Micheal Ward

IMAGINE BEING A YOUNG ACTOR AND GETTING CAST IN A FILM DIRECTED by Sam Mendes. Oh, and your co-stars are going to be Olivia Colman and Colin Firth....all of whom have earned Oscars. Most would be intimidated, but not Micheal Ward, who plays Stephen in Empire of Light (December 9).

- H. Alan Scott

I'd never go and say, 'Oh, you know, my next film, I'd love to work with Sam Mendes." Set in an English coastal town in the 1980s, Ward says the drama is "more than a love letter to cinema and even to the period, it's really just a complex story." Even though Ward isn't old enough to have experienced the '80s himself, "Sam just set up this environment for you to really do your best work." While Ward might be a self-proclaimed "rookie," his performance is generating a bit of Oscar buzz, but he'd rather focus his attention on the work. "I feel truly blessed to be able to tell a story with the people we've been able