11 British Rising Stars To Know In 2025
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4 hours ago
Up and coming actors from home shores
Screen International‘s Stars of Tomorrow curator Fionnuala Halligan uncovers the screen talent you need to know.
11 Up & Coming British Actors To Know In 2025
1. Agnes O’Casey
Attending the Irish Film and Television Awards in April 2024 as a triple nominee sums up how things are going for Agnes. She impressed audiences in Lisa Mulcahy’s gothic thriller Lies We Tell, Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s comedy drama The Miracle Club, and also received a rising star nod. Elsewhere, she has made appearances in Small Things Like These, Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light, and Joe Barton’s Netflix spy series Black Doves.
2. Josh Finan
This Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduate was surprised when he bagged the role of Gerry Adams in FX/Disney+ miniseries Say Nothing. Then, last year he won a Bafta nomination for his role as drug addict Marco in BBC police drama The Responder. His profile has since surged, with appearances in Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, both for Netflix. He was also back for season two of The Responder.
3. Francis Lovehall
Two months into a two-year contract at Brentford Football Club, Francis made the gutsy switch to acting, earning a place on the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s BA course, aged 17. Since graduating, you may have caught him in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe: Lovers Rock, Apple TV+’s Masters Of The Air or the viral Tyrell Williams play Red Pitch, which last year transferred to the West End.
4. Mica Ricketts
From Sky’s Best Interests and the BBC’s Here We Go to Steve McQueen’s WWII hit Blitz, Mica is making her way up the acting ladder. At 15, she joined Nottingham’s Television Workshop; at 19 she signed with London’s Revolution Talent agency. Dark indie films are on her wishlist (as is a stint as Catwoman), and with her Jamaican-English background, she cites Zoë Kravitz and Zendaya as role models.
5. Mia Tharia
Mia Tharia attended Cannes in May last year with September Says, but 2025 is set to be her year. She has recently filmed Taika Waititi’s adaptation of Klara And The Sun in New Zealand with Jenna Ortega, and completed work on BBC series The Listeners opposite Rebecca Hall. It’s a rapid rise for the actress who still lives with her clinical psychologist mother and scientist father in their south London family home.
6. Toisin Cole
Tosin recently captured attention in the British superhero series Supacell, written for Netflix by the British filmmaker and rapper known as Rapman. He also spent two years as Jodie Whittaker’s companion in Doctor Who and made it to the final few for the role of Finn in Star Wars, losing out to John Boyega (oh, what might have been). Next he stars alongside Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Nicholas Galitzine in Amazon MGM Studios comedy Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie.
7. Sade Malone
Born in Greater Manchester and raised in Dublin and Leeds, Sade got her start aged 14 on CBBC’s 4 O’Clock Club. Later training at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts with mentoring from Naomie Harris as part of a Bafta scholarship, she picked up an agent at her final-year showcase. Roles have since included BBC’s Hope Street, TV film The Queen And I, two episodes of Danny Boyle’s miniseries Pistol, and the leading role in Marian Quinn’s Twig, a modern retelling of Antigone set in inner-city Dublin.
8. Florence Hunt
With four years on Netflix’s mega blockbuster Bridgerton under her belt, playing the eighth Bridgerton sibling Hyacinth, Florence is assuredly here to stay. Her next project (and first film) is a more contemporary challenge: A Queen At Sea, playing the daughter of Juliette Binoche, who moves back to London in her concern for her ageing mother. Add her high-profile casting in the UK- Ireland-Australia adaptation of Jane Sanderson’s novel Mix Tape, and it is clear Hunt is well on her way.
9. Saura Lightfoot-Leon
With a background in dance – and two dancers for parents – Saura pivoted to acting in search of ‘mystery and adventure’. Graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2020, she is keeping her portfolio broad, starring as a Hitler Youth in Life After Life, a Resistance fighter in Masters Of The Air and a troubled foster teen in Hoard. Next, we will see her in her most physical role to date: Netflix’s proto-Western American Primeval.
10. Jason Patel
Multi-talented Jason garnered acclaim last summer for his breakout role in Unicorns, starring opposite Ben Hardy as Ashiq, a Muslim from Manchester who lives a double life in London as flamboyant drag queen Aysha. Also an avid musician, the Stalybridge-born and raised, theatre- trained Jason also released a five-track EP this year. Next, the BBC’s Bradford- based crime drama Virdee will solidify his place on our screens.
11. Spike Fearn
Inspired by Jack O’Connell – who he had admired on Skins – Spike cut his teeth at Nottingham’s Television Workshop, and got his start in UK indie films such as Sweetheart and Aftersun. So Alien: Romulus was somewhat of a step change – as was a part in Ella McCay, a new American comedy by James L Brooks, where he joins a rich cast including Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks, Rebecca Hall, Woody Harrelson and Ayo Edebiri.