Hollywood is undeniably one of the biggest movie industries is the world right now and this is all thanks to their dedication to crucial aspects such as terrific writing, breath taking cinematography, fantastic directing and of course, great acting. And for me, acting is the most crucial of these elements. Great acting can turn bad writing, lame directing and poor cinematography into something that is still worthwhile but awful acting, oh my God, is fatal to the greatest of writings, directing and cinematographies. It is a wild fire that completely razes every other cool element. That being said, it is no doubt that for Hollywood to keep reigning as one of the kings of the movie world, the young actors of today have to armed with great acting skills and a fierce spirit to keep up with showbiz’s tough demands. And I happen to have five of such young actors who are sure killing it right now and assuring the world that Hollywood will maintain its regal title for a long, long time.
Drum rolls……………………and here they are;
Millie Bobby Brown
14-year old Millie is most acclaimed for her role as Eleven in the Netflix science fiction horror series, “Stranger Things”. Okay, honestly, I never seen any of this little girl’s works but the buzz this girl generates is no joke! My friend uploads her pictures all the time on her social media handles and it got so annoying to a point where I had to ask my friend what exactly was so special about a girl that was barely 13. And she was like, ‘Yetunde, I don’t know how to explain it. This girl has barely been given any lines on the show and yet her death stares, her facial expressions, her body language, they all give me chills!’ My friend thought that it was insane for a girl her age to speak such mammoth volumes without uttering a word. She swore that even some veterans would struggle with such role. So I really got to work on my research about Millie and learnt that she auditioned for the role of Eleven successfully without having real clues as to which kind of character Eleven was except for the fact that she was brought up in a lab and that she possessed Psychokinetic abilities. How impressive, girl.
Bonus- She even shaved her long, curly hair off at just 12, without a second thought to really get a feel of her character, even when the producers of the show initially forgot to tell her to, as it was a requirement to pass the audition. Hmmmm, when I was 12, my thick, stubborn hair was definitely one of the most important things in the world to me but this girl cut off hers so readily and determinedly, just to get into Eleven’s character completely. Hats off girl, hats off! No wonder she is the youngest person to ever feature on TIME’s 100 list of the 100 most influential people and the youngest person to be appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. No wonder she keeps winning and getting nominated for highly prestigious awards. Apart from reprising her role in the upcoming third season of Stranger Things, you can await more performances from her in “Godzilla: King of Monster”, which will soon be out in the theatres.
Finn Wolfhard
This is the lucky 16-year old guy Millie had her first kiss with. Yipee. And you guessed right. He is also a major character in “Stranger Things” and he plays Mike, Eleven’s love interest. This Canadian born star is of French, German and Jewish descent and boy, he brims with talent! He successfully auditioned for the role of Mike with a short video after seeing an open casting call and has since gone on to win hearts all over the world. In 2017, he starred as Richie Tozier in the film adaption of Stephen King’s “It”. In the same year, he was cast as Tyler, an altruistic and thoughtful pizza delivery boy, in “Dog Days”, a film directed by Ken Marino. He was also cast in “The Turning”, an adaptation of Henry James’s novella “The Turn of the screw”. In 2018, he played Young Boris Pavlikovsky, a Ukranian student and trouble maker in the John Crowley-directed adaptation of the Danna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Novel”.
Turns out that apart from acting,Wolfhard has got love for music too. He is the lead vocalist and guitarist, as well as songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band, Calpurina. Oh god, can you slow down you multi talent and stop making me question what I’m doing with my life at this age when you’re just 16?! Urgggh. Needless to say, this guy is gonna rock Hollywood big time.
Yara Shahidi
This 18-year old Persian born black beauty is most known for her starring role as Zoey Johnson on the sitcom “Black-ish” and due to her excellent performance on the show, she got a spin-off designed majorly for her, “Grown-ish”. The spin-off sees her delivering stellar acting that got the series renewed for a second season. Yara’s major appeal in Hollywood, however, comes from her brilliant advocacy for female and racial equality as well political awareness whenever she’s off screen. I didn’t even know how to spell politics when I was eighteen but this girl is so eloquent and articulate about mature issues and she uses her platform to effect positive change amongst her peers so intelligently.
Last year, she launched Eighteenx18, an initiative aimed at encouraging fellow 18-year olds to be more politically conscious and involved in the 2018 mid-term elections. Her initiatives have brought her to the attention of Oprah Winfrey as well as Michelle Obama, who wrote her a letter of recommendation to Harvard University. She was also once given the chance to interview Hilary Clinton in 2017. With her impressive reputation, it is safe to say that Hollywood has found a gem to use to relay positive messages that are guaranteed to pull in audiences. I mean, this girl has got some people canvassing for her to run for presidency in the United States, Oprah Winfrey included. Wow. Just Wow.
Timothee Chalamet
This 23-year old American and French lad is widely acclaimed for his supporting role in Greta Gerwig’s coming of age film, “Lady Bird” and his lead role in the 2017 Luca Guadagnino’s romantic drama “Call me by your name” where he plays a seventeen year old Elio who begins a relationship with Oliver, his father’s research assistant, played by Armie Hammer, with whom he bonds over his emerging sexuality. To prepare for his widely praised role in Call me by your name, Timothee had to travel to Italy for three months to learn Italian and how to play the piano and guitar. Seriously, I can’t get over how American actors, especially young ones like these, go extra miles just to perfectly portray a character. The dedication and hard work they put into their craft is so awing and inspiring.
Tim’s sensual portrayal of his character rightfully earned him many awards including an Oscars nomination for Best Actor, thus, making him the third-youngest nominee in the category and the youngest since Mickey Rooney in 1939. He was even compared to Leonardo DiCaprio due to his awesome acting. Last year, he portrayed a drug-addicted teenager in the drama “Beautiful Boy”, for which he received nominations for Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA Awards all for best Supporting Actor. To see more of this obviously very talented youngster’s performances, watch out for his upcoming films; “Little Women”, “Dune” and “The French Dispatch”. What a blessed busy guy.
Anna Taylor-Joy
If you are totally into horror films or dark genres, here’s your new honey. This 22-year old has carved a niche for herself as someone who can play strong-willed women in dark thrillers. She starred in the “The Witch” (2015) and “Split” (2016). Her latest film, the black comedy thriller film “Thoroughbreds” (2018) is said to be her darkest yet. Taylor-Joy has been the recipient of the Cannes Film Festival’s Trophee Chopard and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
Speaking with The Guardian on why she invests herself in strong, dark roles, she said, “I think there’s such humanity in darkness and pain. In terms of working in movies, it’s really fun to play out dark stuff because you get to feel out the extent of your emotions and your brackets of what’s acceptable are so much wider in those types of film so it’s fun to play.” I get you girl I get you. Nice and normal girls can be quite boring to watch.
The budding star also added that, “Whenever I’ve got a girlfriend role, I’ve sent it back like ‘Eh? Why?’ I’m excited for this era of women that we are stepping into right now, where people understand that everyone’s a person and they’ve all got a lot more going on underneath the surface than you might actually think.”
I love this girl! Defying norms and carving out niches are absolutely cool! Check out this new horror queen next in Josh Doone’s X-men horror movie “The New Mutants”.
So there you have it, the latest young stars rising to the highest ladder in Hollywood. Their stunning performances, skills, determination, hard work, consistency and vision give assurance that Hollywood will continue to live up to its golden reputation in the movie world.