BAFTA 2019 Rising Star Award nominees announced

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has today announced the five stars who will compete for the title of EE Rising Star at this year’s BAFTAs.

Jessie Buckley, Cynthia Erivo, Barry Keoghan, Lakeith Stanfield, Letitia Wright will battle it out for the prestigious gong through a public vote, with the winner announced on Sunday 10 February, 2019 at the Royal Albert Hall. Previous winners of the Rising Star Award include Star Wars‘ John Boyega, Tom Holland, Kristen Stewart, and Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya (pictured below) who won last year.

BAFTA Chief Executive Amanda Berry and film broadcaster Edith Bowman announced the shortlist of nominees this morning at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London.

The shortlist was determined by a panel from a vast list of upcoming talented actors and actresses. The panel included jury chair and co-president of Cornerstone Films Alison Thompson, actress Rosamund Pike, actor Richard Madden, BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Ray Panthaki, film broadcaster Edith Bowman, film critic Anna Smith, producer Georgina Lowe, casting directors Leo Davis and Lucy Bevan and other leading industry specialists and entertainment journalists.

Black Panther star Letitia Wright, commenting on her nomination, said: “It’s an incredible feeling to be chosen by BAFTA and the jury as a candidate for the EE Rising Star Award. It means a lot that my work has been recognised, especially in the country I’ve grown up in, and that I get to share this recognition with so many talented actors.”

Irish actress Jessie Buckley won critical acclaim in 2018 for her starring role in psychological thriller Beast, and will next be seen in musical drama Wild Rose. We named British stage star Cynthia Erivo one of the most exciting debut stars of 2018 thanks to her stand out performances in Widows and Bad Times at the El Royale, and she’ll appear alongside Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley in sci-fi thriller Chaos Walking in 2019.

Barry Keoghan is perhaps the most recognisable name on the shortlist as the Irish actor has already wowed audiences with appearances in Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and American Animals. He’s set to play the lead in the pilot for FX’s long-awaited adaptation of the graphic novel series Y: The Last Man. Lakeith Stanfield is also easily recognised thanks to his standout performances in Netflix’s Death Note, TV series Atlanta, and Sorry To Bother You, and he’s next starring alongside Daniel Craig in Knives Out, the new film from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson.

British actress Letitia Wright hit the big leagues in 2018 as Shuri in Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, both of which are amongst the highest-grossing movies of all time.

Voting is now open at ee.co.uk/BAFTA and the winner will be announced at the EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, 10 February, 2019.

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