WThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is an award that acknowledges new talents in the acting industry. The award was created after Mary Selway's death in 2004. She has been recognised for her successful role as a casting director and has helped many new actors and actresses to their claim to fame. The five nominees are chosen regardless of gender, nationality and whether they have made a breakthrough in television, film or both. Despite the nominees being chosen by the BAFTA juries, the winner is chosen entirely by the public votes via text, internet or phone. This award was sponsored by Orange UK until 2012. From 2013, it was sponsored by EE. The first winner was James McAvoy in 2006. As of 2020, Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf and Kristen Stewart have been the only non-British winners.
WJohn Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega, known professionally as John Boyega, is a British-Nigerian actor and producer. He first rose to prominence in his native UK for his role as Moses in the sci-fi comedy film Attack the Block (2011) and later became best known for playing Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). His other credits include the drama film Imperial Dreams (2014), the historical drama film Detroit (2017), the science fiction film Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), and four episodes of the television series 24: Live Another Day. He received the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2016, and was awarded the Trophée Chopard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
WNoel Anthony Clarke is an English actor, screenwriter, director, and comic book writer from London. He became known for playing Mickey Smith in Doctor Who. Clarke appeared in and wrote the screenplay for Kidulthood and wrote, directed, and starred in the sequels, Adulthood and Brotherhood, which earned £1,209,319 during the opening weekend of its release. Clarke won the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Performer in 2003 and was awarded a BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award in 2009.
WAdam Steven Deacon is a British film actor, rapper, writer and director. He is best known for his lead role in the films Kidulthood, sequel Adulthood and for his directorial debut, Anuvahood.
WEva Gaëlle Green is a French actress. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she started her career in theatre before making her film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers (2003). She achieved international recognition for her portrayal of Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem in Ridley Scott's historical epic Kingdom of Heaven (2005). The following year, she played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006), for which she received the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
WEdward Thomas Hardy is an English actor and producer. After studying acting at the Drama Centre London, he made his film debut in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001). He has since been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards and two BAFTA awards.
WThomas Stanley Holland is an English actor. A graduate of the BRIT School in London, he began his acting career on stage in the title role of Billy Elliot the Musical in the West End from 2008 to 2010. He gained further recognition for his starring role in the disaster film The Impossible (2012), receiving the London Film Critics Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year.
WDaniel Kaluuya is an English actor and writer. Kaluuya began his career as a teenager in improvisational theatre. He subsequently appeared in the first two seasons of the British television series Skins, in which he co-wrote some of the episodes. Playing the lead role in Sucker Punch at the Royal Court Theatre in London, Kaluuya was particularly praised for his performance and he won both the Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer.
WShia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, a role for which he received a Young Artist Award nomination in 2001 and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003. He made his film debut in The Christmas Path (1998). In 2004, he made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate and later directed a short film titled Maniac (2011), starring American rappers Cage and Kid Cudi.
WJames McAvoy is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in The Near Room (1995) and made mostly television appearances until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes the thriller State of Play and the science fiction miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. He has performed in several West End productions and has received four nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, and has also done voice work for animated films including Gnomeo & Juliet, its sequel, Sherlock Gnomes, and Arthur Christmas.
WJack O'Connell is an English actor. His film debut as a teenage skinhead in the coming-of-age drama This Is England (2006) heralded his propensity for playing angry, troubled youth. He later found fame as the hard-living James Cook on the E4 teen series Skins (2009–2010), which was followed by other lead roles in the television dramas Dive (2010) and United (2011).
WWilliam Jack Poulter is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his role as Eustace Scrubb in the fantasy adventure film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). Poulter received further praise for his starring role in the comedy film We're the Millers (2013), for which he won the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
WKristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her lead role as Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga film series (2008–2012), which collectively grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide. The world's highest-paid actress in 2010 and 2012, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a César Award, which she was the first American actress to win.
WJuno Violet Temple is an English actress. She has appeared in films such as Killer Joe, Black Mass, The Other Boleyn Girl, Wild Child, Atonement, Maleficent, The Three Musketeers, Afternoon Delight, and The Dark Knight Rises. She also had a starring role in the HBO period drama series Vinyl, the Bravo true-crime drama series Dirty John and the Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso.
WMicheal Ward is an English actor who was born in Jamaica and raised in Romford, London. He has appeared in various British films and television series such as Blue Story, Top Boy, The A List, and The Old Guard. Before pursuing acting, he was a model. Ward was awarded the BAFTA Rising Star Award at the 2020 BAFTA Awards.
WLetitia Michelle Wright is a Guyanese-British actress. Beginning her professional career in 2011, she has played roles in Black Panther and several British TV series, including Top Boy, Coming Up, Chasing Shadows, Humans, the Doctor Who episode "Face the Raven" and the Black Mirror episode "Black Museum"; for the latter she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.