The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award

20 December 11

The Orange Rising Star Award was launched at the BAFTA Film Awards in 2006 to honour the year’s brightest young actor or actress.

As the only audience voted award of the BAFTA Film Awards , the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award honours a young actor/actress of any nationality who has demonstrated exceptional talent and begun to capture the imagination of the British public as a film star in the making.

In 2011, the award was renamed the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award in order to reflect the new level of involvement that Orange Wednesdays customers play in deciding upon the final five nominees that will go up for the public vote. Orange Wednesdays customers vote on the longlist of eight candidates, drawn up by the jury, to decide on the final five that will then go up for the public vote.

The Award is dedicated to the memory of Mary Selway (pictured), the highly-respected, BAFTA-winning British casting director who died in 2004. In a career spanning three decades, she worked closely with directors such as Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott.

Mary was involved on some of the biggest movies of the 20th century, including Return Of The Jedi, Indiana Jones, Withnail & I, Aliens and recent box office hits Love Actually, Master & Commander and Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Casting for over 90 films, she helped create some of the silver screen's most memorable characters and launched the careers of many stars. She is dearly missed.

The Rising Star Award is designed to recognise rising talent, however it is not intended as a true 'beginner's award', nor is it intended to be for child actors. In exceptional circumstances, a star-making debut will be considered. Nominees will usually be aged between 18 and 32.

A jury comprising a number of high profile industry professionals and BAFTA Film Committee members create a long list of possible nominees and over two jury meetings choose a longlist of eight nominees via a secret ballot. Orange Wednesdays customers then vote for the five nominees and finally, the public decide the winner. It is, in short, the people's award.

The Award replaces the Orange Film of the Year Award and, uniquely, is the only award at the ceremony that will be decided by the general public. So once the five nominees are chosen, voting is open to everyone on the Orange BAFTA website .