HOWZAT

The role is set to showcase his versatility: after the brooding and tortured intensity of his character in Spooks, Orlando is fiery, passionate and overcome by love. The actor’s approach impressed Branagh: “He has intelligence and a rare combination of masculinity and sensitivity. His dedication to the work is exemplary.”

Next Oyelowo will be off to Uganda to co-star in Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland.

ROBERT PATTINSON

With no big-screen experience, Robert Pattinson beat a host of other actors to the part of Hogwarts head boy and all-round good guy Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, due out this year. His only other screen work was in the TV film Sword of Xanten, broadcast in America last year.

This fresh-faced, photogenic 18-year-old so oozes charm and likeability that casting directors are predicting a big future. Despite his initiation via Harry Potter, Pattinson cites Tim Burton and Todd Solondz as directors he admires for “breaking boundaries”.

EDDIE REDMAYNE

It’s his delicate beauty with an edge that has caught the eye of several British casting directors. That and his proven acting talent — he picked up two best newcomer awards for his performance in The Goat at the Almeida theatre in London — has already won him a lead role opposite Toni Collette and another star of tomorrow, Tom Sturridge, in Gregory Read’s Like Minds. Redmayne has also scored a lead role as Matt Damon’s son in Robert De Niro’s CIA drama The Good Shepherd, due to start shooting in the autumn.

NINA SOSANYA

She has built an impressive CV in both TV and theatre but her recent turns as a sexy teacher in Kwame Kwei-Armah’s Fix Up at the National Theatre and her terrific performance as a woman impersonating a castrato in the BBC series Casanova have confirmed her eye-catching talent. Admired for her intelligence, energy and ability to cross from straight drama to comedy, Sosanya has won parts in several films, including Richard Curtis's Love Actually, Michael Winterbottom's Code 46 and Lars von Trier's Manderlay. She describes the latter experience as the perfect marriage between film and theatre.

Sosanya is now filming Much Ado About Nothing for the BBC and is keen to work on more independent British films. She says she also harbours a desire to star in a big sci-fi action flick.

TOM STURRIDGE

Perhaps the best-known name in this list, Tom Sturridge made his mark in Istvan Szabo’s Being Julia, where his performance as Annette Bening's son impressed critics and producers. The 19-year-old’s first major role was as a child in the TV mini-series Gulliver’s Travels, directed by his father, Charles, and he has grown into a young man with romantic lead potential. One casting director says she couldn't take her eyes off him when they first met.

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