EE Rising Star Award in 2018

DANIEL KALUUYA shot to fame last year in the American genre film, Get Out, the film for which he won an MTV Movie Award and was most recently nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actor’s Guild Award and Gotham Award in the category of Best Actor. Already known for his roles in hit TV shows, Skins, Psychoville and Black Mirror, Kaluuya has also starred in a slew of big screen feature films, including crime thriller Sicario, Johnny English Reborn and Kick Ass 2. Kaluuya also joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Ryan Coogler’s highly anticipated Black Panther this February, followed by a starring role in Steve McQueen’s upcoming heist thriller, Widows.

FLORENCE PUGH’s performance as Katherine in Lady Macbeth earned her critical acclaim and in turn, led to her being named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit last year. Pugh made her film debut in The Falling, which helped garner her widespread attention and for which she received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards. Pugh has recently finished shooting Outlaw King with Chris Pine and Aaron Taylor-Johnson for release on Netflix and will soon commence filming on The Little Drummer Girl for the BBC. She is also set to star on the big screen in horror film Malevolent, wrestling comedy Fighting With My Family and action thriller The Commuter, all set for release this year.

JOSH O’CONNOR has garnered critical acclaim for his roles across film, television and theatre and was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit last year. Josh made his big-screen debut in The Riot Club, followed by The Program and Florence Foster Jenkins, before taking on the lead role of Johnny Saxby in God’s Own Country, a bold love story heralded as one of the most successful British films of last year. Josh has also starred in hit period TV dramas Peaky Blinders and Ripper Street and will be returning to TV screens as Lawrence “Larry” Durrell for the third season of The Durrells, in April this year. He has also recently finished filming his next feature film Only You alongside Laia Costa, which will be released in cinemas this year.

TESSA THOMPSON is currently starring as the female lead in the third instalment of the Thor franchise, Thor: Ragnarok where she was praised for her role as Valkyrie. Her career took off following the widespread attention she garnered in the critically acclaimed film Dear White People, where her performance landed her a Gotham Award for “Breakthrough Actor”.  She then followed up with a memorable role in the film “Selma.”  Her place as a star in Hollywood was solidified with the portrayal of Bianca in Creed, where she starred opposite Sylvester Stallone. Tessa also stars in the Emmy nominated HBO Series Westworld and will star in sci-fi films, Annihilation this February and Sorry To Bother You out later this year.

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET received widespread praise for his leading performance in Call Me By Your Name, which has been labelled a triumph by film critics, along with his role in comedy-drama Lady Bird, which both premiered in November 2017. Having previously starred in big screen hit Interstellar, Chalamet was first noticed in his role in the spy thriller TV show Homeland. He also received glowing reviews for his performance in Miss Stevens and coming-of-age drama Hot Summer Nights. He has also received the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor for his performance in John Patrick Shanley’s play Prodigal Son. Next up, he’ll be seen in the upcoming feature film Hostiles, starring opposite Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike.