The British Academy has announced the candidates for its Rising Star award, recognising emerging onscreen talent - the only BAFTA film honour that is determined by public votes.
ADVERTISEMENTAnnounced over a week before the complete list of BAFTA nominations is revealed on 18 January, the 2024 roster of Rising Star contenders is here!
Past winners include Emma Mackey, John Boyega, Tom Holland, Letitia Wright and Shia LaBeouf.
This year's five-member lineup comprises Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Jacob Elordi, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Sophie Wilde. A talented bunch indeed and one that's hard to call.
The award is all in the hands of the public and the voting is officially open.
Feeling a bit lost with these names? Fear not, as we've got you covered with a quick rundown on each of these stars.
Phoebe Dynevor
Dynevor, who began her career as a child actress in the BBC One school drama Waterloo Road, is arguably best known for her role as Daphne Bridgerton, the leading lady who stole the show in the first season of Shonda Rhimes' global hit, Bridgerton.
The series achieved enormous success, emerging as the most-watched original series debut on Netflix when it premiered.
The Manchester-born actress can currently be seen in the critically-acclaimed finance thriller, Fair Play, directed by Chloe Domon, which opened at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim.
The erotic psychological thriller follows a young couple whose relationship starts to unravel following an unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund firm.
Although it comes as a surprise to find Dynevor on the list, given that her breakthrough occurred in 2019 with Bridgerton, we're genuinely delighted to see her recognised, considering her exceptional talent.
Ayo Edebiri
Ayo Edebiri is having a brilliant week.
The American comedian, writer, producer, actress and voice actress just won a lead acting Golden Globe for her role as the ambitious cooking-genius Sydney Adamu in the TV restaurant drama sensation, The Bear.
And she has now been chosen as a BAFTA Rising Star nominee for her part in Bottoms, the satirical queer 2023 comedy directed by Emma Seligman and co-written by Rachel Sennott, which earned a spot on our list of the top movies in 2023.
Side note - for all you Letterboxd geeks out there, following Edebiri's account is a must. Her film candid film reviews are gold. Take her one-line take on Saltburn: "my man's is doing all of this but can't eat runny eggs?"
Jacob Elordi
If you've been anywhere on Twitter, TikTok or Instagram Reels over the past few months you would have undoubtedly stumbled upon a sexy edit or two of this 6' 5" tall heartthrob.
The 26-year-old Australian hunk came to fame starring as Noah Flynn in the Netflix romantic comedy film series The Kissing Booth, as well as the sociopathic high school quarterback Nate Jacobs in the HBO drama series Euphoria.
But it was 2023 that he truly took the pop culture world by storm (and the scented candle market too).
He starred in Emerald Fennell's highly-debated psychological drama Saltburn and also stepped into the legendary blue suede shoes of Elvis in Sofia Coppola's Priscilla Presley biopic Priscilla.
ADVERTISEMENTWe expect we'll be seeing a lot more of this chiselled giant on our screens very soon- upcoming projects include The Narrow Road to The Deep North, an Australian limited series set during World War II, and he's also been announced to replace Andrew Garfield as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's future Netflix adaptation of Frankenstein!
Mia McKenna-Bruce
For those who belong to a very particular British 2000s generation, Mia McKenna-Bruce is synonymous with the character of Tee Taylor from the CBBC dramas Tracy BeakerReturns and The Dumping Ground.
Since then, she's made her mark in the BBC iPlayer series Get Even and in the Netflix period romance film Persuasion.
However, it was her breakthrough role last year as the lead character in Molly Manning Walker's How to Have Sex that truly brought her into the limelight.
McKenna-Bruce's stunning portrayal of an inexperienced schoolgirl navigating issues of consent on a rite-of-passage holiday in Malia has picked up widespread acclaim, earning her a well-deserved nomination in the European Actress category at the 2023 European Film Awards.
ADVERTISEMENTThe film also made it onto Euronews Culture's list of Best Films of 2023.
Sophie Wilde
26-year-old Ivorian-Australian actor Sophie Wilde is unstoppable.
In 2023, she made her feature-film debut as the lead in Talk To Me, the chilling supernatural horror film which debuted at Sundance to rave reviews and quickly became A24’s highest grossing film of the year, as well as starring as Mia Polanco in the Netflix comedy drama Everything Now.
She'll next appear in A24's erotic thriller Baby Girl, alongside Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson and Boy Swallows Universe, opposite Phoebe Tonkin.
For now we sit and wait...
ADVERTISEMENTThe winner of the Rising Star award will be presented during the BAFTA film awards ceremony on 18 February at London's Royal Festival Hall.
