Film

Actors To Pay Attention To: Will Poulter

If you watched this years BAFTA awards, you will have seen the 2014 BAFTA Rising Star Award, voted for by the public, was awarded to Will Poulter. He beat other talented up and coming actors including 12 Years A Slave‘s and Oscar winning Lupita Nyong’o and Sunshine on Leith’s George MacKay. So just who IS this guy?

Twenty-year-old Will Poulter is a London born actor who got his first big role when he appeared in 2008’s Son of Rambow, which led to strong praise for his acting skills. He later appeared in Channel 4’s School of Comedy which ran for two seasons between 2008 and 2009. He then won the role of Eustace Scrubb in The Chronicles of Narnia:  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Once again, his performance was well received even though the movie only gained mixed reviews. He also appeared in the pilot for BBC Three’s The Fades, but would not return to the show for its full season pickup. His role in independent film Wild Bill won him more critical acclaim in 2011 for his angry, seething performance as teenager Dean, and if you watched the 2013 comedy jenife, staring Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston, you’ll probably recognize him as the hilariously awkward Kenny. Although the film wasn’t a huge success, his performance was once again well received as audiences responded to his comedic skills and the earnest, sweet side he brought to his character. The film won him his nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and he is currently nominated for this year’s Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer and the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. He’s graduated from Brit flicks to Hollywood, and his career is only just beginning, although he maintains he chooses his projects based solely on the scripts.  “Hollywood has never been a goal, necessarily – there was no ‘Conquer America’ game plan for me.”

Will is set to make a big name for himself with his upcoming projects. He appears in this years new dystopian franchise The Maze Runner, as well as Kids in Love opposite Cara Delevingne, Plastic with Alifie Allen and Glassland with Toni Collette and Jack Reynor. AND he’s set to star in 2015’s iboy, a film about a boy who wakes up to discover part of his smartphone has been embedded in his head after an accident, causing him to develop a strange set of super powers. With a strong past under his belt, exciting projects ahead and now a BAFTA on his shelf – Will Poulter will definitely be someone you will be hearing about a lot.

 

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