Hackney’s Adam Deacon makes it onto BAFTA shortlist

Director and actor wants to bring the award home

Hackney actor and director Adam Deacon has been shortlisted for a prestigious BAFTA award.

The star of the films Kidulthood, Adulthood and Anuvahood, will go up against Eddie Redmayne and War Horse actor Tom Hiddleston – who are both former pupils at Eton College and Cambridge University graduates - in the Rising Star category in the British Film Academy Awards, after making it through the first round of voting.

The 28-year-old, who went to Stoke Newington School and grew up on the former Kings Crescent Estate as well as Brighton Road, is among five nominees in the final, which is down to a public vote.

He spoke this week of his desire to bring the award home, despite feeling like an underdog in the competition.

“To have a possibility of taking a BAFTA back to Hackney, back to the estate, means so much – not just for me but for a lot of young people in general. They are getting a lot of hope from this - to know that it doesn’t matter where you are from or where you are living or what your background is, if you keep working on something, you never know what will happen.”

To vote for Adam – or any of the other nominees – go to www.bafta.orange.co.uk/rising-star.

The winner will be announced at the BAFTAs, at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, on February 12