he’s not too young to fall by the wayside in a category not often dominated by young men – and he also picked up the Actor Award for his performance just a couple of weeks ago.

Prediction: Michael B. Jordan

Dark horse: Ethan Hawke

Best actress in a supporting role

Another pretty open race, Amy Madigan has furthered her successful season after following up her surprise win at the Critics’ Choice Awards for Weapons with the Actor Award as well. There’s also some neat symmetry in a win for her, as 2026 marks 40 years since her first nomination for the very fittingly titled Twice in a Lifetime.

Meanwhile, Wunmi Mosaku was the hometown hero honoured at the Baftas for Sinners, and Teyana Taylor got the Golden Globe for One Battle After Another.

While Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning are both wonderful in the nuanced (and funny) family drama Sentimental Value – which their nominations attest to – they are perhaps the least likely winners of the Oscar in this category.

Taylor’s turn in One Battle is a force to be reckoned with in one of the most instantly iconic and provocative female roles written in a good while – that of fierce revolutionary leader Perfidia Beverly Hills. And Taylor only rose to the occasion of acting opposite Sean Penn and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Prediction: Teyana Taylor

Dark horse: Amy Madigan

Best actor in a supporting role

My gut for this category is telling me Sean Penn; whether he turns up to the Oscars or not is another matter entirely.

He’s been well-recognised by the Academy in the past (he won his last two nominations), and has already scooped the Bafta and Actor Award for playing the repulsive and unhinged villain Colonel Lockjaw in One Battle After Another.

His popularity makes it unlikely co-star Benicio del Toro will break through as the supporting actor winner at this stage, although it’s been satisfying to see two such different performances from the same movie celebrated.

Jacob Elordi did win the Critics’ Choice Award in January after his transformative role in Frankenstein, but it feels more like an outside bet.

Penn’s main competition comes down to the two acting veterans in his category, both first-time Oscar nominees with storied careers – which Academy voters tend to like to recognise.

Sinners’ Delroy Lindo is widely considered to have been snubbed when he didn’t get nominated for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods in 2021, meaning now could be his moment – especially with the love the Academy has shown for his film.

Meanwhile, Stellan Skarsgård was anointed an Oscar nominee by the public back in May after Sentimental Value’s Cannes premiere and, like Lindo, has really pulled a shift promoting the work. And without getting morbid, after a period of health challenges, this could be now or never for the Swedish thespian.

Prediction: Sean Penn

Dark horse: Stellan Skarsgård

Best picture

Finally, we come to the biggie, crowning the definitive best movie of the year (well, sometimes) from a crowded field of 10.

It’s the first time these specific 10 have gone up against each other, as previous awards do tend to work from shorter nominee lists or split categories.

January’s Critics’ Choice Awards was the last – and previously only – time 10 were in direct competition, from which One Battle After Another emerged victorious; however, Jay Kelly and Wicked: For Good were among those candidates, and we now have The Secret Agent (exceptional) and blockbuster F1 (a crowd-pleaser).

Seeing as One Battle also won the Bafta for best film, it’s in pole position to take the prize at the Oscars, unless Sinners converts some of its groundbreaking nomination recognition. It’s the top dog of the evening, whereas One Battle was at the Baftas.

Frankenstein and Bugonia, while admirable films, never truly hit the zeitgeist in the same way as those; Sentimental Value and Train Dreams are quieter nominees I wish more had made the effort to see.

Hamnet had its expected triumph at the Baftas as a British film, but all awards attention and expectation seems to have naturally gathered around Buckley, while Marty Supreme has drifted since it failed to break through from the pack with quite so many nominations as One Battle and Sinners.

This category will truly be the battle of those titans, and anything else clinching this prize will be a shock victory.

Prediction: Sinners (by a hair)

Dark horse (if you can call it that): One Battle After Another

The 98th Annual Academy Awards airs on Sunday from 10:15pm on ITV and ITVX in the UK.

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It became the film everyone was talking about following the 2026 Baftas, and now you’re able to stream in on Netflix.

