Paul Mescal was called out by BAFTAs host Alan Cumming, who spotted the actor using his phone during the ceremony – and the star was left red-faced as he put the device away
21:12, 22 Feb 2026Updated 21:13, 22 Feb 2026
Paul Mescal was caught using his phone(Image: BBC)
Paul Mescal was left red-faced as he was scolded by Alan Cumming at the BAFTAs this evening.
As he prepared to bring the next presenter, Stormzy, to the stage, the host suddenly interrupted his speech to call out the Irish actor, 30, who was on his phone. Alan said: “Oh, he’s on his phone.”
Paul’s face was caught on camera going red as he hurried to put his phone away. As he arrived for the awards event, Paul posed for photos with his Hamnet co-star Jessie Buckley. The two stars, who are both nominated for their roles in the film, were photographed together at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, as were Hollywood couple Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.
READ MORE: BAFTAs 2026 LIVE: Prince William takes to the stage as shouting explained
He was left red-faced(Image: BBC)
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The actor is nominated for best supporting actor, Jessie for leading actress and their co-star Emily Watson for best supporting actress. Earlier this week, Irish star Jessie, 36, said she would join Denis Villeneuve’s James Bond film – but only under specific circumstances.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the star stated she would accept the part if it was filmed in Ireland and Paul was playing Bond.
Paul posed for photos at the BAFTAs(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
Discussing the prospect of featuring in a Denis Villeneuve Bond picture alongside Paul, she remarked: “Yes please. As long as I can be the Bond girl and we can set it in Ireland.”
Beyond Hamnet, Jessie appears opposite Christian Bale in The Bride, whilst Paul has been spotted on set for one of four forthcoming Beatles biopics. As Alan opened the film awards, he said: “Watching films this year was like taking part in a collective nervous breakdown.”
The actor before the ceremony at The Royal Festival Hall in London(Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
He referred to the distress and anxiety of films including Hamnet, One Battle After Another and Frankenstein, saying: “It’s almost like there are events in the real world that are influencing filmmakers”, before suggesting: “It would be a good idea if we had one big collective primal scream.”
There was also levity when he referred to Paul’s nominated performance as William Shakespeare and said: “I’m not sure what seat Paul Mescal is in? Is it 2B or not…?”
Paul with his co-star Jessie Buckley on the red carpet(Image: BAFTA via Getty Images)
In Hamnet, Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s prizewinning 2020 novel, Paul plays William Shakespeare and Buckley his wife, Agnes. It’s a fictional, speculative drama with basis in historical fact. One of the couple’s three children, Hamnet, died in 1596 at the age of 11. Within a handful of years, Hamlet would premiere at the Globe Theatre. The names, scholars have noted, were essentially interchangeable in 16th-century England.
The film imagines the possible connection between the death of the Shakespeares’ son and the birth of the playwright’s greatest work. It’s a portrait of a marriage, in grief and literary greatness. In many ways, it’s also a movie about seeing and being seen.
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