BAFTA's Narrow "Rising Star" Field
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 8:34AM I don't even know why I'm posting this. BAFTA seems determined to be the least respectable awards group this side of "People's Choice". They apparently use a partially celebrity juru to select their 5 wide Orange Rising Star category from a field of 8. Ouch! Then the public gets to vote. NoooOOoooo THE DREAD PEOPLE'S CHOICE.
Which means it's another one of those torture devices like Oscar finalist lists for celebrities or movie hopefuls where less than half of the field have to be jettisoned to get the nominee list. "Congratulations. You were the last kid picked for the team. i.e. you weren't picked. Loser!" This year's losers are all buzzy actresses: Jennifer Lawrence, Felicity Jones, and Jessica Chastain.
The official sausage party nominees...
I've added what they'd done lately though the award is for the person and not a specific work.
- Adam Deacon (actor/rapper/director) ...Kidulthood, Adulthood, Anuvahood
- Chris Hemsworth (actor/Avenger) ... Thor
- Tom Hiddleston (actor/god) ... Thor, War Horse, Deep Blue Sea
- Chris O'Dowd (actor/comedian) ... Bridesmaids, "the It Crowd"
- Eddie Redmayne (actor/actor) ... My Week With Marilyn, "Red"
I was about to say "who would you vote for?" but it seems like more of a do, dump or marry? type field since it's such a tiny range of types -- all British or Australian guys born between 1979 and 1983! (I don't want to talk about how lame it is to not even consider the Weekend boys for this honor in honor of people who are already a lot more famous. "Rising star" is like "Breakthrough" in how much leeway it gives you to award people whose careers are already somewhat made. What is with the Brits and Weekend? They can't see its worth and it's right in front of them!)
But back to the RISING STARS: Who do you think gets an Oscar nomination first and second and never?
Why do you think Jessica, Felicity, and Jennifer just weren't good enough for the jury of industry types which included the likes of Simon Pegg, Sienna Miller and Harry Potter director David Yates?
Reader Comments (28)
It's such an infuriating list. But I should say that a lot of us Brits loved Weekend, even if BAFTA fails to recognise it. Even though I feel Chris New has been short-changed in terms of any nominations seeming to go instantaneously to Tom Cullen (both performances work so well TOGETHER), it's a real shame that neither is recognised here. I don't have a problem with Tom Hiddleston - although nobody seems to be mentioning his work in another British film, Archipelago - or Chris O'Dowd, Eddie Redmayne really brings very little to My Week with Marilyn, and although Adam Deacon and Chris Hemsworth are both good, are we really meant to believe that they're better than Jessica Chastain? Heck, they could even have thrown Mia Wasikowska in this year? Instead: no woman at all. Eurgh.
This is so bizarre-particularly that the ladies seem to have better career opportunities in the near future than the men (with the possible exception of Hiddleston). My list probably would have looked something like the Weekend boys, Jones, Chastain, and Hiddleston (with Lawrence disqualified because last year was really her breakthrough).
Though, for the record:
Marry Hemsworth
Do O'Dowd, Redmayne
Dump: Deacon, Hijddleston
Dump Hiddleston? I weep!
I've just noticed Eddie Redmayne's surname is Redmayne and he has red hair! I wonder if all his ancestors have had red hair? That's how exciting this list is!!
(Also, Chris O'Dowd is Irish which makes the list 1% more diverse)
I am glad O'Dowd is getting some recognition (even indirectly) for Bridemaids.
This is a tricky one. The BAFTA rising star award always goes to the actor with the highest profile here in the UK. Almost every year I disagree with the winner. What are Adam Deacon, Chris O'Dowd and Chris Hemsworth doing on the list this year? Honestly what has Chris Hemsworth done yet to be worthy of a nomination? Especially over all the girls on the long list (who I honestly thought would all make the final 5). The sad thing is he'll probably walk with it because he has the highest profile; his biggest competition is Chris O'Dowd who is very popular over here due to the IT Crowd.
Tom Cullen has a big year coming up so I expect we'll see his name on the short-list in the next two years hopefully alongside the likes of Ezra Miller; Elizabeth Olsen; Emily Browning and Rooney Mara!?
Fingers crossed Jessica Chastain gets nominated for Supporting Actress.
I'll be voting for either Eddie Redmayne or Tom Hiddleston (as he was fantastic in The Deep Blue Sea).
Really strange list this year, and they missed their chance of getting Jennifer Lawrence to appear at the ceremony looking really foxy. Odd.
Marry - Hemsworth
Do - Hiddleston / O'Dowd
Dump - Redmayne
(don't know much about Deacon)
Rami -- i thought you were British? and I thought Deacon was only known to UK audiences?
I honestly thought Felicity Jones had this one in the bag (despite her breakthrough being two years ago in 'Cemetery Junction') but I guess now it's Hemsworth's to lose - or possibly Redmayne. It's the teenage girls who vote, so it depends whether they've seen 'My Week With Marilyn' or whether they're looking forward to 'Snow White & The Huntsman'.