I Swear took home three awards at the 79th film ceremony last month, including best casting and both the EE rising star and leading actor gongs for Robert Aramayo.

The 33-year-old plays John Davidson in the emotional biopic, which tells the story of his youth in 1980s Scotland, where severe Tourette’s syndrome was widely misunderstood.

Davidson, now 54, was diagnosed with the neurological condition at 25, having developed it at 12, and with his symptoms involving sudden and repetitive movements and vocalisations.

Having since become an activist to raise awareness of Tourette’s, John has already featured in several BBC documentaries throughout his life, including John’s Not Mad (1989), when he was just 16, which followed him around his hometown as he navigated the condition.

Then, in 2024, director Kirk Jones announced production of I Swear, and Aramayo was cast in August, with the filmmaker stating that he ‘knew he was right for the part very early on’, meaning he didn’t need to audition.

The biographical drama was released in cinemas last autumn.

Throughout, Davidson is bullied, beaten up, and at one point arrested as a result of other people not understanding his outbursts.

Alongside Aramayo, cast members include Maxine Peake, who plays Dottie Achenbach, Shirley Henderson as Heather Davidson, and Peter Mullan as Tommy Trotter.

I Swear has been widely praised by critics and audiences in recent months, and Netflix confirmed today that it will arrive on the platform on March 10.

It already boasts a glowing 100% score from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, while its audience score sits at a so-close-to-perfect 99%.

Among the feedback, Ben Allen of GQ Magazine says Aramayo depicts Davidson’s experiences ‘beautifully’, while Kevin Maher of The Times says his performance is both ‘heart-rending’ and ‘astonishing’.

‘I Swear is a hugely important and informative watch – and potentially one of this year’s best British films,’ praises Nicola Austin of Movie Maker.

‘This really is a film where you’ll be laughing one minute and feel tears building the nexts,’ adds RTE’s Harry Guerin.

Audiences further describe it as an ‘exceptional’ watch, with @FilmWatcher1 left ‘crying [their] eyes out’.

‘Its been a very long time that I wept so profusely over a movie. It is such a beautiful rendering of such a difficult life,’ pens @Naijadaydreamer.

@Allopac says I Swear taught them ‘so much’ that they didn’t know about Tourette’s, and @Raffie believes ‘it should be a mandatory watch in all schools all over the world.’

Speaking at this year’s Baftas about working on the film, Nanny McPhee director Jones said he believes I Swear has been so warmly received because it ‘hit a chord’.

‘Maybe five years ago, if we’d have made it, it wouldn’t have done, or maybe five years’ time, but I think we’re kind of at a place in the world now where everything’s so kind of depressing and upsetting, and it’s a very hopeful film, and it’s about a man who never gives up,’ he said on the red carpet.

‘It’s the kind of film that we need at the moment to remind us about compassion and support for an understanding of other people.’

Having been declared ‘phenomenal’ in his portrayal by the man himself, Aramayo further expressed his gratitude towards Davidson after taking him two major trophies, hailing him as ‘the most remarkable person [he’s] ever met’.

Davidson, who was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2019 for his campaigning work, also told the Press Association that ‘the power that the film’s got is the fact that it’s opened people’s eyes to the real issues.’

But its Bafta wins did not come without controversy, as, during the ceremony, Davidson could be heard shouting and swearing due to his tics. This included yelling ‘f**k you’ and using a racial slur when Sinners stars were onstage.

Baftas host Alan Cumming thanked the audience for showing ‘respect’ at the time and apologised for the expletives, reminding people that they were out of Davidson’s ‘control.’

The crowd was also made aware of Davidson’s attendance beforehand, but the nature of what they might hear was not explained.

Furthermore, his use of the N-word was still included in the BBC’s broadcast, despite the ceremony not being live, which generated widespread backlash and sparked debates online about a duty of care.

In the aftermath, the broadcaster removed the episode from iPlayer, a spokesperson saying: ‘Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards.

‘This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony, it was not intentional.

‘We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast, and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.’

