The EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is a film award that acknowledges new talents in the acting industry. It is presented annually at the British Academy Film Awards.
The five nominees are chosen regardless of gender, nationality and whether they have made a breakthrough in television, film or both. Despite the nominees being chosen by the BAFTA juries, the winner is chosen entirely by public votes via text, internet or phone. This award was sponsored by Orange UK until 2012 and has been sponsored by EE since 2013.
History The award was created after Mary Selway died in 2004. She has been recognised for her successful role as a casting director and helped many new actors and actresses achieve fame.
The first winner was James McAvoy in 2006. Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf and Kristen Stewart have been the only non-British winners. The current holder of the award is Robert Aramayo, who won in 2026.
In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year.
Winners and nominees
2000s Year RecipientRef. James McAvoy Chiwetel Ejiofor Gael García Bernal Rachel McAdams Michelle Williams Eva Green Emily Blunt Naomie Harris Cillian Murphy Ben Whishaw Shia LaBeouf Sienna Miller Elliot Page Sam Riley Tang Wei Noel Clarke Michael Cera Michael Fassbender Rebecca Hall Toby Kebbell Kristen Stewart Jesse Eisenberg Nicholas Hoult Carey Mulligan Tahar Rahim
2010s Year RecipientRef. Tom Hardy Gemma Arterton Andrew Garfield Aaron Johnson Emma Stone Adam Deacon Chris Hemsworth Tom Hiddleston Chris O'Dowd Eddie Redmayne Juno Temple Elizabeth Olsen Andrea Riseborough Suraj Sharma Alicia Vikander Will Poulter Dane DeHaan George MacKay Lupita Nyong'o Léa Seydoux Jack O'Connell Gugu Mbatha-Raw Margot Robbie Miles Teller Shailene Woodley John Boyega Taron Egerton Dakota Johnson Brie Larson Bel Powley Tom Holland Laia Costa Lucas Hedges Ruth Negga Anya Taylor-Joy Daniel Kaluuya Timothée Chalamet Josh O'Connor Florence Pugh Tessa Thompson Letitia Wright Jessie Buckley Cynthia Erivo Barry Keoghan Lakeith Stanfield Micheal Ward Awkwafina Kaitlyn Dever Kelvin Harrison Jr. Jack Lowden
2020s Year RecipientRef. Bukky Bakray Kingsley Ben-Adir Morfydd Clark Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù Conrad Khan Lashana Lynch Ariana DeBose Harris Dickinson Millicent Simmonds Kodi Smit-McPhee Emma Mackey Naomi Ackie Sheila Atim Daryl McCormack Aimee Lou Wood Mia McKenna-Bruce Phoebe Dynevor Ayo Edebiri Jacob Elordi Sophie Wilde David Jonsson Marisa Abela Jharrel Jerome Mikey Madison Nabhaan Rizwan Robert Aramayo Miles Caton Chase Infiniti Archie Madekwe Posy Sterling
Notes
References
External links The EE Rising Star Award at BAFTA