David Farnor | On 06, Jan 2020

The 2020 EE Rising Star Award nominees have been unveiled today by BAFTA, and it’s an impressive bunch of diverse and distinct talent.

The only award at the British Academy Film Awards for by the public, it honours an up-and-coming peformer who has shown truly outstanding talent on the big screen in the past year and captured the attention of both the public and film industry. Previous winners range from John Boyega to Daniel Kaluuya and a young James McAvoy.

This year’s nominees were selected by a group of industry jurors including actors Vanessa Kirby, Cynthia Erivo, Gemma Whelan and film broadcaster Edith Bowman.

The 2020 EE Rising Star Award nominees are: Awkwafina, Jack Lowden, Kaitlyn Dever, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Micheal Ward. The winner will be announced on Sunday 2nd February 2020 at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony, with voting now open to the public.

Before you cast your vote here, we’ve put together a guide to where you can catch up with each nominee’s screen history on your favourite subscription VOD services.

Awkwafina

Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, has established herself on the big screen with her lead role in The Farewell, which has already earned her a 2020 Golden Globe for Best Actress. She has also had supporting roles in big hitting films including Ocean’s 8, the all-female spinoff to the Ocean’s Trilogy, Crazy, Rich Asians and Jumanji: The Next Level. Her other upcoming films include Breaking News in Yuba County, The Prom and a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

See them in…

Dude
Watch on Netflix UK

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Watch on Netflix UK

Bad Rap
Watch on Netflix UK

Between Two Ferns: The Movie
Watch on Netflix UK

Crazy Rich Asians
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

Ocean’s 8
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

Jack Lowden

Jack first received widespread acclaim in 2011 for his role in The National Theatre of Scotland’s production of Black Watch. From there, he has played a variety of diverse and dynamic roles spanning both film and theatre, firmly cementing his place as one of the UK’s most exciting young talents. His film work includes standout turns in Dunkirk, Mary Queen of Scots, Fighting With My Family and Calibre, for which he won a BAFTA Scotland award. He has also won an Olivier Award for his role in Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre. His next film roles will be in Cordivae and Fonzo, which will see him team up again with Tom Hardy. He will also be starring alongside John Boyega and Letitia Wright, both previous EE Rising Star winners, in Steve McQueen’s upcoming anthology series Small Axe.

See them in…

Calibre
Watch on Netflix UK

England Is Mine
Watch on Netflix UK

War & Peace
Watch on Netflix UK

Fighting with My Family
Watch on Netflix UK

Dunkirk
Watch with Amazon Prime

Mary Queen of Scots
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

Kaitlyn Dever

Kaitlyn has been praised for her lead role in Booksmart, where she was recognised by the Hollywood Critics Association as a young breakthrough artist. She has also received critical acclaim for her performance in Netflix’s Unbelievable, which earned her a 2020 Golden Globe nomination. Kaitlyn’s other notable roles have included Beautiful Boy, alongside Steve Carrell and Timothée Chalamet, and The Front Runner, opposite Hugh Jackman and Detroit, alongside former EE Rising Star winners John Boyega and Will Poulter. She is also currently in production for Monsterland, an anthology series opposite Jonathan Tucker.

See them in…

Outside In
Watch on Netflix UK

Unbelievable: Season 1
Watch on Netflix UK

Bad Teacher
Watch on Netflix UK

Short Term 12
Watch on BFI Player+

Booksmart
Watch with Amazon Prime (from 24th January)

Beautiful Boy
Watch with Amazon Prime (from 24th January)

All Summers End
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

The Front Runner
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Kelvin was born and raised in New Orleans and initially studied jazz at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts before realising his passion for acting. From there, he has been cast in a range of challenging and diverse roles across the big and small screen. Kelvin has been praised for his title role in Luce, starring opposite Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Naomi Watts, and has already garnered early Oscar buzz for his role in upcoming drama Waves. Kelvin has also received critical acclaim for his supporting role in Oscar nominated Mudbound and his performance in It Comes At Night, which earned him a Gotham Independent Film award nomination for Breakthrough Actor.

See them in…

Mudbound
Watch on Netflix UK

Monsters and Men
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

Assassination Nation
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW

JT LeRoy
Watch on Sky Cinema / NOW (from 7th January)

Michael Ward

Michael recently starred in the highly anticipated Netflix series Top Boy, which was produced by Drake and earned breakthrough star Micheal widespread acclaim throughout the UK. Micheal has also earned praise from critics for his lead role in Paramount’s Blue Story, which follows the story of two young boys from opposing postcodes who quickly form a firm friendship that is tested when they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Micheal has also starred in BBC iPlayer series The A List, which was released internationally on Netflix.

See them in…

Top Boy
Watch on Netflix UK

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