A new wave of performers has reshaped the film and television landscape over the last decade, emerging from indie projects, genre experiments and unexpected breakout moments that shifted the trajectory of their careers.
Many of these actors arrived quietly—through supporting roles, festival discoveries or streaming originals—before a single performance turned into a hinge point, opening doors to larger universes, awards conversations and cultural visibility.
Their ascent reflects an industry in transition, where talent rises from unconventional paths and the defining roles aren’t always the obvious ones. Some breakthroughs came through intimate character studies, others through bold narratives that demanded emotional precision well beyond their years.
Zendaya – Euphoria (2019–)
Rue Bennett marked a turning point that revealed Zendaya’s extraordinary dramatic range, fusing volatility, vulnerability, and a lived-in emotional texture. The performance dismantled any lingering expectations from her early career and positioned her as a defining presence of prestige television. With each season, her portrayal sharpened, proving she could anchor complex narratives with an intensity rare for actors her age.
Austin Butler – Elvis (2022)
Butler’s transformation into Elvis Presley became one of the most startling leaps in recent Hollywood memory. His commitment—vocally, physically, and psychologically—went far beyond impersonation and evolved into a portrait of fame, fragility, and self-destruction. The role launched him into leading-man territory, signaling a career trajectory that no longer resembles his pre-Elvis chapter in any way.
Mickey Madison – Anora (2024)
In Sean Baker’s Anora, Madison delivers the performance that fully crystallizes her talent—ferocious, tender, unpredictable, and textured in ways that feel entirely her own. As a sex worker thrust into chaos after marrying the son of a Russian oligarch, she navigates tonal shifts with precision, moving from dark comedy to heartbreak to street-level urgency. Anora didn’t simply elevate her profile—it revealed an actor capable of anchoring a film with electric, live-wire realism.
Florence Pugh – Midsommar (2019)
Pugh’s Dani is a portrait of grief sculpted in real time—raw, confused, and painfully human. Her command of internal emotion, often expressed in silence or micro-expressions, grounded the film’s surreal horror and established her as one of the most compelling dramatic actors of the decade. It was a breakout that signaled undeniable longevity.
Jenna Ortega – Wednesday (2022–)
Ortega’s reinvention of Wednesday Addams became a defining cultural shift—one that demonstrated her ability to take a character rooted in decades of iconography and make it feel startlingly new. She brought a calibrated blend of deadpan precision, sharp comedic rhythm, and emotional restraint, all while adding flickers of vulnerability that softened just enough of Wednesday’s edges without betraying her essence.
It was a breakout that proved Ortega could shoulder a global phenomenon, reshape a legacy role, and assert a creative identity uniquely her own, marking a pivotal turning point in her ascent.
Barry Keoghan – The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Keoghan’s performance as Martin remains a masterclass in controlled menace—quiet, deliberate, and deeply unsettling. His stillness becomes its own form of tension, creating a character whose unpredictability lingers long after he’s off-screen.
This was the role that introduced Keoghan as an actor unafraid of psychological extremities, someone drawn to the uncomfortable pockets of human behavior where other performers might hesitate. The film signaled his arrival as a singular presence, capable of transforming unease into magnetic storytelling and setting the stage for the fearless roles that followed.
Jacob Elordi – Saltburn (2023)
With Saltburn, Elordi dismantled any remaining assumptions about his range. His portrayal of Felix Catton—effortlessly charming on the surface, morally slippery beneath—revealed a nuanced understanding of privilege, desire, and performative innocence.
Elordi’s restraint is what defines the role: every glance, hesitation, and shift in tone hints at hidden contradictions, making Felix a fascinating enigma rather than a caricature of aristocratic excess. The performance marked a clear transition into more mature, psychologically layered territory, asserting Elordi as one of the most intriguing actors of the new generation.
Hunter Schafer – Euphoria (2019–)
Schafer’s interpretation of Jules is rooted in emotional honesty—expressive, fragile, resilient, and perpetually searching. Her performance carries an internal rhythm that feels lived-in rather than constructed, giving the character a sense of authenticity rarely seen in debut roles.
