On BAFTA night, Nabhaan Rizwan is so ready

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.

Alongside Mikey Madison and Marisa Abela, Pakistani-British actor Rizwan is up for the award for his role in In Camera, the directorial debut from Naqqash Khalid. Released in 2023, the intelligent British drama struck a chord with 28-year-old Rizwan, as it focuses on a story close to home.

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."

For the 2025 BAFTA Awards, Rizwan opted for a unique Dior look, that he's hopeful will have him stand out in a sea of black tie getups. "It’s time to shake it up, and to punk it up," he says. "Especially with actors. It can all be a bit boring. Clothing is how I try to express myself." Rizwan's outfit consists of a white felted virgin wool Austrian jacket, which was decorated with cobalt and white Dior x Hylton Nel pearl embroidery all-over. Nel is a ceramicist based in South Africa who made all the ceramics featured in Kim Jones' Spring/Summer 2025 collection. On his wrist he has a Santos de Cartier watch.

It's no surprise that Rizwan opted for such a bold and colourful outfit on the biggest night in film. "My style heroes tend to be outside of acting - I usually look to Pharrell, and the fact that him and Nigo are sort of running things is such a victory for us weirdos among us," he says. "Slick Rick too - he’s like the David Hicks of music in the way he works with colour."

After the awards, it's back to business for Rizwan, whether the outcome is a win or not. He's got another series of Juice on the way, he has just wrapped Film Club, and Dope Girls, which he extremely excited about, is coming. Then he'd like to take a little break.

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

Grooming: Hayden Cassidy, Dior UK Grooming Expert, using Dior Beauty

Now read an interview with Sagar Radia

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