Every year, BAFTA honour the best in cinema from the calendar year. This year has seen Nomadland, Sound of Metal and many others featured amongst the nominations. Whilst the vast array of A-list talent that rightfully receive recognition for their work, BAFTA always ensure that up-and-coming talent always have a place during their ceremony.
The EE Rising Star Award has been one of the staples of the BAFTA nominations for 16 years now. Each year, five young stars who have displayed exceptional skill in cinema over the past 12 months are nominated for the award. The award is a great indicator for recognising actors who are destined to be big stars, with previous winners including John Boyega, Daniel Kaluuya (who is up for Best Supporting Actor this year), Tom Holland and even James McAvoy.
Every year, the award is opened up to the British public, who can vote for which Rising Star they believe deserves the award. Here’s what you need to know about the nominees this year. Make sure to keep an eye out for all these sensational actors in years to come!
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Kingsley Ben-Adir has featured in many supporting roles through the years, but his performance as legendary activist Malcolm X in Regina King’s ‘One Night in Miami’ has really brought the star into the limelight. Ben-Adir is certainly the most established of all the nominees this year. The actor started out on the stage, working on productions like The Old Vic’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, and has starred in ‘Peaky Blinders’, Netflix’s ‘The OA’ and Hulu’s ‘High Fidelity’. With ‘One Night in Miami’, however, the star’s leading performance has deservedly brought him much critical praise and attention. Coming up, Ben-Adir is expected to star in the Marvel TV series, ‘Secret Invasion’.
Bukky Bakray
Bukky Bakray was a complete unknown to the acting world before last year. When Sarah Gavron and a team of producers set out to make the sensational film ‘Rocks’, they set out to discover the talent for their project in schools across the country. It was in a school in London that they stumbled upon Bukky Bakray. Bakray is currently only sixteen years old but her performance in ‘Rocks’ has garnered the young actress great critical acclaim alongside nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and the London Critics Circle. Bakray currently has a few projects on the way including ‘Self-Charm’, a film that deals with the subject of self-harm, and television series ‘You Don’t Know Me’.
Conrad Khan
Conrad Khan’s breakout performance came last year when he starred in the Henry Blake film, ‘County Lines’. The film follows the story of a young boy who is coerced into a county lines criminal organisation. The actor has been highly praised for his heartfelt performance as the young lead, Tyler, and is up for a Britisih Independent Film Award for ‘Most Promising Newcomer’. Previously, Khan has had a small appearance as a young Chris Hemsworth in ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’. Excitingly, the actor has been cast in a leading role in Peaky Blinders series 6, so we can expect Khan to be featuring on our screens a lot more during 2021 and 2022.
Morfydd Clark
Morfydd Clark is another actor that has slowly but surely been making her way through the ranks over the past few years. Last year, the Clark’s leading role in ‘Saint Maud’ brought her a lot of critical attention. Previously, the actor has starred in Armando Iannucci’s ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ in a double role, as well as appearing opposite Sally Hawkins in ‘Eternal Beauty’. Clark has won The Guardian award for ‘Breakout Star’ before being nominated for the BAFTA. Currently, the star is shooting in New Zealand for Amazon’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ TV series.
Sope Dirisu
Sope Dirisu’s performance in the Netflix horror thriller ‘His House’ has earned him the critical acclaim of the BAFTA nomination. The actor has won awards previously for his performance in the TV shows ‘Humans’ and ‘Black Mirror’ but now the actor has risen to prominence with ‘His House’ and his leading part in the drama ‘Gangs of London’. Dirisu is currently shooting alongside Colin Firth and Olivia Colman in the upcoming ‘Mothering Sunday’ and will also star in ‘Silent Night’ with Kiera Knightley.
You can vote for the EE Rising Star Award here.