Time to shine
The overnight success story in Hollywood is as much of a fairy tale as its movies. Years of training, sacrifice and failed attempts at stardom typically define the experience of entertainers before that breakthrough moment occurs. We shine the spotlight o
BEANIE FELDSTEIN
Beanie Feldstein has been a Broadway buff since she was a kid. She was obsessed with musicals, and spent years watching shows on the Great White Way. So when she was cast opposite Bette Midler in the revival of Hello, Dolly, she had already hit a career milestone.
The universe gave Feldstein even more in 2017. The 24-yearold is also getting raves for her role in Lady Bird, one of the most acclaimed movies of the year and a likely Oscar nominee. It’s been an enchanted year indeed for Feldstein, but there was a time when singing and acting — her lifelong dream — was in jeopardy.
“When I was nine and 10, I couldn’t speak, and I completely had to relearn to sing and talk,” said Feldstein, who said she struggled with vocal issues while growing up. “So, that was the moment when I was like, will I be able to do this?”
She eventually regained her voice and fresh out of college, landed her first movie role. Following in the footsteps of her older brother, actor Jonah Hill, she started her film career in comedy with Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.
KUMAIL NANJIANI
The Big Sick star Kumail Nanjiani is heading into awards season with a mix of fear and excitement.
After grossing nearly US$43 million at the box office, the charming crowd-pleaser picked up two Film Independent Spirit Award nominations and is considered a front-runner for Academy Award nods. “It’s very scary. It’s not something that we had really considered at all,” said Nanjiani of his film’s Oscar buzz. “It’s cool to be in the conversation with so many great movies.”
The Big Sick, which earned two Screen Actors Guild nominations, follows Nanjiani’s courtship of real-life wife (and film cowriter) Emily V. Gordon through cultural conflicts and sickness. Nanjiani stars alongside Zoe Kazan in the Michael Showalter-directed film.
“When we were showing it at Sundance, we were sitting next to each other at the first screening and (Gordon) was like, ‘This is the last time it will be our story,’” Nanjiani said. “Definitely, you can’t take it back. You know, we meet strangers and they think they know us because they do kind of know us.”
MILLICENT SIMMONDS
Adjusting to life in the spotlight has been quite a transition for Hollywood newcomer Millicent Simmonds. The 14-yearold deaf actress, who earned rave reviews for her breakout role in Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck, said being away from her family in Utah has been one of the toughest challenges.
“It’s a new world for somebody who’s going through this, so you have to get used to both things that happen to you — both the good and the bad,” said Simmonds.
The talented ninth-grader hopes to inspire young fans and people with disabilities to follow their dreams.
“Deaf people should challenge the status quo and should be represented out there. You know, even deaf-blind people or people who have other physical disabilities should also be supported,” she said.
Simmonds, who’s already filmed a horror movie with John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, had a typical teenage existence until her drama teacher encouraged her to audition for the part of Rose, a young deaf girl in Haynes’ period drama.
“I thought, you know, my life would just be average and normal like everybody else’s — except this one thing happened,” she said.
PATTY JENKINS
Some people have breakout years. Director Patty Jenkins had one with Monster in 2003, a movie that earned Charlize Theron a best actress Academy Award.And then there are breakTHROUGH years.
This year, Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, was a mega-hit. Pulling in US$816 million worldwide, it was the most successful live-action film ever directed by a woman.
“I think we tried very hard to stay true to the spirit of the Wonder Woman that I love and grew up loving,” Jenkins said. “But really, it’s an opportunity to rediscover what that Wonder Woman is and because that Wonder Woman is so near and dear to my heart, it actually ended up being an opportunity to make this incredibly personal film for many of us about just struggling to be a good person and find her inner hero.”
While the silence-breakers of the #MeToo movement were Time magazine’s Person of the Year, Patty Jenkins was No. 7 on the short list.
The tagline said it all: “The director re-defining how the world sees women.”
BROOKLYNN PRINCE
Seven-year-old Brooklynn Prince’s performance as Moonee, a brash, troublemaking pipsqueak living with her mom (Bria Vinaite) in a low-rent Orlando motel in The Florida Project, may be the most spirited thing of 2017. Brooklynn is the exuberant energy at the centre of one the year’s most acclaimed films, and some believe she should be the youngest Oscar nominee ever. Brooklynn included.
“I really want to be nominated,” she says. “Even if I get close to nominated, that’s a real honour. I never thought I would have this chance. It’s this crazy little movie that’s everywhere. Now I know that this is really what I want. My mom and dad aren’t pushing me for this. It’s what I want. Acting is, like, my life and I want to keep doing it forever.”
SZA
Yes, SZA, 28, is easily in the running for best new act of 2017. But her uber-successful year really puts her in the running for female artist of the year: She’s had multiple songs chart in the Top 40 in a year when male acts overwhelmingly dominated, and she’s the most nominated woman at the upcoming Grammy Awards with five.
“It’s wild. It’s awesome . ... Like, I’m in awe. Like, in full-blown awe,” said SZA, competing for honours like best new artist and best urban contemporary album.
SZA, born Solana Rowe, won critical praise six months ago with the release of her majorlabel debut, Ctrl, earning a rapid fan base online for her honest lyrics and vocal delivery. She’s co-written hits for Rihanna and Beyoncé, recently picked up two Soul Train Awards and is nominated for four honours at the NAACP Awards.
“It’s too overwhelming. I didn’t even know what to say,” she said of her successes. “It almost felt like, ‘Be quiet because you don’t even know how this is happening to you. So you need to just thank the Lord and move forward.’”
SZA is even stretching outside of her R&B background: Her collaboration with Maroon 5, the upbeat pop smash What Lovers Do, reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
DANIEL KALUUYA
When Daniel Kaluuya read Jordan Peele’s script for Get Out, he had one question: “Are you allowed to make films like this?”
Peele proved that you are; Kaluuya, a 28-year-old British actor, landed the lead role. And his life hasn’t been the same since. Get Out became a box-office sensation, a cultural landmark and an unlikely Oscar contender. Previously an upand-coming actor with a few notable roles in film, theatre and television, Kaluuya has been catapulted not just into awards season, but has since co-starred in two much anticipated films: Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther and Steve McQueen’s Widows.
“It’s been a life-changing year,” Kaluuya, who was just nominated for a Golden Globe best actor trophy, said in a recent interview.
It started with Get Out. Kaluuya anchors the thriller as the protagonist Chris Washington, a black man whose first visit to the family home of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams) becomes a terrifying descent into a racist reality seldom depicted on screen from a black perspective.
“I felt like this was going to make people really uncomfortable for the right reasons,” said Kaluuya. “Racism is like a horror movie. Black kids die because of racism. I don’t know what’s more horrifying than that.”