In an interview with Variety, Davidson said words or statements he said during tics were ‘the last thing in the world I believe’.

‘The most offensive word that I ticked at the ceremony, for example, is a word I would never use and would completely condemn if I did not have Tourette’s,’ he said.

Speaking about living with the condition, Davidson explained it could be ‘distressing’ and that people could face ‘discrimination and isolation as a result’.

‘When socially unacceptable words come out, the guilt and shame on the part of the person with the condition is often unbearable and causes enormous distress. I can’t begin to explain how upset and distraught I have been as the impact from Sunday sinks in,’ he continued.

‘I want people to know and understand that my tics have absolutely nothing to do with what I think, feel or believe. It’s an involuntary neurological misfire. My tics are not an intention, not a choice and not a reflection of my values.’

Tourettes Action issued their own response to Metro, telling us that tics are ‘not a reflection of a person’s beliefs, intentions, or character.’

‘People with Tourette’s can say words or phrases they do not mean, do not endorse, and feel great distress about afterwards. These symptoms are neurological, not intentional, and they are something John – like many others with Tourette’s – lives with every single day,’ said a spokesperson.

The organisation has urged people to watch I Swear to get a grasp of the ‘isolation, misunderstanding, and emotional weight that so often accompany this condition’.

I Swear is now streaming on Netflix.

A version of this article was originally published on February 23, 2025.

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For the first time since Best Animated Feature debuted in 2002, the 2026 Oscars have unveiled a brand-new category: Achievement in Casting.

This Sunday, the Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood, with its history-making haul of nominations including a collection of casting directors, whose profession is being honoured for the first time in the history of the event.

The new category will be around just long enough to feel novel before Best Stunts arrives in 2028 to steal its thunder, but for now, it is Hollywood’s attempt to reward one of the industry’s most invisible but vital crafts.

But in order to distinguish itself as a category and truly honour the art of casting, there’s only one film that should win the inaugural award: The Secret Agent.Let me explain.

As casting director Mark Summers put it: ‘Casting is a bit like The Wizard of Oz – lots of smoke and mirrors. Few people truly see how hard we work, or how much support we give actors throughout the process. 

‘Casting directors are usually the first people brought onto a production. We’re the first to make the calls, and often the last to be thanked. So having a casting award is genuinely fantastic – and honestly, it should have happened a long time ago.’

That sense of overdue recognition hangs over this year’s race, making it extremely important that the Academy awards it to the right film and sets a precedent for years to come.

But according to Paddy Power, Sinners is the overwhelming favourite at 3/10, miles ahead of One Battle After Another at 13/5, with The Secret Agent way out in the cold at 13/1.

Even the bookmaker all but shrugs at its chances, saying: ‘At 13/1 you probably wouldn’t put too much effort into writing an acceptance speech if you are part of the The Secret Agent team… but you’d want to make sure you’ve something prepared in your top pocket nonetheless.

‘Sinners looks to have this one in the bag, but Hollywood always loves an underdog story!’

How the newest Oscars category risks being redundant

The inaugural shortlist is revealing. Every nominee comes from a Best Picture contender: Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, and Sinners – and that’s a major red flag for the new category.

If the casting winner simply mirrors Best Picture or even Best Director, the category becomes repetitive. In either case, it risks functioning as a supporting trophy for films that are already being rewarded elsewhere.

Summers highlighted the fault line: ‘A lot of Hollywood films are pre-packaged: they come with the director and the star already attached. But casting awards arguably should recognise the people working in independent films. On an indie, you start with just a script and no cast and you do absolutely everything. On bigger budget studio films, you often already have a starting point.’

This is where the distinction has to be drawn.

Sinners’ casting director, Francine Maisler, is an industry legend with over a dozen Best Picture nominees to her name, including winners. It is no small thing that her film required thousands of auditions to find Miles Caton, a first-time actor and musician capable of anchoring a musical vampire thriller.

But that achievement is still nested inside an already powerful industrial machine: a major studio film with significant backing, profile, and momentum.

If the first Casting Oscar goes to the most visible film with the most visible campaign, the category will immediately collapse into a proxy for overall prestige.