Schafer navigates contradictions with ease: Jules is dreamy yet grounded, impulsive yet self-aware, open yet conflicted. That complexity, paired with Schafer’s artistic instincts, positioned her as an essential voice within contemporary storytelling, marking a beginning defined not only by talent but by creative vision.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. – Waves (2019)
In Waves, Harrison delivers a performance marked by emotional ferocity and devastating vulnerability. He portrays a young man consumed by pressure—social, familial, internal—and captures the spiraling descent with a rawness that feels almost documentary in its immediacy.
Harrison balances confidence and collapse so seamlessly that the film’s emotional pivot hinges entirely on his ability to humanize every fracture. The role announced him as a formidable dramatic force, one capable of carrying narratives that demand both intensity and delicate psychological insight.
Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
As Beth Harmon, Taylor-Joy created one of the most indelible characters of recent television—a portrait of genius shaped by discipline, addiction, and loneliness. Her performance balances icy composure with a quiet, persistent vulnerability, allowing the character’s emotional life to simmer beneath the surface with remarkable clarity. The role showcased Taylor-Joy’s gift for crafting characters who feel otherworldly yet deeply human, confirming her as a commanding presence with an unmistakable screen language of her own.
Tom Holland – The Impossible (2012)
Long before global franchises, Holland revealed his dramatic instincts in The Impossible, portraying a boy navigating the aftermath of a natural disaster with startling maturity. His ability to channel fear, determination, and familial devotion felt instinctive rather than performed, marking an early indication of the emotional intelligence he would bring to future roles. The film established Holland not merely as a talented young actor, but as one capable of carrying intense, high-stakes material with clarity and depth.
Jacob Tremblay – Room (2015)
Tremblay’s work in Room is extraordinary for any actor, let alone one so young. His portrayal of Jack—caught between innocence and trauma—carries a sense of wonder, confusion, and emotional precision that anchors the film’s most devastating moments.
Tremblay approaches each scene with sincerity rather than precociousness, making his performance feel naturalistic and deeply affecting. It was the kind of breakout that signaled a rare and enduring talent, one defined by genuine connection to character.
Kaitlyn Dever – Unbelievable (2019)
Dever’s role in Unbelievable demanded a quiet intensity—grief expressed not through dramatic outbursts but through subtle, internalized shifts in posture, gaze, and breath. Her portrayal of a young woman battling disbelief and systemic failure is devastating in its restraint, showing a command of emotional nuance that many actors never reach.
The performance reframed her career, revealing dramatic depths that extended far beyond her earlier comedic work and marking her as one of the most versatile actors of her generation.
Daisy Edgar-Jones – Normal People (2020)
In Normal People, Edgar-Jones crafted a performance defined by emotional transparency—raw, searching, and intricately textured. Her portrayal of Marianne captures the contradictions of youth: self-assured yet insecure, passionate yet guarded, resilient yet wounded. She navigates the character’s complexities with a subtlety that makes each shift in emotion resonate, solidifying her place among the most compelling actors of this emerging generation.
Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things (2016–2025)
Brown’s Eleven is a study in expressive minimalism—communicating entire emotional arcs through silence, micro-expressions, and physical stillness. Her ability to balance supernatural ferocity with childlike vulnerability made the character instantly iconic, fueling the series’ cultural impact.
As she matured across seasons, Brown demonstrated an increasingly confident dramatic range, marking her as a performer capable of evolving in real time on one of television’s biggest stages.
Hailee Steinfeld — Sinners (2025)
In Sinners, Hailee Steinfeld steps into a role that demands both restraint and emotional fracture, revealing just how naturally she navigates characters caught between moral pressure and quiet rebellion.
The film positions her in a world where every choice carries consequence, yet Steinfeld avoids melodrama; she builds her performance through the small ruptures—glances held too long, words swallowed at the wrong moment, a tension that grows even when she’s still.
It’s a reminder that her dramatic instincts run deeper than her early breakout roles suggested. With Sinners, she taps into an older, sharper register, one shaped by disillusionment and survival, marking a turning point that reframes her not only as a versatile star but as an actor capable of carrying stories defined by their bruised complexity.