EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
GLIMPSE THESE STARS-IN-THE- MAKING Some of the following actors are just getting started; others are on the cusp of breaking through after years on the sidelines. Niki Boyle picks out fi ve of the most exciting acting talents at EIFF this year who you’ll be seeing more of in the near future
DANE DEHAAN AMY SEIMETZ
KELLY REILLY
NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI LAURA FRASER
Following recurring roles in two semi-popular TV series (Timbo in vamp drama True Blood; Jesse in Gabriel Byrne psychiatry series In Treatment), DeHaan was able to fully showcase his vulnerable-but-dangerous side in underrated handheld superhero movie Chronicle. Since then, he’s displayed a canny talent for picking interesting roles – he played Ryan Gosling’s grown-up offspring in The Place Beyond the Pines, Shia LaBeouf’s best pal in Lawless and the unstable Lucien Carr in Beat drama Kill Your Darlings. Currently earning superhero megabucks as Harry Osborn in the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, he’s also the star of lower-key rom-zom-com Life After Beth, screening at EIFF. ■ Life After Beth, Cineworld, Thu 26 Jun; Filmhouse, Fri 27 Jun. 16 THE LIST 12 Jun–10 Jul 2014
Perhaps most familiar as the star of EIFF 2013’s bewildering standout, Upstream Colour, Seimetz has been crafting a decidedly indie career over the past decade. As well as dabbling in a variety of bizarre-sounding short projects (she’s credited as Rollerblading Death Dolphin in the upcoming Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse), she’s racked up supporting roles in the likes of morbid comedy Wristcutters: A Love Story and Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture. She’s also displayed a taste for the new generation of horror, having worked on Adam Wingard’s You’re Next and Ti West’s The Sacrament. She appears at this year’s fest alongside fellow up- and-comer Julia Garner in I Believe in Unicorns. ■ I Believe in Unicorns, Cineworld, Mon 23 & Sun 29 Jun. Earning early TV credits via The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Poirot, Reilly made her name in quintessentially British comedy / dramas in the early-mid 00s: Hugh Laurie romcom Maybe Baby, pub dramedy Last Orders, Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice, Stephen Frears’ Mrs Henderson Presents (she also appeared alongside an equally fresh- faced Michael Fassbender in hoodie horror Eden Lake). Her highest-proi le work to date includes supporting roles in big-budget American productions like Sherlock Holmes and Flight, though we much preferred her as Brendan Gleeson’s daughter in superlative Irish comedy-drama Calvary this year. She’s among the strong British contingent supporting Elijah Wood in Dylan Thomas biopic Set Fire to the Stars at EIFF. ■ Set Fire to the Stars, Cineworld, Mon 23 Jun; Odeon Lothian Road, Tue 24 Jun.
Siddiqui (who, in Bollywood style, is sometimes mononymically known as Nawaz) is one of our more experienced ‘ones to watch’, having featured in a series of major Indian releases including Black Friday, New York, Peepli Live and Kahaani. He’s on the verge of breaking through to Western audiences thanks to two of his most recent projects: the epic two-parter Gangs of Wasseypur (which aimed to be something of a Hindi Godfather) and beautifully understated romance The Lunchbox. In Liar’s Dice, his EIFF entry, he stars as an army deserter who helps a young mother in the search for her missing husband. ■ Liar’s Dice, Cineworld, Thu 19 & Sat 28 Jun. Like Kelly Reilly, Glasgow- born Fraser has done her share of domestic cinema (an early part in hometown crime drama Small Faces; later roles in 16 Years of Alcohol and The Flying Scotsman) and larger Hollywood fare (Heath Ledger’s blacksmith in A Knight’s Tale; ‘The Future’ in Tom Cruise mind-bender Vanilla Sky). Her highest proi le TV role to date might have been BBC lesbian drama Lip Service, were it not for a signii cant role in the i nal seasons of Breaking Bad: she played Lydia Rodart-Quayle, Walter White’s internationally minded business partner. She reunites with Small Faces director Gillies MacKinnon in Castles in the Sky, a WWII radar drama starring Eddie Izzard. ■ Castles in the Sky, Filmhouse, Mon 23 Jun; Cineworld, Sat 28 Jun.