Why does The Secret Agent deserve to win the Oscar for achievement in casting?

For the new award to matter, casting has to be judged on its own merits, not on box office results or production scale. 

Instead, it has to be judged on whether the casting itself creates something that would not otherwise exist, and nowhere is that clearer than in The Secret Agent.

Gabriel Domingues’s work on the film is not flashy, but instead does something much harder: it constructs an entire social world from scratch.

Set in late-1970s Brazil under military rule, much of The Secret Agent unfolds inside a safe house in Recife, filled with misfits, refugees, radicals, and survivors. 

Domingues blends professional actors with non-actors in a way that feels almost anthropological. Faces look lived-in and bodies look shaped by labour, class, and history. 

That added magic is not directing, or production design, or screenplay, but casting as authorship and storytelling.

There is also a telling awards split: The Secret Agent appears in Best Casting but not Best Director, where Joachim Trier edged it out. 

That gap exposes that the film’s most singular creative intervention may not be behind the camera, but in the act of choosing who stands in front of it.

The character of Dona Sebastian, played by 79-year-old first-time actor Tânia Maria in a role written specifically for her, becomes the film’s gravitational centre as Wagner Moura’s landlord. 

Her performance is so unvarnished and specific that it could not have been manufactured through training or star casting, and it only exists because someone recognised that her presence carried an entire history within it.

That decision is the film’s master stroke, and it’s a victory that belongs distinctly to casting.

Summers puts it plainly when discussing his craft: ‘The entire production relies on casting. Without casting, there is no production.’

If the Academy simply crowns whichever Best Picture frontrunner has the strongest overall narrative, the new category will signal that casting is subordinate to directing and producing. 

If, instead, it honours work that transforms a script into a living social organism, then it establishes casting as a primary creative force.

And The Secret Agent’s nomination has already sparked discussion among awards obsessives who hope the category can prove its independence.

‘The Secret Agent showing up here was probably my favorite nomination,’ wrote one user on Reddit.

‘The cast is wonderful! It should win this award if the category is going to matter at all’ said another.

So yes, in betting terms, The Secret Agent taking home the trophy is a long shot. But if the Academy wants Achievement in Casting to mean something distinct from Best Picture and Best Director – if it wants this category to justify its own existence – then the winner has to be the one whose casting changed the film at its very core. 

And on that measure, The Secret Agent stands alone.

The Secret Agent is out in UK cinemas from February 20, 2026

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It’s been nearly 13 years since fans first met Tommy Shelby, the Peaky Blinders’ ruthless and violent but menacingly charming gang leader who has been cemented as a fan favourite TV icon thanks to Cillian Murphy’s nuanced performance.

Tommy is back in new Netflix film The Immortal Man to sort out the reckless younger generation of Peaky Blinders, now led by his illegitimate son Duke (Barry Keoghan) during World War Two.

A true anti-hero who audiences have watched maim others with his razor-brimmed flat cap as well as torture and murder victims – and even betray his family – over the course of six seasons, Tommy was last seen on horseback riding off to an ambiguous future as the TV series wrapped in 2022 (1934 on screen).

But despite the acts of brutality and bloodshed that Tommy has continuously been part of – and often instigated – fans still love the supremely complicated character.

Ahead of his much-anticipated return to the role, I ask the man himself, Oppenheimer Oscar-winner Murphy, as I sit down with him and new Peaky co-star Tim Roth, why that might be.

The 49-year-old star initially suggests he’s unsure what myriad reasons make up ‘the whole’ of Tommy’s attraction to folks before giving most credit to long-form television.

‘It allows you to really explore all the light and shade, all the different complexities that characters can have,’ he says.

‘And despite the fact that this is gangster and stylised and genre and heightened, there’s a great deal of humanity in it. Like, if the character gets injured, he stays injured. There’re consequences from the violence. Steve has woven in politics; characters die and it’s heartbreaking.

