Lest we forget – and it’s certainly easy to in these strange times – 2020 is the start of a new decade and thus a natural springboard to thinking about the immediate future of our lives, our world, the things we watch and the experiences we take part in. Those musings have been adjusted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in practically every respect, and the short-term outlook of cinematic output hasn’t been immune. Box offices are closed, big-name movie festivals are in limbo and blockbusters’ release dates have shifted back on the calendar.
But it’s the start of a new decade nonetheless, and film remains inevitable. Just as inevitable is the gradual arrival of a new generation of actors, many of whom are already here and have been for some time. You might know about Lucas Hedges, Riley Keough and Jessie Buckley. You certainly know about Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet and Margot Robbie. They might remind us of stars we grew up watching, and they're equally as exciting in their own right. But they're far from the only ones.
In the spirit of looking forward and anticipating a movie industry operating at full strength once again, here are some actors who may very well play a role in how we’ll look back on the decade in film 10 years from now. Some are closer to the precipice of stardom than others, most are still in their 20s (or younger) and all have at least one credit that is among the past few years’ standout up-and-comer performances. I’ve gone ahead and listed that “essential watch” for each, as well as how you can watch it right now.
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
The 25-year-old’s star has been slowly ascending in recent years with roles in “Mudbound,” “It Comes At Night” and “Monsters and Men.” But it was Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s dual high school roles in the 2019 dramas “Luce” and “Waves” that have him peering over the edge of breakout status. The two movies – alike only in that they examine particular aspects of the modern high school psychology – make for an excellent primer in how the New Orleans native can command our attention, sometimes without saying anything at all.
The dramatic tension of Julius Onah’s “Luce,” in particular – which stars Harrison Jr. as a mega-successful academic at the center of potentially-dangerous revelations – would fall flat if not for the actor keeping the viewer questioning their loyalties. He’s constantly hinting at a moral swerve without fully revealing his hand. An Indie Spirit Award nomination resulted, and Harrison Jr. will next appear in the star-studded cast of Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7”—an on-paper Oscar contender set to land sometime this fall.
The essential watch: “Luce,” available to stream on Hulu.
Thomasin McKenzie
High-powered dramatic chops and a screen presence exuding fumes of gravitas makes New Zealand’s Thomas McKenzie feel like a young Charlize Theron—the awards-caliber potential is tough to ignore. Her pained, resilient turn as a young girl living with her father outside the margins of society in Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” – as exclamatory a breakout as a role can be without fully puncturing mainstream consciousness – was one of 2018’s major revelations, and that momentum was carried into the higher-profile “Jojo Rabbit,” where she stood out in a cadre of standout performances and established stars. “Baby Driver” and “Scott Pilgrim” director Edgar Wright has tapped McKenzie for his next project, and collaborations with even bigger names feel inevitable.
The essential watch: “Leave No Trace,” available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Kanopy.
Beanie Feldstein
Are Jonah Hill and Beanie Feldstein the most interesting sibling actors working today? It’s hard to come up with a superior pair. It’s also hard to think about how Feldstein has appeared in only four films – most memorably in “Lady Bird” and “Booksmart” – when the 26-year-old feels like such a vital emissary for the next generation of major Hollywood names. Feldstein played the part of BFF in “Lady Bird” with undeniable contemporary appeal (“It’s the titular role!”) but began to show rowdier folds of on-screen genius in “Booksmart.” She’s a modern movie star lying in wait.
The essential watch: “Booksmart,” available to stream on Hulu.
Sidney Flanigan
By all indications, Sidney Flanigan has a total of one acting credit to her name, but it’s the kind of performance you would hope leads to many, many more. Flanigan stars in Eliza Hittman’s excellent gut-punch drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” which was just beginning to roll into theaters before box offices closed down this spring. In it, Flanigan plays a Pennsylvania teen seeking an abortion with every-person naturalism and improvisational flair; “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” feels like a story shared by thousands of girls because Flanigan’s Autumn feels like she is one of those thousands of girls. There’s no signs yet that Flanigan has signed on for a second project, whatever that may be, but it’s more exciting to think about the next few years of moviegoing with her in the equation.
The essential watch: “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” available to rent on VOD.
Noah Jupe
“He's had opportunities that have let him dive into depth very early on, and he's thrived in it,” Shia LaBeouf said about his “Honey Boy” costar, 15-year-old Noah Jupe, who may very well maneuver Hollywood the same way LaBeouf did in his journey from child performer to A-list actor. Jupe’s last four films represent a strong showcase of early-career genre flexibility: the fraught tensions of “A Quiet Place,” the indiscreet fancy of “Holmes & Watson,” the methodical character dissections of “Honey Boy” and the blue-collar melodrama of “Ford v Ferrari.” Scattered in his performances are hints of a young actor in it for the long haul, and he may just very well be. We’ll next see him in “A Quiet Place Part II,” whenever its postponed release date will end up on the calendar.
The essential watch: “Honey Boy,” available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Anya Taylor-Joy
In the same vein as Noah Jupe, the early years of Argentine-English actress Anya Taylor-Joy’s career have covered a spectrum of cinematic sensibility, from folk horror (“The Witch”) and modern thriller (“Split”) to knife’s-edge satire (“Thoroughbreds”) and flavorful costume drama (“Emma.”). The nimble actress has shown off an ability not just to adjust the tonal dial, but to fine-tune between different keys of a given emotion. In one of her best scenes from "The Witch," weariness gives way to temptation gives way to dark surrender to a four-hooved demon. You can practically see the draw of night approaching in her face, and it's bone-chilling.
We’ll be seeing a lot more of Taylor-Joy in the coming months. She’s one of the stars of the oft-delayed “The New Mutants,” and has roles in upcoming films from Edgar Wright and Robert Eggers.
The essential watch: “The Witch,” available to stream on Netflix and Kanopy.
Barry Keoghan
Another young actor with several status-polishing projects on the horizon – including roles in a little movie called Marvel’s “Eternals” and David Lowery’s fantasy epic “The Green Knight” – Barry Keoghan has a wholly unique physicality that he’s able to mold into maliciousness, innocence or both at the same time. Even Peters of “American Horror Story” fame is the face of enigmatic youthful impulse in the heist drama “American Animals,” but it’s Keoghan’s Spencer who enticingly embodies the film’s psychological tight-rope spirit.
And there’s no discussing the most can’t-look-away performances of the last five years without bringing up Keoghan in “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” in which he makes talking about and eating spaghetti as unnerving a sight as demonic ritual.
The essential watch: “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” available to stream on Netflix and Kanopy.
Florence Pugh
The name you’re most likely to know on this list. 2019 was a nuclear-grade breakout year for 24-year-old Florence Pugh – capped by an Oscar nomination – and we would have seen her trade zingers and punches alongside Scarlett Johansson in “Black Widow” by now if 2020 had turned out differently.
Pugh is a firecracker whenever she’s on-screen, whether it’s in the midst of showering lively sparks in “Little Women” or anxiously awaiting a lit fuse’s onset in “Midsommar.” Put bluntly: She’s an actress of extraordinary skill, one you can always rely on to fill the contours of any movie’s tone and intention. She’s one of our most dramatically elastic performers. And it’s its own source of drama to anticipate what other roles she’ll take on in the future.
The essential watch: “Lady Macbeth,” available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and Kanopy.
