BAFTA has just revealed the five young actors in contention for this year’s Rising Star Award, the winner of which will be determined by a public vote. Previous winners include James McAvoy, Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf and Noel Clarke.
The 12-member jury charged with deciding this year’s nominees was chaired by Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt (“Shakespeare in Love”), and I must say that — blinding snub for Katie Jarvis aside — they’ve chosen quite well.
I’m surprised, though not unpleasantly so, that “Avatar” fever didn’t secure Sam Worthington a mention. Instead, Kristen Stewart gets the populist nod.
Given that it’s a publicly voted award, Stewart is the one to beat, too — I highly doubt the fanbases of the other four can compete with the texting “Twilight” hordes, unless “A Single Man” star Nicholas Hoult’s popularity from TV’s “Skins” carries him over.
The nominations for Hoult and Carey Mulligan (who is out in front for the Best Actress BAFTA) are as inevitable as they are deserved — both, incidentally, made my Top Actors Under 30 list a few months back. And Jesse Eisenberg, he of the neatly titled double-feature that is “Adventureland” and “Zombieland,” is an imaginative pick.
But the inclusion here that really delights me is that of French newcomer Tahar Rahim, who carries Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet” with a blend of actorly intensity and movie-star ease. After being appallingly omitted from BAFTA’s Best Actor longlist (there had to be room for Clint Eastwood and Brad Pitt, after all), this is compensation of a kind. He’s got my vote.
Voting details (applicable to UK readers only, I assume) can be found here. The nominees are:
Jesse Eisenberg
Nicholas Hoult
Carey Mulligan
Tahar Rahim
Kristen Stewart
Comments
32 responses to “BAFTA Rising Star nominees”
Adventureland’s cleaning up!
Kristin Stewart? Jeez. She might be popular, but as an actress she sucks.
She’ll totally win too, on account of the rabid Twilight fan(girl)s.
I agree, she’ll win over anyone.
I’ll never understand how Michael Fassbender lost to Noel Clark last year.
Look at 2009-2010, between Michael and Noel, it’s obvious who would be the true rising star.
dumbass fans
Guy, are you sure Eisenberg’s nomination is imaginative? Why do I have the feeling that they saw Adventureland and just nominated the stars? That might mean of course that I just don’t want to believe they nominated Stewart because of Twilight Saga.
Good for Rahim. It’s nice that they didn’t go for the, to me, obvious nomination for Jarvis. He was more deserving, even if I enjoyed Jarvis’ performance.
I guess I made a direch Greek-English translation in my head. “Although I enjoyed Jarvis’ performance”
Based the films’ respective UK profiles, I’d say “Zombieland” was taken into account more than “Adventureland.” Anyway, I like that they went for Eisenberg over some starrier types.
I think the Katie Jarvis snub is awful, though.
In my world, Jesse Eisenberg has been a star for a couple of years already, so I wouldn’t have given him a nomination. But since my world isn’t everybody else’s I’m happy about it.
Kristen Stewart is one of the biggest stars alive right now, and well, I see why they would nominate her. The award is called “Rising Star” and not “Great actor who should be a star” after all. Maybe we should replicate the Rage Against the Machine for Christmas #1 idea, and get lots of people to vote for Jesse Eisenberg or Carey Mulligan instead. Because as much as I would love to see Tahr Rahim win this, it’s not going to happen.
Oh, I just saw that you already mentioned Jarvis in your post. I agree she is more deserving than Stewart. I just meant (I don’t know why) that if I had to choose between Rahim and her, I would choose the former.
Chris: Yeah, the BAFTAs’ idea of who is “up and coming” is sometimes a little behind the beat — like when Gael Garcia Bernal was nominated in 2005.
Kristen Stewart is going to win this as well, no doubt. Her fanbase is huge and this is a public vote. That’s rubbish, as she totally doesn’t deserve a BAFTA.
Had she been replaced with Katie Jarvis this would have been a fascinating and unpredictable race.
I’d like to think Stewart is nominated based on her work in “Adventureland” more than anything else. That movie was one of the more underrated of the year, and her performance in it was far and away the best of the movie (yes, she plays an angst-ridden teen just like in those Twilight movies, but here she does it…well, better. Much, much better).
