Actresses Naomie Ackie, Sheila Atim, Emma Mackey, Darryl McCormack and Aimee Lou Wood are the 2023 nominees for the BAFTA EE Rising Star Award.
Five actors, all of whom are British, have been chosen to showcase “the exceptional talent in film of the past year” and capture “the imagination of the British public.” Previous winners include James McAvoy, Eva Green, Tom Hardy, Kristen Stewart, Tom Holland, Letitia Wright, Micheal Ward, Bukky Bakray and last year’s winner Lashana Lynch.
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The nominees were announced by journalist Edith Bowman on Tuesday at The Savoy Hotel in London. Ackie, Atim and McCormack were present at the event and discussed their career paths with Bowman.
Ackie, whose credits include “The End of the F***ing World,” “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” and “Small Axe,” is currently climbing the UK charts with “Whitney Houston. : I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” where he plays Houston. He previously won the Most Promising Newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards.
Atim has credits in “Underground Railroad” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and is one of the stars of “The Woman King,” alongside Viola Davis. In 2018, Atim won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her performance in “Girl from the North Country” at the Old Vic Theatre. He was called one of them Miscellaneous’10 Brits to Watch’ in 2020 and was awarded an MBE for services to acting in 2019.
Mackey’s credits include “Sex Lessons,” “Eiffel” and “Death on the Nile” and she played Emily Brontë in “Emily,” which opened the Platform competition at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival.
McCormack’s breakthrough role was in “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” in which he co-starred with Emma Thompson. His credits include “Bad Sisters” and “Peaky Blinders”.
Aimee Lou Wood won Female Performance in a Comedy Program at the 2021 BAFTA TV award for “Sex Education” and was nominated for the same category in 2022. She made an impression in 2022 with “Living”.
At the start of the ceremony, BAFTA director Jane Millichip said this year’s nominees would have included theater director Mary Selway, in whose honor the Rising Star award was established 18 years ago.
“Recognizing and supporting creative talent is very important to us at BAFTA which is why we are delighted to continue our partnership with EE and the EE Rising Star Award,” Millichip added in a statement. “This year’s five nominees have demonstrated an incredible ability to tell stories and create characters they love, and now it’s up to the British people to decide who will take home the award on Feb. 19.”
BAFTA’s Rising Star awards are the only EE British Academy Film Awards that are voted for by the public. Voting is now open.
The BAFTA Film Awards will be broadcast from the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London on the evening of Feb. 19. This year’s nominees will be announced on Thursday.
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