Are these the rising stars of British cinema? Why Daisy Bevan, Tom Holland and Cressida Bonas are leading the pack of young actors set to be the next big thing

  • Daisy Bevan, 23, is daughter of Joely Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave 
  • The young actress currently has a jam-packed filming schedule 
  • Bevan leads a small army of up-and-coming young British actors
  • Tom Holland, Imogen Waterhouse and Asa Butterfield all names to watch 

The latest generation of the Redgrave acting dynasty could prove to be the most famous yet.

Daisy Bevan, the daughter of Joely Richardson and granddaughter of Vanessa Redgrave, already has an impressive portfolio of stage roles behind her and is about to grace our screens in a two-part drama for the BBC, The Outcast, which airs this Sunday night.

The 23-year-old, who's biggest role to date has been playing opposite Viggo Mortensen in The Two Faces Of January, is definitely busy, with a hectic filming schedule. 

The wavy-haired star has recently returned from making a movie in Italy - in which she plays the romantic lead - and, earlier this month, took time to open the East End Film Festival with another picture, 'One Crazy Thing'.

Daisy Bevan, 23, is the heiress to the Redgrave acting dynasty and says there is definitely expectation on her young shoulders...but not necessarily pressure

Daisy Bevan, 23, is the heiress to the Redgrave acting dynasty and says there is definitely expectation on her young shoulders...but not necessarily pressure

Meant to be: Daisy comes from fine theatrical stock; her mother is Joely Richardson, father film producer Tim Bevan and grandmother Vanessa Redgrave

Meant to be: Daisy comes from fine theatrical stock; her mother is Joely Richardson, father film producer Tim Bevan and grandmother Vanessa Redgrave

The young actress is the fifth generation of the Redgrave dynasty to enter the acting world but she doesn't let it phase her.

She told The Times recently: 'If it was five generations of teachers or lawyers, there would be a certain expectation for the next generation: what are they going to be like compared to the previous generation?'

She continues: 'It's hard because it isn't your own thing, it's also a family thing. I don't know if it's an added pressure but it's an added something. How could there not be?'  

The daughter of film producer Tim Bevan, Daisy studied for two years at The Lee Strasberg Theatre And Film Institute in New York. 

Although fame is something that has very much been a part of her life, she finds the concept of it bizarre. 'That whole fame world is something that personally turns me away from acting. I think it is such a strange world, constantly being under scrutiny,' she said.

Ms Bevan leads a small army of young English thespians making waves in the acting world. Here, FEMAIL reveals a handful of names that you might not recognise yet... but who are hot on the heels of Eddie Redmayne's Oscar.

 

IMOGEN WATERHOUSE 

Imogen Waterhouse - or Immy - as she's known, studied at the Oxford School of Drama and although currently pursuing a modelling career has talked of her desire to act

The sister of Burberry star Suki Waterhouse, Imogen - or 'Immy' as she prefers to be known - might already be a familiar face thanks to her own forays into the world of modelling. 

The blonde-haired drama student is signed up to an agency and, despite not being as leggy as some of her catwalk peers, is happily following in her sibling's footsteps.

The Hammersmith-raised star has already graced the cover of Tatler and given interviews to Vogue but it's acting that is her first love. 

The Chelsea fan studied at Oxford School of Drama and has talked of her dream to get on stage. Watch this space.

 

EMERALD FENNELL 

Actress and author Emerald Fennell has already appeared in Call the Midwife and has just penned her first book, a dark thriller called Monsters

Actress and author Emerald Fennell has already appeared in Call the Midwife and has just penned her first book, a dark thriller called Monsters

With a back-catalogue of roles that already includes hit BBC one show Call the Midwife and Anna Karenina, the daughter of celebrity jeweller Theo Fennell is emerging as one of our most versatile talents.

She studied at Marlborough College – alma mater of the Middleton sisters - and fell in love with acting thanks to a positive teacher: ‘I am lucky to have gone there. There was an amazing drama teacher, Mr Bryant, who was hugely inspiring,’ she said.

After accepting a place to read at English at Oxford, theatrical agent Lindy King, who also represents Keira Knightley, snapped her up.

Theatre, television and film roles have followed but Emerald's latest project involves a different skill. She's penned a 'dark thriller' entitled Monsters which is to be published soon.

 

TOM HOLLAND 

Ready for his biggest stage yet, Tom Holland has just been cast as Spider-Man. Pictured at the BAFTA 'Breakthrough Brits' event at Burberry

Ready for his biggest stage yet, Tom Holland has just been cast as Spider-Man. Pictured at the BAFTA 'Breakthrough Brits' event at Burberry

Still in his teens, Tom Holland has already been cast in high profile roles; he played Naomi Watt's son in the 2012 tsunami drama 'The Impossible' and also appeared in the hit adaptation of Wolf Hall.

