Applications are now open for the 23rd edition of Screen International’s Screen Stars of Tomorrow, our annual portfolio of new talent from the UK and Ireland.
The submissions window is open from today, April 1, and will close on April 30, 2026.
Applications are open to UK and Irish citizens and long-term residents of either country. There is no upper or lower age limit, but applicants should be at an early stage in their film career, demonstrate exceptional promise and be ready to progress to the next level.
Applicants should use this Google Form and need to attach a short biography, a headshot and contact details as well as a statement about why they are applying. These fields are mandatory. Candidates also have the option to include a link to their IMDB page if they have one, and an industry reference to support their application.
The field is open to producers, directors, writers and actors. Producers should ideally have one feature film to their credit. Directors, conversely, should be on the point of making their first feature, although rare exceptions may be made for those who have completed their debut feature. Actors must be working in cinema as well as TV.
Screen International’s awards and box office editor Charles Gant takes over the selection process for the first time this year. He can be contacted at screenstarsoftomorrow@gmail.com.
Screen’s UK and Ireland Stars of Tomorrow talent initiative has proved itself to be the global film industry’s most successful new talent showcase with an unrivalled track record for discovering actors and key creatives, many of whom have gone on to win Academy Awards and Baftas and become household names.
Screen’s new talent programme currently extends to Stars of Tomorrow initiatives in the Middle East, with ‘Rising Star’ offshoots in Ireland and Scotland. (Irish and Scottish candidates can apply for either or both showcases, although will only be selected for one.)
The 2026 UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow will be announced and celebrated later this year at a networking reception in central London.
See below for some of the previous Stars of Tomorrow:
Previous Stars of Tomorrow include:
- James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Emily Blunt and director Andrea Arnold, all selected for the first-ever edition in 2004
- David Oyelowo, Eddie Redmayne, Ruth Negga, writer Abi Morgan and producer Mia Bays (2005)
- Riz Ahmed, Dan Stevens, Hayley Atwell and Andrea Riseborough, with directors Tom Harper and The Blaine Brothers (2006)
- Andrew Garfield, Felicity Jones, Matt Smith and Gemma Arterton , writer Jack Thorne (2007)
- Dev Patel, Claire Foy, Tom Hiddleston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and writer-director Andrew Haigh (2008)
- Luke Evans, Daniel Kaluuya, Bel Powey, directors Destiny Ekaragha and Richard Ayoade (2009)
- Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Jessica Brown Findlay and writer Kelly Marcel (2010)
- John Boyega, Richard Madden, Joe Cole, Vanessa Kirby and writer-directors John Maclean, Rowan Athale, Scott Graham and Michael Pearce (2011)
- Tom Holland, George MacKay and Letitia Wright (2012)
- Will Poulter, Cush Jumbo, Arinze Kene and Stacy Martin (2013)
- Olivia Cooke, Taron Egerton, Jack Lowden, Maisie Williams and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (2014)
- Jessica Barden, Joe Alwyn, Barry Keoghan and writers Charlie Covell and Marnie Dickens (2015)
- Jodie Comer, Hannah-John Kamen, Josh O’Connor, Florence Pugh, director Kate Herron and producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (2016)
- Directors Nathaniel Martello-White and Remi Weekes, actors Jessie Buckley, Naomi Ackie, Harris Dickinson, and Michaela Coel (2017)
- Rhianne Barreto, Dafne Keen, Niamh Algar, directors Rose Glass and Koby Adom (2018)
- Actors Sam Adewumni, Dixie Egerickx, Himesh Patel, Vicky Knight, Synnove Karlson and directors Rapman and Alice Seabright (2019)
- Actors Paul Mescal, Emma Corrin, Ncuti Gawa and directors Akinola Davis Jr and Charlotte Regan, producer Joy Gharoro Akpojotor, writer Courttia Newland (2020)
- Actors Daryl McCormack, Aaron Pierre, Ann Skelly and Anjana Vasan and directors Raine Allen-Miller, Thomas Hardiman and Adura Onashile, alongside writer Sam Steiner and producer Sorcha Bacon (2021)
- Actors Louis Partridge, Ambika Mod, Rosy McEwen, Jamie Flatters and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, and filmmakers Luna Carmoon, Ruth Greenberg, Runyararo Mapfumo and Eddie Sternberg (2022)
- Actors Marisa Abela, Leo Woodall, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Natey Jones, filmmakers Danielle Goff, Nour Wazzi and Sandhya Suri (2023)
- Actors Florence Hunt, Tosin Cole, Saura Lightfoot‑Leon and Alison Oliver, and actor/filmmaker Richard Gadd (2024)
- Actors Owen Cooper, Kieron Moore, Bella Maclean and Emma Laird, filmmaker Ted Evans, writer Jess O’Kane
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