The BAFTA EE Rising Star award is by no means a small accolade. In the past it has gone to the likes of James McAvoy, Lashana Lynch, Tom Hardy, John Boyega, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Emma Mackey and Micheal Ward have all scooped the prize, which has proved to be pivotal for their careers. At the 2025 BAFTA, Nabhaan Rizwan is hopeful that it is his time to take Mitzi Cunliffe's bronze mask home.

Ao lado de Mikey Madison e Marisa Abela, o ator britânico-paquistanês Rizwan está nomeado para o prémio pelo seu papel em In Camera, a estreia de Naqqash Khalid na realização. Lançado em 2023, este inteligente drama britânico tocou particularmente Rizwan, de 28 anos, por se centrar numa história que lhe é próxima.

Rizwan plays a hopeful youngster, Aden, who faces multiple setbacks while trying to break into the film industry. Something that Rizwan, as an actor in a dense industry, will know all too well about. "In the first conversation I had with Naqqash, he had he told me that filmmaking should only be an act of invention," Rizwan explains from his room at The Standard, London hotel in Kings Cross hours before the BAFTA ceremony. "And so the process of making In Camera was to do just that, and dispel any rules and conventions we'd learned along the way."

Unlike his character in In Camera, Rizwan is pretty busy and he has no shortage of acting jobs. "When I turned 18 I decided I wanted to be an artist, so I did writing, acting, poetry, I put myself in everything," he says, explaining that acting and writing are his passions. "There was a lot of access back then thankfully, so I managed to do that." Rizwan is also best known for his roles in Sam Mendes' 1917, BBC dramas Informer and Industry, and Juice, a British comedy that is "basically about my family" - his mother and his brother also star in it, and season two is on its way. A role alongside Jeff Goldblum in Netflix's Kaos, the Odyssey-meets-The Sopranos, has only made him more well known.

And Rizwan is ready for it all. While he's hopeful he's going to take home the BAFTA, he's most excited about 'dressing up and being the flyest actor out there." And for that, he's done some careful planning with his outfit. "The most important thing is to do something unexpected," he said, explaining that he's been working with a new stylist, Tony Cook, ahead of the BAFTAs. "When he and I first spoke I sent him a little bit of a moodboard - I had a lot of time on my hands - and there was a lot of Aimé Leon Dore on there, a little Ralph Lauren. I was looking at the way in which those brands layer things, and style looks with accessories. I guess I like maximalism, and it’s something that I’ve been trying to do through all my recent looks."

Para os Prémios BAFTA de 2025, Rizwan optou por um visual Dior único, que espera que o faça destacar-se num mar de trajes de gala. «Está na altura de agitar as coisas e dar-lhes um toque punk», afirma. «Sobretudo entre os atores. Pode tornar-se tudo um pouco aborrecido. É através da roupa que tento expressar-me.» O conjunto de Rizwan é composto por um casaco austríaco de lã virgem feltrada branca, integralmente decorado com bordados de pérolas Dior x Hylton Nel em azul-cobalto e branco. Nel é um ceramista radicado na África do Sul, responsável por todas as peças de cerâmica apresentadas na coleção Primavera/Verão 2025 de Kim Jones. No pulso, usa um relógio Santos de Cartier.

Não é de admirar que Rizwan tenha optado por um visual tão arrojado e colorido na noite mais importante do cinema. «As minhas referências de estilo tendem a vir de fora do mundo da representação — costumo inspirar-me em Pharrell, e o facto de ele e Nigo estarem, de certa forma, a comandar as tendências é uma grande vitória para os excêntricos como nós», afirma. «Slick Rick também — é como o David Hicks da música, pela forma como trabalha a cor.»

Depois da cerimónia de entrega dos prémios, Rizwan regressa ao trabalho, quer ganhe ou não. Tem a caminho mais uma temporada de Juice, acabou de concluir as filmagens de Film Club, e Dope Girls, que o deixa extremamente entusiasmado, está prestes a estrear. Depois, gostaria de fazer uma pequena pausa.

He's writing Juice at the moment, but he'd like to be able to focus on his writing a little more. "Tonight has punctuated things for me in a way that feels like I’m approaching a pivot moment. It happens every few years with me with and my acting. There was a point where I thought I wanted to quit acting, but then this all came along." Up until his encounter and an initial conversation with Naqqash Kalhed a couple of years ago, he thought about moving entirely from acting. He explains that "it’s important to reshuffle the way you work", and that's why he blends writing with acting, and has these gear shifts. "And of course I did Kaos that same year, and so it all aligned with the stars. When that happens you've just got to let it happen."

Rizwan explains that he sees his career in the same way he sees seasons. "You need the seasons so that the crops can grow. Tonight caps off open season for me and I’m looking forward to retreating into my writing lair, and resurfacing in a couple of years."

Photography: John Armour

Styling: Tony Cook

Cuidados de beleza: Hayden Cassidy, especialista em grooming da Dior UK, com produtos Dior Beauty

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