Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve took the BAFTA red carpet by storm in daring Louis Vuitton
Renate Reinsve has just emerged from the depths of the Danish countryside, where she has been filming her latest project. Her first pitstop? Daunt Books in London. In town for the BAFTAs, Reinsve has had to quickly reacclimatise to the pace of awards season after the brief pause. But first: novels. She walked away with two.
Photo: Pip Bourdillon
After just a snatched moment on the phone with Renate, I’m convinced she’d be an excellent addition to any book club. The Sentimental Value star is as thoughtful as the characters she’s known for (she said she felt 1,000 kilos lighter after waving goodbye to Nora on the last day of shooting the Joachim Trier film she’s nominated for). Originally from a “really small place in the forest in Norway”, she assumed her very first red-carpet appearance at Cannes Film Festival (back when 2021’s The Worst Person in the World had an unexpectedly seismic impact on cinema) would be a one-off. “I thought, I’ll just be myself because this is the first and the last time I’ll be here,” she says, somewhat unfathomably. “I still have the same feeling, but now I’ve understood it might not be my last every time I go on [the red carpet].”
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Photo: Pip Bourdillon
Reinsve also understands the BAFTAs will be “a good moment” with “lots of energy from so many people”, but she feels the pressure to pull off a custom look so many people have worked hard on in front of the cameras. Again, that she would even dwell on any alternative outcome seems unfathomable. The statuesque star was made to wear Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton looks – as the fruitful partnership between brand and ambassador this awards season can attest.
“It’s very sexy,” she says of the latest look: a simple yet powerful black gown that transports Reinsve back to the ’90s, while still feeling modern enough for this year’s BAFTAs. She credits the team at Louis Vuitton and stylist Karla Welch with teaching her about fashion’s impact. “I didn’t know how things would translate in the pictures,” she shares. “I didn’t know how the looks would affect how I feel and see myself. It’s really fascinating to be in that world, I’m learning so much.”
Photo: Pip Bourdillon
She might once have thought her red-carpet career would be short-lived, but the word she uses to describe awards season 2026 is “belonging”. “It’s such a big honour to be welcomed by the industry, the reason I’m nominated is because of people voting and that means so much.” When the flashbulbs start going, she tries to stay as grounded as possible. “The best parts have been meeting all these great people and exchanging ideas and perspectives,” she says of her family of Best Actress nominees, from Jessie Buckley to Emma Stone, Chase Infiniti to Rose Byrne. “The low point is travelling so much that sometimes I just get a little overwhelmed and my brain stops working and I don’t even understand what is coming out of my mouth.”
Again, unfathomable. The BAFTAs red carpet is a little brighter thanks to Renate Reinsve.
Originally published on British Vogue