The nominees for Bafta’s Rising Star award have been announced, shining a spotlight on some of the film industry’s most exciting up-and-coming acting talent.
This year’s list features a mix of British actors and American names, with the US represented by Sinners star Miles Caton and One Battle After Another’s Chase Infiniti.
They are joined by three Brits – Robert Aramayo, who starred in I Swear; Archie Madekwe, who appeared in Lurker; and Posy Sterling, from films including Lollipop.
The Rising Star accolade is the only Bafta film prize to be voted for by the public. Previous recipients include James McAvoy, John Boyega and Emma Mackey.
This year’s winner will be announced at the Bafta Film Awards ceremony in February.
Robert Aramayo
Hull’s Aramayo makes the shortlist for his performance as a young man growing up with Tourette’s syndrome in the 1980s in I Swear.
The film was based on the real-life experience of John Davidson, the subject of an acclaimed BBC documentary in the 80s, and 33-year-old Aramayo called it “the hardest role I’ve ever done”.
His star has been steadily rising over the past decade. After graduating from the renowned Juilliard School in New York in 2018, Aramayo made his mark with his breakthrough role as a young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones.
On his Bafta nomination, Aramayo said: “If young Robert only knew he’d be standing here as an EE Rising Star nominee today, he’d be very proud.”
Miles Caton
Caton, 20, is having a breakout moment. His performance as Sammie in Sinners has already earned him a Critics’ Choice Award for best young actor and a nomination for best supporting actor at the Actor Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards).
Growing up in a musical family in New York, Caton began performing at an early age. He is the son of gospel singer Timiney Figueroa, and a childhood video of him singing Nina Simone’s Feeling Good was later used in a short film by Jay-Z. By the age of 16, he had gone on a global tour as a backing singer for H.E.R.
Sinners is his only film role so far, but he said acting “has become something that I definitely want to take seriously and move further in”.
Chase Infiniti
In her breakthrough role as Willa in One Battle After Another, Infiniti stars opposite Leonardo DiCaprio as the fiercely independent daughter of a former revolutionary.
Before that, the US actress, 25, had already started making a name for herself. She first came to wider attention in Apple TV+ legal thriller Presumed Innocent, playing Jaden Sabich opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga.
Infiniti graduated with a theatre arts BFA from Columbia College Chicago in 2022, where she honed her acting on stage before shifting focus to film and television.
Archie Madekwe
Madekwe is nominated off the back of his role in Lurker, a psychological thriller in which he plays an up-and-coming pop star who is blackmailed by a superfan.
Madekwe originally auditioned to play the superfan but ended up being cast in the lead role. He has also appeared in films like Saltburn and Midsommar.
The south London-born actor, like previous Bafta Rising Star Award winner Tom Holland, is an alumni of the Brit School, a training ground for some of the UK’s most notable names.
Eagle-eyed fans may also recognise him from early bit parts in Channel 4 sitcoms such as Fresh Meat and Hang Ups.
Madekwe said it feels “surreal to be included this year” in the line up.
Posy Sterling
Manchester-born Sterling is nominated for Lollipop, in which she plays a single mum who emerges from prison only to find herself battling her own mother for custody of her children.
The raw, emotionally charged performance has already earned Sterling the British Independent Film Award for breakthrough performance.
It is her first leading role in a feature film, but she has been steadily building a reputation on screen with standout appearances in TV dramas including The Road Trip and You Don’t Know Me.
Sterling said she felt “genuinely overwhelmed by this recognition”.
The Bafta Film Awards will take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 22 February and will be hosted by Alan Cumming. The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer.
Credit: BBC
