Outstanding Contribution to Craft: Lauren Evans

If the work of casting director Lauren Evans can be characterised by anything it would be her innate ability to spot potential, especially from young actors required for authentic and heartfelt roles.

This is clearly on show in the diverse casts of Sex Education (2019-2023) and Lost Boys & Fairies (2024), which have earned Lauren four BAFTA nominations between them.

Frank honesty was perhaps even more essential to the success of I Swear (2025), the provocative biopic of John Davidson who lives with the condition of Tourettes. Notably, the film won two BAFTAs, one for lead actor Robert Aramayo and the other for Lauren.

Industry recognition and awards may be a far cry from Lauren’s home village of Hendy in Carmarthenshire, but her training could not have been better. Lauren was stewarded by two of the world’s best, Kate Dowd and Nina Gold. She spent six years with the latter, working her way up from assistant to associate, helping cast such hits as Paddington, The Theory of Everything (both 2014), Game of Thrones (2015-2017) and Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015).

After sharing the casting director credit with Gold on the hugely popular Paddington 2 and Taboo (both 2017), Lauren decided to go independent in 2018. Since then, she’s amassed a compelling portfolio of work, including the likes of Chloe (2022), Renegade Nell (2024) and The Great Escaper (2023). With I Swear winning her a BAFTA, a BIFA and a Casting Directors’ Guild award – the latter adding to her two previous CDG wins for Sex Education – Lauren has cemented her place as one of the industry’s leading casting directors.

Receiving this special BAFTA Cymru award, Lauren says: “I am incredibly honoured and humbled to be the first recipient of this award. I’m so proud to be a Welsh creative, and to celebrate this on home soil, surrounded by people I have long admired, will be such a thrill.”