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13 Up & Coming British Actors To Watch Out For This Year

By Fionnuala Halligan

2 years ago

Future stars of the stage & screen

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13 Up & Coming British Actors To Watch Out For This Year

British film magazine Screen International knows good talent when they see it. Curated by its chief critic, Fionnuala Halligan, these are 13 new British actors to watch out for in 2023.

This article is featured in our Great British Brands 2023 book. Check out the digital edition here or grab a physical copy today.

The Best New British Actors To Watch Out For In 2023

Yasmin Finney, 19

Yasmin was still in sixth-form when she read on Instagram that Netflix series Heartstopper was seeking to cast a black trans teen girl in a prominent role. In rapid succession she landed the part, and a career that has now seen her join the cast of beloved BBC series Doctor Who.

Solly McLeod, 30

Solly landed the title role in prestige miniseries Tom Jones, aired late last year. He admires the varied careers of Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer. ‘I would love to keep exploring. I’ll try everything until I find something that I’m like, “I can’t do that.”’

Rosy McEwen, 28

At 28, Rosy has scored her first lead role in a feature film: Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean as a lesbian basketball teacher in 1980s Newcastle. ‘I want to be that actor that people [say], “She’s great,” but no-one recognises you walking down the street.’

Priya Kansara, 25

Up until March 2021, Priya was working for a pharmaceutical company, attending acting classes at London’s Identity School of Acting in the evenings and sneaking off to auditions whenever she could. Fast forward to 2022 and she was starring in Nida Manzoor’s debut feature Polite Society for Working Title/Focus Features. ‘Acting is all I ever wanted to do,’ says Priya.

Louis Partridge, 19

Louis is known to millions of Netflix viewers as the floppy-haired young Viscount Tewkesbury opposite Millie Bobby Brown in teen-detective adventure flick Enola Holmes – a casting that has helped him garner 8.9 million followers on Instagram.

Lizzie Annis, 19

Starring opposite Amy Adams in The Glass Menagerie in 2021 was something of a game-changer for Lizzie, who has cerebral palsy. ‘In the last five years, it feels as though the industry has become engaged, and we’re seeing more stories come through that have previously been hidden.’

Lauryn Ajufo, 22

Lauded by Boiling Point’s lead, Stephen Graham, as ‘one of the most exciting young talents I’ve had the joy to work with’, Brit School graduate Lauryn will be seen this year in Luther the film and Netflix series
The F*ck It Bucket.

Jorden Myrie, 28

Having learned his craft at the Television Workshop in Nottingham, Jorden landed two prominent TV roles. ITV’s Stephen, about the murder of Stephen Lawrence, saw him play younger brother Stuart and BBC Three’s Mood, in contrast, showed Myrie in more romantic guise. ‘Acting is about telling the truth,’ he says.

Jamie Flatters, 22

Jamie was only 16 when his life changed completely: James Cameron called to offer him the role of Neteyam, in the Avatar sequels. As for his career, he says he would ‘love to follow Tilda Swinton’s career path, collaborating with a lot of new writers and directors’.

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, 35

Jacob has enjoyed a career whirlwind since his role as a chess-playing journalist in The Queen’s Gambit. In the last year or so alone, he has shot Pathé’s The Three Musketeers; Searchlight Pictures’ See How They Run; and whodunnit series Bodies for Netflix.

Isis Hainsworth, 24

At 18, Isis took one of the leads in the West End transfer of Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour. Perhaps because she did not receive drama school training, she says her process is ‘very instinctual – I lock myself away and try things in different ways’.

Harry Trevaldwyn, 28

In 2021, while shooting Netflix comedy feature The Bubble for director Judd Apatow, Harry found himself ducking out between set-ups to take care of his side hustle, online tutoring. Harry need not have worried: since then, roles have poured in. He finds himself drawn to comedy that ‘can provide release and joy’, but also ‘can show you so much about the world’.

Ambika Mod, 27

Ambika may have landed the lead role of Emma in Netflix’s adaptation of David Nicholls’ One Day, but she was turned down for every acting role at university. She received rave reviews too for her role of junior doctor Shruti in hit BBC drama This Is Going To Hurt.

Main picture: Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

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13 Up & Coming British Actors To Watch Out For This Year

The Best New British Actors To Watch Out For In 2023

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The Best New British Actors To Watch Out For In 2023

Yasmin Finney, 19

Solly McLeod, 30

Rosy McEwen, 28

Priya Kansara, 25

Louis Partridge, 19

Lizzie Annis, 19

Lauryn Ajufo, 22

Jorden Myrie, 28

Jamie Flatters, 22

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, 35

Isis Hainsworth, 24

Harry Trevaldwyn, 28

Ambika Mod, 27

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