It’s been over 25 years since filmmaker Christopher Nolan first considered creating an epic based on the story of Dunkirk and now, the resulting film is finally available to watch in cinemas.
While much has been said about the movie in recent weeks - you can read our totally spoiler-free review here - there’s one thing we haven’t been able to do properly: Introduce its most promising young stars.
While ‘Dunkirk’ boasts Hollywood heavyweights including Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Sir Mark Rylance and Sir Kenneth Branagh, it also presents a host of younger, promising actors who are relatively new to the film world.
And with ‘Dunkirk’ now out, it’s about time to get to know them a little better.
Allow us to be of assistance...
Fionn Whitehead plays Tommy
Fionn takes the lead in ‘Dunkirk’ and - at risk of sounding like school teachers - we’re pretty confident he’s going to go on to great things.
Born in London, Fionn began acting at the age of 13, but has just one previous on-screen credit, in the form of three episodes of mini-series ‘Him’. He will be back on the big screen soon though, starring alongside Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci in ‘The Children Act’.
Aneurin Barnard plays Gibson
Welsh actor Aneurin has been working in the entertainment industry for over a decade, but it’s in recent years that he’s began to move into the spotlight. British TV fans will probably recognise him from ITV miniseries ‘Cilla’, in which he played the title character’s partner, Bobby.
Last year, he also appeared in the TV series ‘War & Peace’ - alongside fellow ‘Dunkirk’ star Jack Lowden - and BBC Three’s hit drama ‘Thirteen’.
He also has an Olivier Award, after winning Best Actor In A Musical for ‘Spring Awakening’ back in 2010.
Tom Glynn-Carney plays Peter
Tom is one of a number of ‘Dunkirk’ stars who can count the movie as their feature film debut, but theatre fans have had plenty of chances to see him.
At the moment, he’s treading the boards in ‘The Ferryman’ at the Royal Court, and his previous stage credits include ‘Macbeth’ (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) and ‘Peter Pan’ (Lyric Theatre Lowry).
Harry Styles plays Alex
Yes, we know, most people already know who Harry is, but as this is the former One Direction star’s first feature film, we’re going to introduce him, ok?
Until now, Harry’s only experience of film has come in the form of two 1D concert films and director Christopher Nolan has insisted that the singer landed the role on merit - which is something we agree with, following our sneak peek.
Barry Keoghan plays George
Irish actor Barry has already had a taste of the spotlight, thanks to ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’, which premiered to rave reviews at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. To top it off, The Hollywood Reporter picked him as the recipient of their ‘Next Big Thing’ prize at the prestigious festival.
His career started closer to home though, with a role in the Irish series ‘Love/Hate’.
‘Dunkirk’ is out in UK cinemas now.
