Timothée Chalamet
There is no denying the fact that Chalamet is incredibly talented; he’s the classic theatre kid who is able to act and sing. His feminine good looks, waif-ish frame, and tendency to pick sensitive roles also make him the — ahem — perfect parasocial boyfriend that female fans can obsess over. This Gen Z heartthrob needs no bulging muscles, rakish behaviour, or testosterone-fuelled antics to draw audiences to the cinema.
For Hollywood producers, Chalamet clearly has the ‘it’ factor that so many other actors lack. Call Me by Your Name catapulted him into international superstardom, and now, seven years later, he’s headlined blockbuster films such as Wonka and the Dune series. He’s also a perennial favourite on the red carpet with his androgynous good looks.
Zendaya
You know she’s made it when the star goes by a mononym. From her early beginnings as a child model and backup dancer to a short-lived music career and a Disney stint, Zendaya has proven herself to be a bona fide multi-hyphenate.
Zendaya’s success story didn’t come easy. She has had to face racial biases, which she’s commented on multiple times. But with a squeaky clean, perfectly tended-to public image and strong work ethic, she has quickly soared to the heights of the A-list and built a bankable name for herself.
To get to where she currently is, she had to shed her Disney baggage and prove herself an actor capable of taking on grown-up roles. The gamble she made was the right one: an outré turn as a drug-addled teenager in the popular but controversial series Euphoria. It opened doors for her to take on meatier rolls, all without sacrificing the wholesome image carefully cultivated by the notoriously private star.
Yes, she is a thespian! One can see that from the roles she’s since taken on — an eclectic mix of characters that has allowed her to stretch her acting muscle. It doesn’t hurt that she’s heart-achingly beautiful either, with the bone structure, stature, and stage presence that makes her the darling of the red-carpet circuit and global fashion houses.
Austin Butler
From being a Nickelodeon/Disney kid to his Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated turn as Elvis, Butler has had an amazing career trajectory.
His breakthrough came from a critically acclaimed run in the Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh in 2018, in which he starred opposite Denzel Washington. The latter was instrumental in Butler’s successful leap from child/teen actor into one with a solid Hollywood resume. Washington’s cold call to Elvis helmer Baz Luhrmann led the director to watch Butler’s heartfelt audition clip, and the rest was history.
With a penchant for working with auteur filmmakers (Luhrmann, Denis Villeneuve, Jeff Nichols, and soon, Darren Aronofsky) and the ability to electrify every scene he’s in, no matter the size of the role (see his take on Tex Watson in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Austin Butler quickly took the fast-track to bona fide Hollywood A-Listerdom.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Taylor-Joy’s ethereal, Renaissance-esque beauty is one that is easily loved by the camera, so it’s no surprise she seems to be everywhere on the small and big screen now. With a career that runs the gamut from A24 horror classic The Witch to her head-turning cameo in Dune: Part Two, to the latest blockbuster Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, she certainly knows how to pick projects that suit her best. Her headlining turn in Netflix drama The Queen’s Gambit, which was released during COVID lockdowns and became one of the streamer’s most-watched English TV series, made her a household name.
Dark, off-beat, lone-wolf characters typify the type of role she chooses, all the better to suit her atypical looks that’s magnified by her giant, expressive eyes. Her upcoming film The Gorge sees her in another action role, albeit one that is described as a ‘romantic action’ film. Does this spell a future career that’ll involve more badassery? Only time will tell.
Comedy |
2024 |
105mins
