Next Gen Talent 2019: Hollywood’s Rising Young Stars Revealed

Next Gen Talent 2019: Hollywood's Rising Young Stars Revealed

November 6, 2019   |   Written by Bryn Elise Sandberg, Rebecca Ford, and Mia Galuppo

From HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ breakouts to a ‘Daily Show’ comic and the new Little Mermaid, meet 25 talents positioned for big- and small-screen stardom.

Get to know these names. Whether they’re leading tentpole films (Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu, Mulan‘s Liu Yifei) or fronting must-see-TV (Pose‘s Indya Moore, Unbelievable‘s Kaitlyn Dever), this batch of 25 rising stars are here to stay. They’re who every producer in town is looking to cast, agent is vying to sign and studio is hoping will carry their next franchise. From recent big-screen breakouts like Once Upon a Time’s Margaret Qualley and The Last Black Man in San Francisco‘s Jonathan Majors to a handful of stars from one of the year’s hottest shows (Euphoria), The Hollywood Reporter anoints the top emerging talent of 2019.

Hunter Schafer, 20

The breakouts in HBO’s Euphoria are almost too many to name individually, but Schafer deserves special kudos for the fact that she seemingly came out of nowhere. It’s the model and actress’ first acting gig — though landing a major role opposite Zendaya in the raw high school drama is hardly her first major accomplishment. While she was still in her early teens, the young activist rose to prominence when she and her father became two of the most outspoken protestors against North Carolina’s HB2 — the ultimately repealed “bathroom bill” that sought to keep Schafer and her fellow transgender peers from using the public restrooms of their gender identity.

I’D LOVE TO HAVE A CAREER LIKE 

“Tilda Swinton or Anohni.”

PERSON I’M DYING TO WORK WITH

Janet Mock

I’D LOVE TO STAR IN A REMAKE OF

Suspiria

IF I WEREN’T AN ACTOR, I’D BE 

“Pursuing fashion design.”

FIRST APP I USE IN THE MORNING

“The clock app to turn off all five-plus alarms I set.”

LAST SHOW I BINGED

Succession

ONSCREEN CHARACTER I MOST IDENTIFIED WITH AS A KID

“Raven in Teen Titans Go!”

PERSON I’VE BEEN MOST STARSTRUCK BY

“Justin Leblanc from Project Runway when I was 15.”

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