As much as I like Eisenberg, he’s been playing the same character since “The Squid and the Whale.” He does this character VERY well, but because of the repetition I have a hard time labeling him a rising star (his trajectory reminds me of the trajectory Michael Cera is currently going through).
Regardless, I think this is a pretty good list of nominees. Lovin’ the “A Prophet” mention.
Maybe if Stewart nominated for when she was giving good performances in stuff like “Panic Room” and “The Safety of Objects”…
The same people that supported Slumdog fever and helped it sweep an Oscar race that it clearly didn’t deserve to sweep are complaining about Avatar fever now? Puh-lease.
Adventureland was one of the better (and most overlooked/underrated) of last year.. And I think Eisenberg’s notice here is well-deserved, he had a great year with both Adventureland and Zombieland receiving very good reviews, and in the case of the latter a box office hit as well.
He’s certainly been around for awhile, but I think he’s mostly been known to those who wants indie movies that saw him in Roger Dodger and The Squid and the Whale. It’s only this year he’s been more noticeable to the broader audiences, hence this nomination.
Matt: I liked “Slumdog” — though I’d agree that it was over-rewarded. I don’t like “Avatar” that much. Personal opinion isn’t such a hard concept to get one’s head around.
It’s always comforting to know when young girls admire an actress primarily known for playing a needy, self-centered ass who immerses herself into the vampire equivalent of an abusive relationship.
It’s times like this that I fear for the human race in general.
Nicolas Hoult? The kid from About a Boy from 2002 that went on to star in Skins? His “rising” status was a long time ago. Yes, he’s getting older, but common…
Also, Kristen Stewart? Please…
Mulligan or Rahim should win.
Megan…oh so true, and is why nice guys still finish last. Women are too busy chasing after their abusive bad boys
Not happy with the snub of Karvis. I think the panel are basically saying she is another ‘Kes’, which is so unfair. Notice that there is no Tom Hardy or Gabourey Sidibe either. I thought the exclusion of Robert Pattison was unfair, they went populist with Shia Le Beouf for less. I think the nomination for Rahim is consolation for the probable fact that he won’t get a Best Actor Nomination. I would go for Hoult as I think he was made the transition well and is making interesting choices. However given the message that the panel has made by their choices, I think I will vote for Stewart.
“I think the nomination for Rahim is consolation for the probable fact that he won’t get a Best Actor Nomination.”
Not just probable … definite. He’s not on the longlist.
@ Guy – You shouldn’t have told me that as now I have that Sarsgaard/Ed Balls image in my head.
Oh watch me go twihard for Stewart and do multiple votes.
Oh and why the bashing for the character – Stewart plays in Twilight? Yes, it is an abusive relationship built on frustration but as a woman it is probably more honest then the one portrayed in An Education. Whats the message there – don’t worry girls, you have can have a relationship with an older predatory males and still go to Oxford, relatively unscathed. Nope. don’t think so.
Tahar Rahim is just awesome in A Prophet. It’s too bad more people didn’t see him in it. Since it is a popular vote, people should understand just how darn sexy he is as well.
I just voted for Tahar. U.S. residents can vote as well.
This is why they’re never unknowns:
“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.”
—anyway I never agree with the noms
Kristen was amazing in The Cake Eaters, Speak, Adventurland and Into the Wild this is not just based on Twilight (movie sucked). She deserves to be on this list which was compiled by jurors not fans, the fans only vote.
my personal breakthroughs of the year
TAHAR RAHIM/A PROPHET
KATIE JARVIS/FISH TANK
SHARLTO COPLEY/DISTRICT 9
MELANIE LAURENT/INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
MAX RECORDS/WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
I almost forgot
TOM HARDY/BRONSON
ANNA KENDRICK/UP IN THE AIR
Having just made Fish Tank my first “2010” film I’ve seen so far, I’m astonished as well that they’d omit Katie Jarvis. You’d think they’d honor one of their own, instead of kissing ass with Kristen. She’s so bland–hated her in Into the Wild, and though I don’t care for Fetusface or that pedobait twinkie, I’d rather see Pattinson in other movies than her.
But then again, this is the public award. Which means it’s like the People’s Choice Award, and ergo, rather irrelevant. Yay, all is well.
Shouldn’t KStew have been considered a rising star last year when Twilight first came out? Now, I think she just IS a star. Not rising star.