Rising stars to watch
Breakout roles have five actors poised for success in 2021
While 2020 was a strange year in so many ways, for films and stage that require crowds, the switch to streaming has drastically changed our cultural landscape.
Certain veterans like Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) and Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) have managed to carve a profile out of a hit-and-miss 2020.
But for these Rising Stars of 2021, whose big break this past year means they can step up and step out, the future looms as a brave new world.
There were no global blockbusters — they’re mostly on hold until the pandemic ends — and reduced impact virtual film festivals where unknowns get known.
At the top of any Rising Stars list stands Anya Taylor-Joy who had a pair of nicely timed touchdowns.
She first scored in “Emma,” a splendid, fairly modern yet period adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic comedic novel. Then Taylor-Joy experienced every actor’s dream: She stars in Netflix’s smash sleeper hit, the feminist-tinged chess drama “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Sidney Flanigan really is a new face and a real Rising Star, thanks to a pair of key critical wins as Best Actress in the pro-abortion drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” Flanigan had never acted before this role, yet her tender performance in “Never Rarely” wowed both the Boston and NY film critics. She may yet be an Oscar and Golden Globes nominee as well.
Youth is not always essential to being discovered and lauded as a Rising Star. “Minari,” set in the 1980s, is beloved by critics as it tells of a Korean family relocated to a farm in Arkansas. LA and Boston film critics have voted Yuh Jung Youn the year’s Best Supporting Actress for her distinctive work as a loving grandmother. She should break out into other roles this year.
London-born Kingsley Ben-Adir, a classically trained stage veteran, has won acclaim as Malcom X in Regina King’s directorial debut, “One Night in Miami,” and is being given a Best Actor campaign. “Miami” is inspired by a historic 1964 greet and meet between four legendary Black men: X, heavyweight boxing champ Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammed Ali), singer Sam Cooke (soon to be shot dead by an irate husband) and football star and future movie star Jim Brown. Ben-Adir will now make the leap from frequent Brit television guest star (“Vera,” “Midsomer Murders,” “Marple”) to leading roles.
Finally Ireland’s Clare Dunne developed the unsettling Dublinset story of “Herself,” co-wrote the screenplay and stars as a horribly abused wife and mother determined to build a new life for herself and her two young girls. This thriller showcases Dunne’s kaleidoscopic talents the way the 2018 “All Female Shakespeare Trilogy” did.