INDIAN actor Suraj Sharma, who made his debut in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi has been shortlisted for the Bafta Rising Star Award 2013.
Sharma is the youngest on the list at 19 and the sole male representative, having been picked from 3,000 hopefuls to star in the film, despite no previous acting experience.
Life of Pi is Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize winning novel of the same name.
Among other contenders for the award are Juno Temple, who appeared in the 2007 drama Atonement, and Andrea Riseborough, who featured in the leading role in Madonna’s biopic of Wallis Simpson W.E.
They are up against US actress Elizabeth Olsen of the acclaimed 2011 drama Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Sweden’s Alicia Vikander, who starred in Danish period drama A Royal Affair and last year’s adaptation of the novel Anna Karenina.
The Rising Star Award is handed out on February 10 at the main BAFTA prize ceremony. It is the only category voted for by the public, who can cast their votes at ee.co.uk/bafta.
