Recognizing five international and local actors and actresses that have inspired popular acclaim from the British public, the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award has been running for five consecutive years. This year Carey Mulligan, Kristen Stewart, Tahar Rahim, Jesse Eisenberg and Nicholas Hoult were named as the nominees for 2010.
The nominees must have featured in a film between the 1st of January to 31st December 2009 or within the extension period from the 1st of January to the 19th of February 2010.
Mulligan is the talented star of An Education, Hoult appears alongside Colin Firth in A Single Man, Rahim is the star of A Prophet, while Stewart starred in the Twilight Saga: New Moon and Adventureland for which her co-star Jesse Eisenberg was nominated.
The list has strong contention and it is hard to decide who has the greater chance of winning. If Mulligan does not win in the Best Actresss category she will most certainly take this award for Rising Star. The category description however, seems to indicate that popularity is worth more than talent, giving Kristen Stewart’s chances a great boost in the wake of Twilight fever.
The winner will be announced at the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday 21 February at London’s Royal Opera House.