bafta rising stars

Source: Bafta

Bafta has announced the five actors in the running for the 2020 EE Rising Star Award.

They are:

  • Awkwafina
  • Jack Lowden
  • Kaitlyn Dever
  • Kelvin Harrison Jr.
  • Micheal Ward

The winner will be voted for by the public and announced at the British Academy Film Awards on February 2. The full list of Bafta nominations will be revealed tomorrow (Jan 7).

The nomination for Awkwafina comes after she won the best actress prize at last night’s Golden Globes for The Farewell. Her other roles include Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians and Jumanji: The Next Level.

Jack Lowden has starred in Mary Queen Of Scots, Fighting With My Family and Calibre, for which he won a Bafta Scotland award. His upcoming film roles include Cordivae and Fonzo.

Kaitlyn Dever’s breakthrough role came last year when she played the lead in Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart. She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Netflix miniseries Unbelievable.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. has received acclaim for his performances in Waves, Mudbound and It Comes At Night, which earned him a Gotham Independent Film award nomination for breakthrough actor.

Micheal Ward has starred in Netflix series Top Boy, Paramount’s Blue Story and BBC series The A List.

Letitia Wright won the prize last year. Other previous winners include James McAvoy (2006), Kristen Stewart (2010), Tom Hardy (2011), Juno Temple (2013), Will Poulter (2014), Jack O’Connell (2015), John Boyega (2016), Tom Holland (2017) and Daniel Kaluuya (2018).

The EE Rising Star jury included actors Vanessa Kirby, Gemma Whelan and Cynthia Erivo; casting directors Lucy Bevan and Nina Gold; producers Uzma Hasan, Marc Samuelson and Georgina Lowe; broadcaster Edith Bowman; film critic Anna Smith, and jury chair Andrew Orr, managing director of film production company Independent.