Every year, EE sponsor the BAFTA Rising Star Award at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards here in London town. The award is always a fascinating one since it’s voted for by the public.

John-Boyega-Wins-Rising-Star-BAFTA
Star Wars’ John Boyega won the 2016 BAFTA Rising Star Award

The nominations have just been announced from BAFTA HQ are in the running for the 2017 spot are all listed below. It’s going to be very interesting to see who takes the win this year with the likes of Tom Holland as Spider-Man being so mainstream and Anya Taylor-Joy appearing in the likes of The Witch.

Previous winners of the award include James McAvoy, Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf, Noel Clarke, Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, Will Poulter, Jack O’Connell and last year the award was taken by Star Wars star John Boyega.

This year the nominations are as strong as every with Laia Costa, Lucas Hedges, Tom Holland, Ruth Negga and Anya Taylor-Joy all in the running for the prize.

Check out the full bios of all the nominees below and don’t forget to click this way to vote for your number one choice.

The 2017 British Academy Film Awards ceremony takes place on Sunday 12th February from the Royal Albert Hall.

LAIA COSTA

  • LAIA COSTA starred in Sebastian Schipper’s critically-acclaimed Victoria, a film which was almost entirely improvised by the actors and shot in one single take – in turn landing her a series of awards wins. Prior to this, she played the lead role of Lucià in the Russian filmFort Ross, directed by Russian director Yuriy Moroz, and also starred in Palm Trees in the Snow. Costa has worked extensively in her native country, Spain, starring in TV shows such as Cites, the Spanish remake of British TV series Dates, Carlos, Rey Emperador, and Polseres Vermelles. Up next, Costa will be seen starring opposite Thomas Mann in Matthew Brown’s latest Independent film Maine, and Martin Hodara’s Nieve negra with Richard Darin.

lucas hedges

  • LUCAS HEDGES can currently be seen on the big screen alongside Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Gretchen Mol, in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea. Hedges broke onto the scene when director Wes Anderson cast him in his first role as Redford in Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson first caught glimpse of Hedges after sitting in the audience of one of his middle school plays and has since then cast him in The Grand Budapest Hotel, starring alongside Ralph Fiennes. Other notable roles include Richard in Jason Reitman’s Labor Day and starring opposite Christoph Waltz in Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem. Hedges has recently wrapped production on Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird alongside Saoirse Ronan and Tracy Letts, and Martin McDonagh’s film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is set for release this year.

Tom Holland - Heart of the Sea

  • TOM HOLLAND, trained actor and dancer, is best known for his role as the iconic Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland starred in Captain America: Civil War alongside Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans and has recently finished filming for Spider-Man: Homecoming where he appears opposite Michael Keaton. Holland made his screen debut opposite Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible. Prior to this, Holland has worked with a number of big names including Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy in Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea, Saoirse Ronan in Kevin MacDonald’s How I Live Now and Tom Hardy in Steven Knight’s Locke. 2017 spells another busy year as Holland features in James Gray’s The Lost City of Z with Robert Pattinson and begins shooting for The Current War opposite the acclaimed Benedict Cumberbatch. See our most recent interview with Tom here.

Ruth Negga

  • RUTH NEGGA is currently starring in Jeff Nichols’ critically acclaimed film, Loving, opposite Joel Edgerton, which was inspired by the documentary The Loving Story and follows Mildred and Richard Loving, the couple behind the pivotal 1967 civil rights case. After enjoying a successful career in theatre, Negga made her screen debut in the Irish filmCapital Letters, playing the lead role of Taiwo. She went on to play the lead role of Mary in Isolation the following year, and has also starred as Tulip O’Hare in the critically acclaimed series Preacher opposite Dominic Cooper. Her award-winning theatre credits include Lolita, Duck, Phaedre and Titus Andronicus. See our most recent interview with Ruth here.

Anya Taylor-Joy BAFTA Rising Star Nominations

  • ANYA TAYLOR-JOY is most notably known for her breakthrough and debut film role of Thomasin in Robert Egger’s The Witch. Following this, Taylor-Joy starred in the science fiction horror filmMorgan, directed by Luke Scott, and Vikram Gandhi’s film Barry where she played Charlotte opposite Devon Terrell. Next up for release is M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Split where Taylor-Joy will be seen in the leading role alongside the first ever EE Rising Star Award winner, James McAvoy, in the gripping story of a man with 23 personalities who is compelled to abduct three teenage girls. See our most recent interview with Anya here.