Empire is pleased to announce that we’ve been asked to join the star-marking jury that will decide the shortlist for this year’s EE Rising Star Award.

The award, which honours a young actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition and has begun to capture the imagination of the British public, has become an integral part of the EE British Academy Film Awards over the last few years, and the winner will be announced at next year’s awards on Sunday, February 10.

Chris Hewitt, News Editor and host of the Empire Podcast, was our representative on the EE Rising Star Award jury, which thrust together a smattering of film journalists, from the mighty Mark Kermode to Charles Gant to Metro’s Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Grazia’s Paul Flynn and Shortlist’s Jonny Pile, and figures from the film industry, including Touching The Void director Kevin Macdonald, casting director Nina Gold, film PR Kate Lee and chairperson Pippa Harris. Oh, and there was some guy called Benedict Cumberbatch too. Apparently he’s an actor of some kind.

“I am honoured to have been asked to be part of this year’s EE Rising Star Award jury,” said Cumberbatch. “It’s a great platform for young actors and actresses to shine and I’m thrilled to be on board.”

“What he said,” echoed Chris Hewitt.

The jury met yesterday (Thursday November 29) to have a lively discussion about the longlist. The content of those deliberations will remain private, but the results will be known on Monday January 7, when the shortlist of five will be announced at BAFTA HQ.

Last year’s winner was Adam Deacon, who triumphed over the likes of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, while previous winners have included Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Kristen Stewart.

For more details, visit www.ee.co.uk