The list of nominees for The BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award was announced today. Empire were live at the scene as 2006 winner James McAvoy read out the lucky five performers:
Naomie Harris, seen shining recently in **Pirates Of The Caribbean 2, Miami Vice **and A Cock And Bull Story.
Emily Blunt, who you'll recognise as one of the highlights of The Devil Wears Prada, Irresistible, and who gave a terrific performance in My Summer Of Love.
Cillian Murphy, who was the lead in 2006's Palm D'or winner The Wind That Shakes The Barley within a year of playing a cross-dresser in Breakfast On Pluto, a nutter in Red Eye and a super-villain in Batman Begins.
Eva Green made one of the best ever Bond girls in Casino Royale, capitalising on great work in Kingdom Of Heaven.
Ben Wishaw is currently making a huge impact with the recently released Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer, but you may also recognise him from his turn as Keith Richards in Stoned.
Now the Rising Star is not a straightforward affair. These five performers have been carefully culled down from a list of several hundred nominations by a jury of twelve sturdy souls, including McAvoy and Empire award winning actress Thandie Newton, director Anthony Minghella, several film journalists (one of us included), and BAFTA representatives. But that's only the first stage, for now it's up to you - the public – to vote for whomever you feel is most deserving of this honour.
Shortly afterwards, we were fortunate enough to get a few words with McAvoy, who was on fine form, despite an unusual (and undetectable) case of public speaking nerves. "I think they're all brilliant, actually," he said. "The award isn't just for good acting… it's for someone who's making a real connection with the audience, someone who is on the up… which is a really horrible description of an award!"
But he's quick to qualify: "In taking that into account, nobody wants to award the prize to anybody who isn't a fantastic actor. Some people qualified for the criteria, but we'd look at each other and think 'We can't – they're completely corrupt and devoid of talent, so we're not going to do it, frankly.'"
And it wasn't easy being the jury either, apparently. "It was a bit weird, because I just wanted to pick good actors. But you get talking about it – not just one performance, but their whole career – and you start deconstructing why they did something and who they are."
But for all the debate and persuasion that went on between the twelve jurors, one thing thng did come about as a complete coincidence. "Yeah, no Americans - astonishing, isn't it?" said BAFTA Deputy Chair Duncan Kenworthy. "There were lots of Americans considered in the first list. I'm sure it will change from year to year, but this time we've come up with five fantastic European candidates."
Now it's up to you. Have a good think, get out and see these terrific young actors, and have a think about which way you're going to vote (to find out more about how visit the Orange BAFTA webstire here). We'll be providing you with more details in the near future.