‘And I think if you spend that length of time with a character, you will begin to invest in them in an emotional, kind of intimate way, which you don’t always get with films – you get it in a different way. But with long form telly, it’s unusual, and there’s an ownership that the audience has which is kind of interesting.’

This is gangster and stylised but there’s a great deal of humanity in it

‘You can put a character under a microscope and spend time with their weaknesses,’ adds Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs actor Roth. ‘You can do a whole episode on one aspect of a character and investigate it, whereas you don’t necessarily have the time to do that cinematically.’

Unsurprisingly, Murphy hasn’t credited any of Tommy’s popularity to his own performance, which has helped the show break through to enjoy remarkable success on a global scale  

‘It’s very humbling when it does, but I do think that’s the fans doing,’ is all he’ll modestly say on that point.

How Peaky Blinders and Cillian Murphy made Birmingham cool again

The Cork-born star has also been responsible for performing some major PR on Birmingham’s behalf in recent years, mastering the Brum burr of Shelby – who lives in Small Heath – with quiet flair.

Locals have been ‘very kind’ in their feedback on his efforts over the years, Murphy acknowledges.

‘Originally when we started doing it, I would leave voice messages on [series creator] Steve Knight’s phone because he’s a true-blue Brummie, and he would let me know if I was getting close.’

However, the 28 Days Later actor made the decision from the start ‘to not lean into it’.

‘There’s always been this kind of comedic version of the Brummies,’ Murphy explains, with Roth supplying Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as a prime example.

‘[So I wanted to] avoid all of that and to make him cool and mysterious, just like Birmingham has all of that – it’s totally there – but it took Steve to show the world.’ (Roth rests some responsibility on Solihull-raised comedian Joe Lycett too, whom he ‘loves’.)

Spending so long with Tommy – and returning to him over the years – has also taught Murphy ‘discipline’, he says.

I wanted to avoid the comedic version of the Brummies

‘We shot the TV show at a very, very fast pace, shooting six hours in the same amount of time you shoot a feature film. And we always had real cinematic ambition for the show, and the production values we always wanted to keep extremely high – and I think we managed to maintain that.’

‘I don’t really go into parts looking to learn stuff – obviously it happens as you play them,’ he continues, ‘but I can just say that I’m immensely grateful for it.’

‘To be given that level of quality of writing for that length of time, and for the story to have gotten richer and deeper, more satisfying for us, and for the fans that have been so loyal and stayed with the show.

‘It’s been a huge part of my life,’ he adds.

Introducing Tommy Shelby’s new enemy, Tim Roth’s Nazi ally Beckett

Oscar nominee Roth, who starred last year in Sottish samurai Western Tornado and has also appeared in Planet of the Apes and The Incredible Hulk, plays Tommy’s new adversary Beckett, a Nazi-sympathiser who is ready to help win the war for Germany.

Beckett, a chillingly casual yet ruthless antagonist and another fascist for the Peaky Blinders to tackle, is ‘a lovely fellow’, quips Roth.

The Cockney character was initially written ‘very differently’ though, with Roth suggesting an overhaul.

‘He was from a different class and [had a] kind of aristocratic vibe to him, a militaristic vibe, and I just thought it’d be nice to play him like a geography teacher,’ he explains. ‘I think that brought a possible element of the fatherly masquerade to it, which maybe slightly became a reality for the character somehow.’

Beckett ends up working with Duke in the hopes of using the gang’s well-established criminal links to aid in his mission for the Nazis.

For 64-year-old Roth, the wartime setting resonates due to the experiences of his father, who was 17 around then – and he relished the cinematic ambition and schedule of The Immortal Man.

‘You really felt when you when you were there, it’s almost payback for the loyalty of the fans and the enjoyment that they have. It’s quite an extraordinary place to be,’ he adds.

[Tommy and Beckett] are equals and opposite sides of the coin

Beckett is perhaps Tommy’s most challenging opponent to date, and the pair share similarities in their measured yet violet approach.

‘They kind of circle around each other, and the two times they encounter each other is very explosive and visceral, but there’s not that much interaction – and yet each has a huge influence on the other,’ shares Murphy.

