THR's 20 New Stars to Watch. Plus Ezra Miller.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 1:01PM by Nathaniel R
Remember when the release of Vanity Fair's "Hollywood Issue" used to be so exciting for its semi-frequent attempts to predict who would be the next big things? You could spot future superstars as well as divine which actors, great future or not, had hustling agents that managed to snag them covers with little actual work to back that up. The Hollywood Reporter is trying their hand at something similar with their new issue, which has four cover stars, two of whom (Awkwafina, Ezra Miller) aren't listed within the "NextGen" list presumably because they've already "arrived"? We don't know. The other two cover stars (Letitia Wright, Noah Centineo) are represented on the list after the jump...
20 NextGen
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (32) from Aquaman, The Get Down, and future projects Watchmen and Us
Jovan Adepo (30) from The Leftovers, Fences, and future projects Overlord and Central Park Five
Nicholas Braun (30) from How to be Single, Succession and future project Zola
Noah Centineo (22) from To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Jodie Comer (25) from The White Princess and Killing Eve
Lana Condor (21) from To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Winston Duke (31) from Black Panther, and future projects Us, Heroine, and Wonderland
Winston Duke and Stephan James by Eric Ryan Anderson
Stephan James (24) from Selma, If Beale Street Could Talk and future project 17 Bridges
Jharrel Jerrome (21) from Moonlight, and future project Central Park Five
Kiki Layne (26) from If Beale Street Could Talk and future project Native Son
Jorge Lendeborg Jr (22) from Love Simon, Bumblebee, and future project Alita: Battle Angel
Mena Massoud (27) from Jack Ryan and future project Aladdin
Thomasin McKenzie (18) from Leave No Trace and future projects Jojo Rabbit, and Lost Girls
Sonoya Mizuno (32) from Crazy Rich Asians, Maniac, and future project Devs
Kathryn Newton (21) from Big Little Lies, Blockers, Ben is Back and future project Detective Pikachu
Florence Pugh (22) from Lady Macbeth and future project The Little Drummer Girl and Little Women
Eliza Scanlen (19) from Sharp Objects and future project Little Women
Sidney Sweeney (21) from The Handmaid's Tale and future project Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Geraldine Viswanathan (23) from Blockers and future projects Bad Education, and Hala
Letitia Wright (25) from Black Mirror and Black Panther
Thomas McKenzie from Leave No Trace. Photographed by Eric Ryan Anderson
Given that they've been so careful to make it a majority female / majority POC list, it's a bit annoying that they couldn't find a way to single out any LGBTQ actors (was Amandla Stenberg too busy to book a THR shoot? Is Hollywood already over Keiynan Lonsdale?) but at least Ezra Miller (who identifies as queer) gets one of the covers despite not being on the list. Ezra is hitting the publicity rounds hard at the moment since he also got a big profile this week in GQ.
Reader Comments (9)
Is Awkwafina not bisexual? Could've sworn I read in interview with her that she said as much.
Mareko -- not sure. the only thing i've read her say about it is in this interview but mostly she just says that people were disappointed to find out she has a boyfriend because they thought she was gay due to "My Vag"
Mizuno is killing it this year with Maniac and Crazy Rich Asians, but good god she was amazing in Ex Machina.
Nathaniel, I was checking your Film Bitch Awards for a Twitter thing (you're my spiritual guide despite the love for The Great Showman) and I can't find Armie Hammer in the acting categories.
Are you immune to this charms in Call Me by Your Name?
I did not realize Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen were also in the Little Women remake by Greta Gerwig. That movie has a great cast. I would totally invest in both of them for bigger stardom, along with Sonoya Mizuno and Stephan James -- they all seem really talented. I have always been fond of Ezra Miller and hope he continues to do well.
So... I guess the campaign for Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie for LEAVE NO TRACE has just begun...!
Peggy Sue -- i thought he was very charming / sexy but not one of the best performances of the year.
Oh, interesting! I absolutely loved him (and I wasn't a fan before). He reminded me of William Hurt in Broadcast News who gave light and a new meaning to my nights in the 80s
The cover did say "Awkwafina and 21 skyrocketing stars" so it's actually 22 with her and Ezra Miller.