RISE AND SHINE
JAEDEN MARTELL, 18
Where you know him from: He fought Pennywise the clown as Bill in “It” and was in the middle of a murder investigation as the youngest member of the Thrombey clan in the 2019 whodunit comedy “Knives Out.” His most moving work came as an unusually hairy teen in “The True Adventures of Wolfboy” and in Apple’s “Defending Jacob.”
Where you’ll see him this year: Martell is starring in a hard-hitting school shooting drama called “Tunnels,” in which he plays the brother of a victim who befriends the shooter’s grandmother (Susan Sarandon).
The “It” producers struck gold with these kids: Martell, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard and Jack Dylan Grazer all work a ton now. What Martell proved this year, however, with “Wolfboy” and “Defending Jacob,” is that he has endearing dramatic chops that bring to mind ‘80s stars who had long careers, such as Matthew Broderick and Michael J. Fox. The Philadelphia native is hugely popular on social media, with 3.7 million Instagram followers, but he says it’s no big
Why he’s a standout:
deal. “Some people feel that if it’s not posted on Instagram, it didn’t happen, which I find to be untrue,” he told Rain magazine. “How many followers you have is not important in the grand scheme of things.”
TAYLOUR PAIGE, 30
Where you know her from: Playing Ahsha Hayes on VH1’s series “Hit the Floor” and Dussie Mae, girlfriend to the titular blues singer played by Viola Davis, in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Where you’ll see her this
year: In the title role of “Zola,” the 2020 Sundanceacclaimed (and then long-delayed) dramedy based on a 2015 tweetstorm about two strippers on a turbulent, violent road trip. Paige is also in the upcoming film “Boogie,” the chef-author Eddie Huang-directed story about a Chinese-American basketball player.
Why she’s a standout: The Inglewood, Calif., native has blown critics away with her two most recent performances. For Paige, it’s very important to choose roles that will resonate with audiences — black women in particular. “Being a black woman and being alive is to constantly be gaslit,” she told MTV. “To be black and to be a woman it’stoconstantly be frustrated, it’s constantly feeling less than. Black women, we’re expected to handle it . . . Both Zola and Dussie for me have a through-line with the characters that I’m trying to play, which is: How do people internalize the world that they live in?”
SIDNEY FLANIGAN, 22
Where you know her from: The acclaimed 2020 indie “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” directed by Eliza Hittman, in which Flanigan plays Autumn, a pregnant Pennsylvania teen who takes a bus trip to New York to get an abortion.
Where you’ll see her this
year: In mid-December, Flanigan said on Instagram that she would be starring in “My Twin is Dead,” a drama from director Matthew Kaundart. She’s also the singer for the Buffalo, NY, band Starjuice, as well as a solo performer.
Why she’s a standout: The singer/songwriter turned actor, who identifies as a nonbinary woman, had never acted before taking the lead role in Hittman’s movie; the director had been a fan of Flanigan’s music videos and asked the singer to audition. Flanigan, who has received critical praise for an intimately powerful performance, told the Hollywood Reporter that, as a newcomer, she relied on her skills as a musician: “I think that, as a musician, a lot of times I take another persona onstage. I have to get into a different emotional headspace in order to deliver a song a certain way. I kind of thought it applied a little bit.”
PAUL MESCAL, 24 Where you know him
from: The Hulu series “Normal People,” in which the Irish actor plays Connell, one half of the couple at the center of the racy hit drama about an on-again, off-again couple making their way through high school and college. He also starred in the Phoebe Waller-Bridge-directed video for Phoebe Bridgers’ “Savior Complex,” as well as in the video for the Rolling Stones song “Scarlet.”
Where you’ll see him this year: Mescal’s first feature film role will be alongside
Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson in “The Lost Daughter,” an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel under the directorial debut of Maggie Gyllenhaal. He is also slated to star in a film adaptation of the opera “Carmen,” directed by ballet star and emerging film director Benjamin Millepied.
Why he’s a standout: Mes cal’s quietly emotional, riveting performance in “Normal People” got fans so excited that even the omnipresent chain his character wore has an Instagram account dedicated to it. As GQ put it, watching “Normal People,” you got “the intensifying sense that you’re witnessing the making of a leading man, one who will be appearing or our screens for years and years to come.”
JESSIE BUCKLEY, 31
Where you know her from As Lyudmilla on HBO’s acclaimed miniseries “Chernobyl,”
as Queen Victoria in “Do little” and as a distracted girl friend in Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
Where you’ll see her this
year: Maggie Gyllenhaal directs Buckley in “The Lost Daughter,” in which she stars with Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Paul Mescal.
Why she’s a standout: The Irish actress had one of the year’s weirdest roles in Netflix’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.” She road trips with her boyfriend, played by Jesse Plemmons, to visit his parents’ farm, and then reality begins to warp around her. Buckley brought her theater chops to the role — she sang in the West End in “A Little Night Music,” and competed on the reality show “I’d Do Anything” to snag a role in the revival of the musical “Oliver!” Now, she’s doing more high-profile gigs, but the fame hasn’t gone to her head. “I still feel the same as when I . . . I don’t know, did ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in the Killarney Town Hall,” she told IndieWire.”
JOSH O’CONNOR, 30 Where you know him
from: As Prince Charles on Seasons 3 and 4 of Netflix’s “The Crown” and as Vicar Elton in last year’s “Emma.,” with Anya Taylor-Joy.
Where you’ll see him this
year: The Brit’s time in Buckingham Palace may be over, but he’ll soon play the romantic lead in the starry World War I film “Mothering Sunday,” alongside Olivia Colman, Glenda Jackson and Colin Firth. He’ll also talk pretty as Romeo in “Romeo & Juliet,” opposite Jessie Buckley, who is on this list, too.
Why he’s a standout:
O’Connor had a tough gig on Season 4 of “The Crown.” His cheatin’ Charles married doeeyed Diana, moved into a distant bachelor pad and treated the princess like dirt most of the time. But despite his character behaving like a cad, O’Connor miraculously brought humanity and compassion to his performance. The actor also believes the controversy behind the show’s historical accuracy is overblown. “I’ve been in it — but I’m none the wiser about the reality of Charles and Diana or the queen,” he told Town & Country. “I think our audiences are intelligent enough to know that this is drama, this is fiction.”
Where you know him
from: The “After” film series on Netflix, as Joseph in the TV series “Deputy” and opposite Richard Jenkins in the indie drama “The Last Shift.”
Where you’ll see him this
year: McGhie will appear in the new comedy “El Tonto,” actor Charlie Day’s directorial debut, which also stars Adrien Brody, John Malkovich, Edie Falco and Ray Liotta.
Why he’s a standout:
Born in Los Angeles, McGhie has been known to younger viewers for years for his role as Landon in the steamy “After” movies. But he’s leaving those behind to make actual art worthy of his talent. The actor had a magnetic everyman quality — and a heavy dose of sarcasm — in his role as a trainee burger cook named Jevon in “The Last Shift,” which premiered last year at Sundance. For the part, McGhie told Forbes he used his past experience working behind the bar at a restaurant. “I was a horrible barback,” he said. “I mixed up the bottles. I almost gave somebody alcohol who didn’t want alcohol. I was really clumsy.”