Nathaniel, I am a transplanted Canadian (but now a Brit also) but I haven't seen the Kidulthood films, they never appealed to me.
I really need to stop coming across as a hardcore MWWM fanboy since I'm not really, but I just love Redmayne in general. Really I'm fine with the Redmayne, Hiddleston, and O'Dowd nominations, but I would've probably included Jones and Chastain as well.
This will be between Team Thor or Team Loki though, but then again as someone brought up, O'Dowd is also known for his show The IT Crowd, but I'm not sure how popular that is across the pond.
I don't really know who Adam Deacon is either (knew the name, not the face) - it's basically the Noel Clarke nomination over again. Although I doubt Deacon will actually carry that through to match Clarke's win (I'd bet on O'Dowd).
This list without Jessica Chastain is quite frankly pointless. I'll vote for Redmayne, though, even if his last triumph was actually Savage Grace (he does have a TV adaptation of Birdsong coming up though which looks fantastic).
Wait...they eliminated all the girls?! LMFAO!!!
Hemsworth is clearly winning if British girls are anything like American ones.
As far as Oscar nominations go, I don't think it's as much a question of who gets one first, but who's most likely to get one (since I'm not really expecting a nomination for any of the guys). I'd put Hiddleston first, then Redmayne close behind. Everyone else unlikely.
Marry Hiddleston, Do O'Dowd and Redmayne, Dump the other two.
I am generally proud to be British but this list is simply laughable.
How on earth can they discard both Jessica Chastain (who has had such an amazing year) and Jennifer Lawrence (who gave a wonderful performance in a Winter's Bone).
I doubt any of these men will achieve the zenith of an Oscar nomination in the future.
I have long disliked BAFTA's nominations (which has both a film award and separate TV awards; they used to be announced together) - the last time they nominated my absolute favourite Dame Helen Mirren was for the Queen. Since then they have totally ignored her amazing final time as Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect - the Final Act (which garnered her 4th Emmy win), her wonderful performance as Elizabeth I (which won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy) and her over the top scene stealing turn as Sofya Tolstoy in the Last Station, which achieved her 4th Oscar nomination.
It's about time they pensioned the BAFTAs off as they are merely a third rate Oscars wannabe.
Well, if the jury includes the likes of Simon Pegg, Sienna Miller and Harry Potter director David Yates...
Not redmayne another lucky rich boy who we are told is attractive and can act and is blatantly neither same goes for cumberbatch.
Mark, Cumberbatch is brilliant, I saw him on stage in Frankenstein at the National and he blew me away. He was equally great in that BBC doc about Van Gogh's letters to his brother and pretty solid in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Granted , I am not a big fan of him as Sherlock , but I generally find that show really dull for some reason, but it's what made him famous so I guess it served a purpose.
I agree with al te comments here. I do think that Chastain and Lawrence were robbed. I do like a couple of the guys like O'Dowd, but the BAFTA committee needs to review their nominating tactics when it comes to this particular award to have a balanced 5 which favours both genders.. (Don't get me started on the BNA selection process for the Grammys)
So, these nominations appear before the rest of the main awards? When do those come out?
They usually award it on the night if I remember correctly
Don't forget Tom Hiddleston in Midnight in Paris, add one prestige picture to the filmography of nominees
Some of us Brits LOVED Weekend!
Chris O'Dowd is Irish not British...but yes I agree it's strange not to have Jessica Chastain here.
Wow...did these idiots see "Weekend"? That aside, Redmayne gives me the creeps. I guess he was well cast in "Savage Grace", which I hated because he was in it. But, in the end, Moore saved the movie for me even though I hated it. Julianne is a miracle worker! And if the 'no Oscar for women in their 50's' continues to be a barrier, I hope she shreds that house of cards, and soon.
I would love for O'Dowd or Hiddleston to win this but it wouldn't surprise me if Deacon snaps it up because he is doing some serious campaigning on twitter and his fanbase is primarily made up of the age group that votes for these type of awards.
I think it is a bit of a ludicrous award but I like some of Deacon's work and I think these ceremonies can get a bit snobby about the type of actors they nominate and give awards to so it does make for a bit of diversity albeit a false sense of diversity.
No Chastain? The woman who practically defined a rising star in the short space of her freaking banner year. Get your brooms people, it's shenanigans!
It was actually the jury that chose the longlist field of 8, not the final 5; the longlist of 8 was then opened up to the public, which then voted from that list to create thefinal 5, as those which received the most public votes. But still if the jury had come up with at least a balanced field of 4 men and 4 women then there would have been no risk of women being totally excluded from the final 5, so this is still a fail from the Bafta organisers. Last year was the first time they got the public to vote on the longlist as well as the shortlist, and it is basically Bafta and Orange being greedy: trying to get more publicity for the sponsor by effectively asking everyone to vote twice in the process. Serves them right that they are getting such a negative backlash for this shortlist in the media.