‘I think initially Beckett would have liked to have done business with Tommy. He ends up with Tommy’s son, and he has to kind of recalibrate in terms of how he’s going to get this thing done. But I do think they feel like sort of equals and opposite sides of the coin.’

This allows Tommy the chance to shine more, I suggest, the harder his adversary is to overcome.

‘That’s in the writing too,’ points out Roth. ‘You need to create a big enough mountain for these guys to climb over, to conquer. And I think [Knight] did such a good job in writing that.’

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is in UK and US cinemas from today. It streams exclusively on Netflix from March 20.

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Bafta winner Wumi Mosaku said she ‘took to heart’ the message of Sinners and what vampires represent in real life while working on Ryan Coogler’s ground-breaking historical drama horror film.

Sinners has enjoyed massive success with critics and fans alike since its release last April, taking home three 2026 Bafta Film Awards (from 13 nominations) on Sunday night while going into the Oscars next month as the most nominated move in the Academy’s history with 16.

Mosaku triumphed in the best supporting actress category, beating out the likes of Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another, Emily Watson for Hamnet and Marty Supreme’s Odessa A’zion, and was greeted with whoops and cheers in the winners’ press room.

Responding to Metro’s question about the experience of working on a Black-led vampire film and what its global mainstream breakthrough has meant, Mosaku shared: ‘It always feels good when you walk into a room and you’re not the only one. It always feels good when you feel like your story, your experience, is being represented in such a way with integrity and creativity.’

The Nigerian-British actress plays Annie in Sinners, herbalist and Hoodoo practitioner wife of Michael B. Jordan’s Smoke (he also plays his twin Stack).

She also revealed how the vampires of Sinners – initially led by Jack O’Connell’s villainous but charming Remmick – had resonated with her in real life.

‘When Ryan described the vampires, after explaining to me this world and the relationships of these characters, I saw his vision so clearly, I saw what the vampires represent. What the vampires represent in my world – as an actor or just as a person – [are] the things that really threaten to rob you of your joy, your freedom, your creativity.’

The Loki and Luther actress added that she ‘treasured it because I thought it was so specific, but it was so universal’.

She added: ‘I think you can take the message from the film and transfer to any industry even, whatever your purpose is, whatever your creativity is, whatever your – I don’t know – your science research is, who are the vampires? How are they trying to limit your experience, your purpose, your freedom?

‘I’ve taken that message to heart as an actor and also just a member of society: what am I going to do in in order to make sure that I stay in integrity? Because everything that we do today will reverberate in the future. So whether you’re an actor, writer or journalist, you’re going to leave a mark.’

Mosaku also shared that she’d thought more about the power of seeing a woman of colour winning a Bafta since Sinners came out with ‘the response of Black women feeling seen, loved, valued, treasured, the power of our ancestry and the spirituality’.

‘For me, seeing that response from the audience made me realise how lonely it felt – and [then] all of a sudden, these women were in my life who I’d never met, who I felt a kinship to.’

She was full of praise for Coogler for giving her that experience.

‘He didn’t have to cast me, but he has been poured into by women who look like me and supported by women who look like me and loved by people who look like me.’

When news of her writer-director’s win in the best original screenplay category came through, Mosaku was visibly overcome with emotion, and lauded him for not ‘taking it all with ego’ and ‘letting everyone know on the set that they are so important and we can’t do it without them’.

‘And that’s why he wasn’t affected by what the outside world told him was valuable. He said, “No, she’s valuable, and I want Annie to look like her, feel like her”, because those are the people who love him.’

The star also said that her initial reaction to hearing her name read out was ‘that’s too fast, she can’t possibly have opened the envelope’.

‘I was really, really shocked. I lost my breath, and I couldn’t quite believe it.’

Mosaku, who is expecting her second child, said she was looking forward to celebrating with ‘a really lovely sparkling water and a virgin margarita’.

As well as Sinners’ victories for Coogler and Mosaku, it also won best original score for composer Ludwig Göransson, a longtime Coogler collaborator after the pair met while studying at the University of Southern California.

