Jacob Elordi Nominated for BAFTA Film Rising Star Award

Jacob Elordi’s meteoric rise continues…

The 26-year-old half-Spanish Australian actor has been nominated for the prestigious BAFTA Film Rising Star Award 2024 by the by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Jacob Elordi,Following his breakout roles in The Kissing Booth film trilogy and Euphoria, Elordi led Saltburn opposite Barry Keoghan, Amazon Prime Video’s BAFTA-nominated psychological drama from Emerald Fennell. He also starred as Elvis Presley in the biographical film Priscilla.

Elordi will compete against Bridgerton star Phoebe DynevorThe Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, Mia McKenna-Bruce, who led hit British indie film How to Have Sexand Talk to Me’s Sophie Wilde.

Nominees were announced by actor and producer Stephen Graham at a press conference hosted by film critic and radio host, Ali Plumb.

The jury, chaired by Anna Higgs, BAFTA Film Committee Chair, featured actors Daisy Edgar-JonesṢọpẹ́ Dìrísù and Himesh Patel, casting directors Lucy Bevan (The Batman), and Nina Gold (Game of Thrones), film producer Adam Ackland (The End We Start From) alongside leading industry specialists.

Last year’s gong was won by Sex Education’s Emma Mackey and previous winners include Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, John Boyega and Tom Holland.

“These remarkable individuals represent what BAFTA and the EE Rising Star Award stand for as the future of the film industry, embodying innovation, dedication, and a commitment to storytelling that captivates audiences worldwide,” said BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip.

Host Ali Plumb added: “Each rising star talent deserves this spotlight, having provided extraordinary performances serving as inspiration for the next generation.”

Daniela Nieves to Star in Peacock’s YA Series “Vampire Academy”

Daniela Nieves is joining the Academy

The 24-year-old Venezuelan actress has been cast in Peacock’s Vampire Academy from Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre.

In addition to Nieves, who has appeared on the Nickelodeon series Every Witch Way and WITS Academy, the main cast for the YA drama based on Richelle Mead’s book series includes Sisi StringerKieron MooreAndré Dae KimJ. August Richards, Anita-Joy UwajehMia McKenna-BruceRhian BlundellJonetta Kaiser and Andrew Liner.

Written by MacIntyre, Vampire Academy is set in a world of privilege and glamour, where two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society. This serialized and sexy drama combines the elegance of aristocratic romance and the supernatural thrills of the vampire genre.

Vampire Academy, co-showrun by Plec and MacIntyre, takes place in St. Vladmir’s Academy, which isn’t just any boarding school. It’s a hidden place where vampire royals are educated and half-human teens train to protect them from the savage “Strigoi” vampires who would like to see them destroyed.

Nieves joins as Lissa Dragomir, a Royal Moroi vampire. Growing up the younger sister to the heir apparent, Princess Vasilisa Dragomir is a carefree, kind-hearted, royal princess coasting through her studies and happily chasing fun. Lissa is uninterested in the political machinations of the Royal Court or the hypocrisy of Moroi royal society. But with a sudden death in her family, Lissa is thrust into a role she’s neither trained for nor is emotionally equipped to handle.

Bille Woodruff directs the pilot. Additional series directors are Plec, Luis Prieto, Jesse Warn, Erica Dunton and Geoff Shotz.

Vampire Academy is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.