Baftas 2019: Black Panther actor Letitia Wright and American Animals’s Barry Keoghan among Rising Star nominees

They are joined by 'Widows' actor Cynthia Erivo, 'American Animals' star Barry Keoghan and Jessie Buckley

Black Panther’s Letitia Wright and Sorry to Bother You’s Lakeith Stanfield are among the nominees for this year’s Bafta Rising Star award

They are joined by Widows actor Cynthia Erivo, American Animals’s Barry Keoghan and Jessie Buckley, who appeared in the TV series The Woman in White and the 2018 film Beast.

The Rising Star Award – which began in 2004 – has predicted many stars of the future, with former winners including Tom Hardy, Daniel Kaluuya and Eva Green.

This years nominees were selected by Bodyguard‘s Richard Madden, actor Rosamund Pike, broadcaster Edith Bowman and Marcella star Ray Panthaki.

Wright – who previously earned an Emmy nomination for her 2017 role in Black Mirror – said being nominated was an ”incredible feeling”, adding: “It means a lot that my work has been recognised, especially in the country I’ve grown up in, and that I get to share this recognition with so many talented actors.”

American-born Stanfield, who has previously appeared in the series Atlanta and the Oscar-nominated film Get Out, said: ”It is an honour and a pleasure to be considered.”

Buckley came second in 2008’s BBC show I’d Do Anything, which saw Andrew Lloyd Webber searching for a Nancy for his West End production of Oliver!

Her theatre credits also include a West End production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, and she starred in the BBC’s 2016 TV adaptation of War And Peace and was lauded by critics for her role in 2018 thriller Beast.

Buckley will next be seen on film playing a country music singer in Wild Rose and she has also landed a role alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in the film Ironbark.

She said: “I would like to thank both Bafta and the jury from the bottom of my heart for putting me forward for the 2019 EE Rising Star Award – it’s a huge honour and a fantastic category to be nominated for, especially as the winner is decided by film fans at home.”

Erivo, from south London, previously won a Tony award for her Broadway role in The Colour Purple and she was seen on the big screen in last year’s Steve McQueen-directed film Widows.

The 31-year-old said she was “ever grateful” for the nomination, adding: “It means the world to me to be acknowledged by the community that, for most of my life, I’ve known as home. Thank you for this incredible honour.”

Keoghan has made waves on the big screen in films including The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, American Animals and Christopher Nolan’s war film Dunkirk.

The 26-year-old from Dublin said: “It’s really exciting to be put forward for the EE Rising Star Award. Over the years, I have watched so many actors and actresses that I admire be nominated in this category, so to think that I’m now on that list is an amazing feeling.”

The shortlist for the Rising Star Award, the only gong voted for by the public for the annual ceremony, was announced at Bafta’s London headquarters in Piccadilly. The winner will be announced at the Bafta ceremony on February 10 and voting is open at ee.co.uk/BAFTA.

Additional reporting by agencies.