One Battle After Another won the most gongs of the evening with six, including best film, best director and best adapted screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson, while I Swear’s Robert Aramayo was the big surprise of the night after he won both the EE Rising Star Award and leading actor – beating Hollywood stalwarts and frontrunners Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet and Jordan.

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By JAMIE BULLEN, LIVE COVERAGE EDITOR and AMELIA WYNNE, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER and BETHAN EDWARDS, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER

Updated: 15:07 EST, 22 February 2026

Every awards season, the same question comes round: do voters actually watch the films? 

That suspicion increased after the reported Oscars scandal where it emerged that many Academy members hadn’t actually seen most of the films they were voting on – I mean, The Brutalist and Dune Part 2 were soooo long, right? Everyone assumed the same must be true of Bafta. 

As a Metro film critic and a Bafta voting member, I’m here to tell you how it all actually happens – from the inside.

First, a confession: no one watches every eligible film. This year, 221 films were officially submitted for Bafta consideration. I only watched 112 of them. And I watch films for a living. This Sunday, when I attend the Baftas ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall hosted by Alan Cumming and surrounded by stars like Timothee Chalamet and Jessie Buckley alongside a multitude of talented filmmakers, I doubt a single person has watched every entry submitted. No one watches all 221 – that’s honestly not the point.

Yet what Bafta does require is considerably more rigorous than you might expect.

What happens during the Bafta voting process?

This week, when I submitted my final vote, it took a good half an hour. I had to individually verify how many of the 43 finalists I’d seen, else I would be locked out of some of the 23 categories. And that was just the tip of the Bafta-berg. The reality is that the Bafta Film Awards voting process requires many, many hours of dedication across many months.

Here’s something almost no one outside the membership knows. In early November, before you cast a single vote, Bafta assigns you a randomised group of 15 films to watch. This is specifically designed to level the playing field – so that big-budget films with multi-million-pound awards campaigns don’t dominate. Every voter, regardless of their connections in the industry, is required to engage with those 15 titles.

From then voting consists of three distinct rounds: longlisting, nominations, and winners. Each round has its own rules, its own eligible films, and in some cases, its own specialist voters.

The some 8,300 members of Bafta’s global voting membership don’t vote on everything. Specialist groups – known as Chapters – handle certain categories based on professional expertise.

For example, if you are a director or an editor, you can opt in to vote as part of that Chapter. In most categories, the final round is decided by the wider film-voting membership — though a few awards, like outstanding debut and children’s & family film, are jury-decided all the way through.

The one rule that rules them all is: if you haven’t seen a film, you can’t vote on it.

Who actually checks that you have actually seen the films?

Every qualifying film is made available on Bafta View, the organisation’s secure, private online streaming platform, which means you can watch from anywhere in the world, at any time – though there are also industry screenings you can attend in person if you are based in London.

Bafta can see whether you’ve pressed play on the Bafta View portal, but they can’t crawl into your living room and physically verify you watched every minute with your eyes open. And they can’t tell which films you’ve watched on other platforms or in person. So there is still an element of trust involved. Which, in my experience, is one taken seriously, given the voting body is made up of professional filmmakers and craftspeople.

And, to be fair, compared to the Oscars, Bafta has been tightening this stuff for a while. After its 2020 review, Bafta introduced required ‘conscious voter’ training for all voting members.

The American Academy’s equivalent move is newer: a category-by-category viewing requirement was approved in 2025 and takes effect for the 98th Oscars this March meaning the online ballot unlocks on a category-by-category basis once members’ viewing is verified.

Is the system perfect? Nothing is. Can people still cheat and click they’ve seen a film when they haven’t? Honest answer: yes, but it’s an effort and it involves multiple checks.

This year, on each Baftas voting round I had to individually verify each film I’d watched. Of the 43 nominees on my final ballot I’d only actually seen 35, which meant I had to abstain from certain categories. And that’s how it should be. Not telling you which ones I’d missed, but if you feel anyone was robbed on Sunday night, you can bring your beef to me.

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