LONDON — The nominees for BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award, which recognizes talented young thesps, are Lea Seydoux, Dane Dehaan, George Mackay, Lupita Nyong’o and Will Poulter.
French actress Seydoux, whose past credits include Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” and “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” starred in Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” which won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Dehaan’s credits include HBO drama “In Treatment,” “Chronicle,” Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” “The Place Beyond the Pines” and “Kill Your Darlings,” in which he played opposite Daniel Radcliffe.
Next summer, Dehaan will line up alongside Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” as Peter Parker’s old friend Harry Osborn.
Mackay’s film career started at the age of 10 when he landed the role of Curly in P.J. Hogan’s “Peter Pan.” He earned nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and the London Critics’ Circle Awards for his performance in Scott Hicks’ “The Boys Are Back.”
Mackay featured in three acclaimed films released recently in Blighty: the lead role in musical “Sunshine on Leith”; a tortured survivor in Paul Wright’s “For Those in Peril”; and Eddie in Kevin Macdonald’s apocalyptic tale “How I Live Now.”
Nyong’o was born in Mexico, raised in Kenya and educated in the U.S., where she graduated from the Yale School of Drama’s acting program. She made her feature debut as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” and appeared on Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch list. She also wrote, directed and produced “In My Genes,” a documentary about the treatment of Kenya’s albino population.
Poulter made his feature debut in the British comedy “Son of Rambow,” which earned him a nomination for most promising newcomer at the 2007 British Independent Film Awards.
He starred alongside Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston in “We’re the Millers,” and more recently took the lead in Dexter Fletcher’s gritty U.K. independent film “Wild Bill,” which picked up a nomination for young British performer of the year at the London Critics’ Circle Awards.
The nominees were selected by a jury that included Pippa Harris, producing partner of Sam Mendes and deputy chairman of BAFTA’s Film Committee, actress Gemma Arterton, film critic Mark Kermode, director Kirk Jones and producer Pete Czernin.
The winner of the award, which is voted for by the public, will be announced at the British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 16.
