EE Rising Star Award 2013 – nominees

The EE Rising Star Award honours a young actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition and has begun to capture the imagination of the British public. It is the only award voted for by the public at the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2013.

The five nominees as selected by our esteemed panel of judges are as follows...

		Elizabeth Olsen At 17, Elizabeth moved to New York to study acting at the Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating she took Sundance by storm in 2011 when she appeared in not one but two of the most highly praised films in the festival: Martha Marcy May Marlene and Silent House. Most recently Elizabeth has completed production on the Spike Lee directed remake of Oldboy, opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Brolin.
		Andrea Riseborough Andrea graduated from RADA in 2005 and quickly began to accumulate critical acclaim and awards for her stage and screen work. She made her film debut in Roger Michell’s Venus. Roles in Never Let Me Go, Brighton Rock and Mike Leigh’s comedy-drama Happy Go Lucky soon followed. Andrea has also starred as both a young Margaret Thatcher in Margaret Thatcher –The Long Walk to Finchley and Wallis Simpson in W.E. She recently finished filming opposite Tom Cruise in Oblivion, which will be released in April.
		Suraj Sharma Until recently 19 year old Suraj was living a quiet, middle class life with his parents in the suburbs of South Delhi. But, after an extensive search throughout India, Suraj was picked from 3,000 hopefuls to star in director Ang Lee’s 3D epic, Life of Pi. Before taking on the role, Suraj had no previous acting experience. The director had complete faith in his young lead, describing Suraj as a “gift from god” and a “great actor in a past life”.
		Juno Temple In just a few years, Juno Temple has firmly established herself as one of the most versatile and talented young actresses in Hollywood. Her breakthrough arrived when she won the role of Cate Blanchett’s rebellious, brooding daughter in Notes on a Scandal. This led to her appearance in the BAFTA- and Oscar-winning Atonement, opposite Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan. Since then a variety of well received film roles have followed, most recently opposite Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch in the darkly comic Killer Joe.
		Alicia Vikander Swedish born Alicia trained with The Royal Swedish Ballet for nine years before dedicating herself to acting. After appearing in several shorts and Swedish TV shows, she made her big-screen debut in Lisa Langseth’s Pure. 2012 saw Alicia burst onto the international scene with two major roles: Anna Karenina opposite Keira Knightley and Jude Law and the period drama A Royal Affair with Mads Mikkelsen. Recently Alicia has starred in the Warner Bros. feature The Seventh Son.

About the EE Rising Star Award

The EE Rising Star Award honours a young actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition and has begun to capture the imagination of the British public. It is the only award voted for by the public at the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2013. The Award was previously known as the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award but was renamed following the announcement in November that EE is the title sponsor of the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2013, replacing sister brand Orange.

This year’s judging panel included jury chair Pippa Harris, Deputy Chairman of BAFTA’s Film Committee and producing partner of Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead), British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Scottish director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void, Marley), film critic Mark Kermode, casting director Nina Gold (The King’s Speech, The Iron Lady, Prometheus) and film publicist Kate Lee, as well as leading film and entertainment journalists.