![\"Mekonnen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/72f5603fac2162269093b095d02f98ce324c0ad7.jpg\")
Camera IconMekonnen Knife. Credit: JSquared Photography<\/p>\nEmerging Aussie actor Mekonnen Knife says it is a \u201csurreal feeling\u201d to be nominated for the inaugural Rabanne Breakthrough Artist Award at this year\u2019s AACTA Awards.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires star is up for the award at the prestigious ceremony celebrating the best in Australian film and TV, taking place on Friday on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough artist award spotlights the nation\u2019s fastest-rising talent with other nominees including Milly Alcock, Felix Mallard, Samara Weaving, Maia Mitchell, Josh Heuston, Odessa Young and Joseph Zada.<\/p>\n
The Ethiopian-born but Queensland-raised singer and dancer said all he wanted was to be lucky enough to attend the awards, so to be nominated was \u201cpretty surreal\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start, I just wanted to be able to go to the AACTA Awards, because I\u2019ve never been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s surreal, I\u2019m super grateful, and it\u2019s been a really fun and exciting journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, it\u2019s a win in itself, to be able to be nominated alongside amazing actors and creative people and such amazing professionals at their work. It\u2019s just incredible. So no matter the outcome, I\u2019m going to be happy walking away, knowing that I was able to be in that room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camera IconMekonnen Knife. Credit: JSquared Photography<\/p>\n
The new award is about showcasing the performers helping to shape the future of Australian storytelling on the global stage, and the young star said fans could expect big things from him in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a busy year. I\u2019ll say that much,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s some really cool stuff I\u2019m excited to be diving into, and I will be kind of all over the place this year, but in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his hectic schedule, Knife reassured his fellow Aussies that he isn\u2019t leaving Down Under any time soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t leaving Australia. This is my home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love LA. I love America. It\u2019s amazing for great people, great vibes, great friends. But there\u2019s something about Australia that I\u2019m just drawn to, and it will always be my base. I don\u2019t think anything will change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Knife continues to make a name for himself in the industry, the Shake Takes star said acting was a \u201cspecial kind of art, because you get to tell a story through a different person\u2019s eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to jump into a character that\u2019s not yourself and immerse yourself in this whole new world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to take my career in a way that any project I do, it aligns with my values and the kind of storytelling I want to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to do any project just for the sake of saying I\u2019m doing that movie or I\u2019m doing that show. I want to make sure there\u2019s a real intent behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
MK ended 2025 on a high after visiting 43 cities across North America for the Descendants\/Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour, a one-of-a-kind interactive live concert experience.<\/p>\n
After spending four months on the road performing hit songs from the Disney franchise, Knife said while it was a memory he\u2019d never forget, it was \u201ctough on the body and mind\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to perform in some amazing places. I mean, Madison Square Garden, we sold it out. And it\u2019s so hard to comprehend that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to see the fans\u2019 live reaction and getting to have that one-on-one connection with fans was really special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comedian Celeste Barber will host the awards with a star-studded lineup of presenters to include Sarah Snook, Brian Cox, Dacre Montgomery, Baz Luhrmann, Sam Neill and Phoebe Tonkin.<\/p>\n
From Hollywood heavyweights to breakout stars, comedy favourites to screen legends, the AACTA Awards and Festival celebrates the depth, diversity and global impact of Australian screen storytelling.<\/p>\n
People in WA can watch the ceremony on Channel 10 at 4.30pm on Friday.<\/p>\n
A special extended AACTA Awards broadcast, including all awards from the ceremony, will be showing on Binge and Foxtel on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emerging Aussie actor Mekonnen Knife says it is a \u201csurreal feeling\u201d to be nominated for the inaugural Rabanne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134,344],"class_list":["post-460281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}