Austin Butler
Butler went from Disney heartthrob to Oscar-nominated powerhouse, thanks to his electric performance in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.   

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 to one with a solid Hollywood resume. Washington’s cold call to Elvis helmer Luhrmann led to the director watching Butler’s heartfelt audition clip, and Butler was swiftly cast as the legendary rock star in the biopic. He has since racked up a string of auteur collaborations (Dune: Part Two, The Bikeriders, Caught Stealing). 
 
With his blend of old-school, method-acting-esque dedication, and movie-star mystique, Butler feels like the best of both eras: a matinee idol for the modern age.

Anya Taylor-Joy
Ethereally beautiful yet carrying a hint of danger, Taylor-Joy has carved out a niche playing enigmatic onscreen figures. Though she often goes for dark, off-beat, lone-wolf characters — e.g. a mysterious singer in Last Night in Soho and a silent heroine in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — she has shown a penchant for occasional unpredictability.  

Whatever role she chooses, her striking looks and sharp instincts make her a director’s dream, helping her to command every frame with poise and intensity. 
 
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. 
 
Taylor-Joy has also proven her ability to kick butt, such as in superhero flick The New Mutants and the recent Apple TV film The Gorge. She shows no sign of shying away from the genre and will next be seen in the action-comedy film Sacrifice, alongside Chris Evans. 

Florence Pugh
Since her breakout in 2016’s Lady Macbeth, Pugh has built a diverse filmography. Like some of her peers on this list, she has effortlessly toggled between indie darlings and big-budget franchises. As Yelena Belova in the MCU, she brought scene-stealing wit and vulnerability to Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, cementing herself as Marvel’s next major anchor. But she’s just as at home in a weepie drama (We Live in Time) or a sweeping epic (Oppenheimer), often infusing even her darkest roles with warmth, humour, and that signature Pugh authenticity.

Offscreen, she’s as unfiltered as her characters — from rocking transparent Valentino gowns that sent the internet spiralling to charming fans with her cooking videos and down-to-earth interviews. Sure, her adventurous fashion sense does set tongues wagging (and not always positively), but you can’t deny that her self-assurance is refreshing. Part ingénue and part powerhouse, Pugh is full-on fearless, and that is her biggest asset.

Paul Mescal
The Irish actor first came into the international limelight with a BAFTA-winning and Emmy Award-nominated turn in the acclaimed series Normal People, co-starring Daisy Edgar-Jones.   

Since then, he has flexed his acting chops in the meaty roles he has taken on, from his Academy Award-nominated performance as a depressed dad in Aftersun to his much-lauded turn as Stanley Kowalski in a West End revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, which garnered him a Laurence Olivier Award.  
 
Where his acting style is concerned, comparisons with Marlon Brando are rife — thanks to his mix of soulful vulnerability and intensity. While Mescal has yet to prove he has the commercial appeal of Brando, the Irish actor has already taken on some projects that have made waves at the box office, such as headlining 2024’s Gladiator II. 
 
But indie fans need not fear. He hasn’t forgotten his roots, most recently starring in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. He will also be starring in Richard Linklater’s ambitious film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along, which will be shot over 20 years.

Jenna Ortega
With memorable turns in the Scream franchise, a scene-stealing role in Ti West’s X, and the comedy horror film Studio 666, Ortega reigns as Gen Z’s ‘scream queen’. This is further reinforced by her headlining role in Wednesday, the spooky and pop-culture-savvy TV spin-off of The Addams Family.  

Away from the small screen, Ortega has landed roles in blockbuster movies such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, sequel to the 1988 fantasy-horror comedy classic Beetlejuice, where she stars alongside castmate Winona Ryder.

Witty and self-aware, Ortega has perfected the deadpan-cool persona that has made her a fan favourite. She’s also shown she’s able to blend spooky edge with sharp comedic timing. Time will tell whether she can establish herself as a more dramatic actor.

Jacob Elordi
In 2023, the chronically online crowd were fawning over the newest ‘babygirl’. That babygirl was, well, not a girl — it was Jacob Elordi. The internet crowned him an ‘unproblematic fave’ as he defies ‘toxic masculinity’ stereotypes by exhibiting impeccable manners and a gentle demeanour. Charming but self-effacing, he’s Hollywood’s new gentleman rebel, and the industry can’t get enough. 

From starring as a tall, hot jock in The Kissing Booth and its sequels to playing a tall, hot aristocratic dude (see where we’re going with this?) in Saltburn, Elordi has played his fair share of heartthrobs. But he isn’t a vain actor obsessed with forging a sex symbol status. More recently, he went ugly, donning heavy prosthetics to play the title character in Frankenstein, horror auteur Guillermo del Toro’s film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel. 

As of now, the charismatic Australian remains much in demand with directors (and fashion houses). He has eschewed superhero and blockbuster films in favour of indie projects that flaunt his thespian range, including 2026’s Wuthering Heights, for which he reunites with Saltburn director Emerald Fennell.

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