‘Sex Education’, ‘It’s A Sin’ And ‘In The Earth’ Stars Unveiled As BAFTA Breakthroughs

Leading actors from It’s a Sin, Sex Education and Ben Wheatley horror In the Earth have been named on BAFTA’s latest Breakthrough cohort, supported by Netflix.

A jury comprised of the likes of Jerk creator Tim Renkow and Virtues star Niamh Algar unveiled the 36 young hopefuls from the UK and U.S. this afternoon, including It’s a Sin’s Lydia West, who played Jill Baxter in Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 miniseries; Sex Education’s George Robinson, who plays Isaac in the Netflix series,;and In the Earth’s Ellora Torchia.

The list mainly features off-screen talent and is majority British, including Censor director Prano Bailey-Bond and We Are Lady Parts casting director Aisha Bywaters. Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia writer Sarah Lampert is one of the U.S. winners for the initiative, which is supported by the SVoD.

Winners will receive one-to-one industry meetings and group roundtable sessions, access to career coaching and free access to BAFTA’s virtual program of events and screenings for 12 months.

“These 36 individuals have demonstrated extraordinary creativity in film, games, and television,” said BAFTA CEO Amanda Berry.

“As part of this initiative, I am absolutely delighted that they will benefit from support at a critical point in their careers, peer-to-peer networking opportunities and industry meetings.”

BAFTA Breakthrough has championed more than 160 newcomers since launching in 2013, including the likes of Florence Pugh, Letitia Wright, Rocks star Bukky Bakray and I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu.