Newcomer Jamie Bell plays the title character in Billy Elliot with an authentic performance drawn from his own experience as a ballet dancer. Bell began dancing at the age of six and beat out 2,000 children for the starring role. Billy Elliot is the uplifting story of a poor 11-year-old boy from a working class town in England who dreams of attending the National Ballet School. Billy secretly drops his boxing class for ballet lessons. Billy must hide his love of dancing from his father and older brother, who are coal miners on strike. Julia Walters plays the ballet instructor who inspires Billy and helps him overcome opposition from his family. Billy Elliot is the feature debut from director Stephen Daldry and also the debut film for the Universal Focus label.
For the full list of Best Actor NominOptions, click here.
NominOptions
NominOptions allow traders to buy and sell the hottest Oscar contenders with exclusive securities centered around the 73rd Academy Awards. The leading contenders for nominations are being offered in the eight major award categories.
Thirteen HSX NominOptions will be issued in each of the eight major categories beginning Jan. 18. Each NominOption is offered at H$2.50. The NominOptions will halt trading at 11 p.m. PST on Monday, Feb. 12, in preparation for Tuesday, Feb. 13, when Oscar nominations will be announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Each option of a nominated film or star will cash out at H$6.50, while those NominOptions failing to secure a nomination will delist at H$0.00.
