In Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, 2026 BAFTA nominee Rose Byrne plays Linda, a therapist with a child suffering from a chronic gastrointestinal illness, an absent husband, and a literal hole opening up in the ceiling of her home. With the world seemingly hell-bent on her failure, indulging in the vanities of self-adornment is of little importance to Linda. Is it so wrong, then, that in promoting the film on red carpets around the globe, Byrne has felt the opposite?
“I’m so proud of this film,” the actress says, dialing in from her hotel room in Soho. “Linda might be a person unravelling, but I want to be as polished and beautiful and celebratory as possible.” Hence the chiffon pleated Miu Miu gown entirely embroidered with degradè crystals in an almost antique shade of champagne she wore tonight at the Royal Festival Hall. “It’s my first time at the BAFTAs, so the look needed to be memorable. And while the influence of Miuccia Prada is unsurpassed,” she continues, “bringing intellect and rigor to clothes, there is something so fun and fresh about Miu Miu.”
Having a fashion house click into action is a far cry from Byrne’s early encounters with clothes as a young girl in Australia—even if she did grow up in a suburb called Balmain. Back then, most of her wardrobe consisted of hand-me-downs from her sister, Alice, a vintage obsessive, and pieces handmade by her mother, a seamstress talented enough to make her own wedding dress. “But then I started buying fashion magazines,” she says. “It was the ’90s, and I loved, more than anything, Kate Moss and Linda Evangelista’s Vogue covers.”
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She would go on to grace the cover of Australian Vogue herself in October 2003—and again, two decades later, in October 2025—but it’s only in recent years that Byrne has felt able to enjoy “the stories and fantasies” that fashion brings. Much of that is thanks to stylist Kate Young—whose client list also includes Dakota Johnson, Julianne Moore and Scarlett Johansson—who hs brought Byrne into spaghetti-strap Calvin Klein sequins for the Governors Awards; leopard-print Céline for the Academy Museum Gala; and a silky sweep of Atonement-green Chanel for her 2026 Golden Globes win. “The outfits are beginning to blur into one,” Byrne adds with a laugh. “But what I will say is: a red-carpet dress has to be flattering, because you have to feel comfortable in the public eye, but it should also be fun—you can’t take clothes too seriously.”
And though Byene readily admits to leaning on Young’s “extraordinary taste and chic,” there has been another collaborator: Bronstein. “She loves fashion,” Byrne says of the director. “We’re always kibitzing and coordinating what we’re going to wear. And that’s not always the case when you’re working with a male director.” It’s become a much-needed source of levity on a grueling press tour that began at Sundance Film Festival some 12 months ago. “This project is so meaningful,” Byrne says. “A once-in-a-lifetime thing. But there’s a stamina I didn’t realise would be required, especially towards the finish line.” The audience response has kept her going almost as much as co-star Conan O’Brien’s sage words: “There’s free wine.”