Fame matters mightily, especially in a world obsessed with social media. In Hollywood, where celebrity is a constantly changing variable, a new year brings hope. And for a lucky few, recognition.
The dreamers that dive into an often cruel and irrational business do so hoping that wishes, as the song says, really do come true. This year we can expect to see these rising stars showcased in vehicles that will solidify their talent and the expectations that have gotten them this far so far.
Here then the Rising Stars of 2024:
Teyana Taylor is proof that good work gets noticed. Taylor turned in a blistering, unforgettable performance in A.V. Rockwell’s darkly realistic “A Thousand and One.” A winner at Sundance, “Thousand” showcased Taylor as a single mother just out of Rikers prison who kidnaps her son in order to protect him. If few saw the film, rapturous critical acclaim meant lift-off for Taylor’s career. Now she co-stars opposite LaKeith Stanfield in the epic biblical comedy “The Book of Clarence.”
Paul Mescal, Ireland’s favorite son has already been Oscar-nominated and demonstrated his willingness to take chances with offbeat material. Come November his canonization as Hollywood’s newest A-lister comes to fruition with Ridley Scott’s big budget sequel “Gladiator 2.”
Australian Angourie Rice began acting as a child and graduated to a repeating role as Daily Bugle secretary in a trio of Marvel Spider-Man movies before moving up opposite Kate Winslet in HBO’s “Mare of Easttown.” Stepping into the Lindsay Lohan role in Tina Fey’s musical film remake of “Mean Girls” Rice goes to the head of this classy class.
Stepping into the Jamaican rhythms of a legend can’t be easy but for “Bob Marley: One Love” Kingsley Ben-Adir finds the charisma, soulful heart and courage to retell a fabled rise to international reggae stardom and an early death at 36 from cancer. England’s Ben-Adir is best known for playing Malcolm X in Regina King’s “One Night in Miami.”
Cailee Spaeny got her big break last year as Elvis Presley’s great love Priscilla Presley in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla.” She costars in Alex Garland’s (“Ex Machina”) apocalyptic epic “Civil War” where 19 states are violently seceding from the Union with an army called Western Forces. With Kristen Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Wagner Moura.
“Challengers” was pulled from last September’s Venice Film Festival because the actors’ strike made it impossible for Zendaya and Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) to attend. A steamy romantic triangle set in the world of global tennis, “Challengers” gives high visibility to Mike Faist as the 3rd point in this combustible affair. Faist was Riff, leader of the Jets, in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and will be part of a Chicago motorcycle gang in “The Bikeriders” alongside Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy.
