Paddington Bear to Present Best Children & Family Film at 2026 BAFTA Film Awards
As the BAFTA Film Awards approach, the prestigious event is set to welcome a beloved British icon to its guest list. Paddington Bear will be making an appearance at the 2026 Film Awards to present the award for best children & family film. The nominees in this category include Arco, Boong, Lilo & Stitch, and Zootropolis 2.
Paddington's participation at the event is a nod to the success of Paddington The Musical, currently playing at London's Savoy Theatre. The stage production features Arti Shah portraying Paddington in a bear suit, with James Hameed providing the voice and operating animatronic facial expressions off-stage.
Joining Paddington as presenters at the BAFTA Film Awards are a star-studded lineup including Aimee Lou Wood, Bryan Cranston, Cillian Murphy, David Jonsson, Delroy Lindo, Gillian Anderson, Glenn Close, Olivia Cooke, Patrick Dempsey, Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Hudson, Miles Caton, Emily Watson, and Stellan Skargård.
The event will also feature performances by KPop Demon Hunters trio EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, marking their first live show outside the U.S. Additionally, British singer-songwriter Jessie Ware will pay tribute to Barbra Streisand during the In Memoriam segment.
Among the nominees attending the BAFTA Film Awards are Jacob Elordi, Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet, Chloé Zhao, Teyana Taylor, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Benicio del Toro, Jesse Plemons, Odessa A’Zion, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Rose Byrne. Leading the pack with 14 nominations is Anderson's political thriller One Battle After Another, followed closely by Ryan Coogler's vampire film Sinners with 13 nods.
Other notable films with multiple nominations include Chloé Zhao's Hamnet and Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme with 11 nods each, Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value and Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein with eight nominations each, Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia and Kirk Jones' I Swear with five nominations each.
Stay tuned for the BAFTA Film Awards this weekend to see which films and talents take home the prestigious awards.