| BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | |
| Presenter: | British Academy of Film and Television Arts |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1952 (presented 1953) |
| Year2: | 1984 (presented 1985) |
| Website: | http://www.bafta.org/ |
The British Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles is a discontinued British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) until 1984.
The category has had several name changes throughout its history, as detailed on the recipient's list below:
A similar award honoring new acting talent, the Rising Star Award, was introduced in 2006. Even though its nominees are selected by the BAFTA juries, the eventual Rising Star winner is decided by public votes via text, internet, or phone.
In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year.
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | |||
| Judy Davis | My Brilliant Career | Sybylla Melvyn | |
| Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands | Flor | ||
| Gregory's Girl | Gregory Underwood | ||
| Urban Cowboy | Sissy Davis | ||
| Joe Pesci | Raging Bull | Joey LaMotta | |
| Mephisto | Hendrik Hoefgen | ||
| Ordinary People | Conrad Jarrett | ||
| Cathy Moriarty | Raging Bull | Vicki Thailer | |
| Ben Kingsley | Gandhi | Mahatma Gandhi | |
| Drew Barrymore | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Gertie | |
| Henry Thomas | Elliott | ||
| Body Heat | Matty Walker | ||
| Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film | |||
| Phyllis Logan | Another Time, Another Place | Janie | |
| Kevin Kline | Sophie's Choice | Nathan Landau | |
| Greta Scacchi | Heat and Dust | Olivia Rivers | |
| Julie Walters | Educating Rita | Susan "Rita" White | |
| Haing S. Ngor | The Killing Fields | Pran | |
| Another Country | Guy Bennett | ||
| Cal | Cal | ||
| The Hit | Myron | ||
A: Rules from the 1960s to the 1970s allowed for a performer to receive a single citation which could honor their work in more than one film. Faye Dunaway and Jodie Foster were both nominated for their roles in two different films in the same category.