However, the little-known English actor will have a baptism of fire when filming starts on the new Spider-Man film, set for release in 2017. Holland, 19, will play Spider-Man's teenage alter ego Peter Parker as a high-school student in the upcoming, yet-to-be titled film.

He follows in the footsteps of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, who have portrayed the comic book superhero at older stages of his life in the five previous movies, and became household names after the films were released.

 

ASA BUTTERFIELD  

Blue-eyed boy: Asa Butterfield has grown up in front of the camera lens. Pictured at the Moet British Independent Film Awards last year

Blue-eyed boy: Asa Butterfield has grown up in front of the camera lens. Pictured at the Moet British Independent Film Awards last year

Eighteen-year-old blue-eyed Asa Butterfield is best known for his role in Second World War tearjerker The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas but has also been seen in comedy Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang in 2010.  

Most recently the Islington-born acting star has taken on more grown up roles, appearing in Morgan Matthews's X+Y.

He may have missed out on the Spider-Man role to Tom Holland but Asa still has plenty of big films up his sleeve including punk period piece Ten Thousand Saints, which also stars Ethan Hawke and is set for US release in August.

 

GEMMA CHAN 

Gemma Chan swapped a career in law for acting and appeared in Channel Four hit Humans, pictured at the premiere in June

Gemma Chan swapped a career in law for acting and appeared in Channel Four hit Humans, pictured at the premiere in June

The pretty actress dates comedian Jack Whitehall, pictured together at the opening day of Wimbledon this year

The pretty actress dates comedian Jack Whitehall, pictured together at the opening day of Wimbledon this year

With a starring role in Channel Four's creepy cyborg drama Humans, Gemma Chan's profile is set to soar. 

The 32-year-old, who has been dating comedian Jack Whitehall since 2011, has also been seen on our screens in Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

After studying law at Oxford, she chose the theatre over the bar and signed up at the Drama Centre at the University of Arts London.

She told the Telegraph recently that acting definitely won out when it came to career choices: 'When I finished my law degree, I was offered a job at a big firm in London, but the long hours and being bound to a desk weren’t for me. 

'I still find the law an interesting subject. But I would have been pretty miserable as a corporate lawyer.' 

 

CRESSIDA BONAS 

Cressida dated Prince Harry for two years, after being introduced to him in 2012 by Princess Eugenie and hasn't looked back since...the willowy blonde looks poised for Hollywood stardom

Cressida dated Prince Harry for two years, after being introduced to him in 2012 by Princess Eugenie and hasn't looked back since...the willowy blonde looks poised for Hollywood stardom

Since parting ways with Prince Harry and the Royal Family last year, Cressida Bonas' career has seen a huge boost.

Cressida, who recently partied at Glastonbury, has bagged herself a modelling contract with Mulberry, starred in a West End stage play and is destined to act alongside Dame Judi Dench. As her star rises, it's unlikely she regrets her high-profile romance.

 

CHARLIE ROWE 

Charlie Rowe, 19,  was most recently seen in Fox medical comedy-drama series Red Band Society.

Charlie Rowe, 19, was most recently seen in Fox medical comedy-drama series Red Band Society.

Seen in the haunting adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Charlie Rowe has enjoyed high profile television and film roles throughout his teens with his breakthrough being 2007 fantasy film The Golden Compass. 

Now aged 19, the Islington-born actor was most recently seen in Fox medical comedy-drama series Red Band Society. Charlie too was up for the Spider-Man role, testament to his hot property status.

 

GENEVIEVE GAUNT

Cambridge-educated actress Genevieve Gaunt is set to star in Slapper and Me, a coming-of-age film set in the 1970s, this summer

Cambridge-educated actress Genevieve Gaunt is set to star in Slapper and Me, a coming-of-age film set in the 1970s, this summer

Born in London in 1991, Genevieve - or ‘Gigi’ - left Cambridge University, where she acted in The Seagull opposite Lily Cole, with a first in English in 2013.

Acting since the age of 12, she played the role of Draco Malfoy’s girlfriend Pansy Parkinson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004. 

Her star is in the ascendance and she will soon be seen in Slapper and Me, a coming-of-age film set in the 1970s about a working-class boy with a no-hope racing greyhound called Slapper. 

‘Seventies gear is really fun,’ said Gigi, who now shops for vintage finds on London’s Brick Lane. That is when she’s not playing her saxophone or sweating it out at Bikram yoga.

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