American Honey star Sasha Lane. Photo / Getty
Meet Hollywood's new class of superstars.
Seemingly overnight, the movies have been deluged by talented newcomers. But they're no one-hit wonders. These folks can really hold their own against Tinseltown's reigning titans. Soon, you might know them just as well as you do Streep, Winslet and Washington.
These exciting young performers are suddenly at every multiplex and on every talk show, but their backgrounds are as unique and quirky as their trove of excellent films, reports News.com.au.
Here, an introduction to the actors you'll see in the front rows of award shows and gracing red carpets for years to come.
You may know her from: Her acting debut in the 2016 drama American Honey, opposite Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough
Where you'll see her this year: Alongside Chloë Grace Moretz in the buzzed-about Sundance feature film The Miseducation of Cameron Post and in four other releases, including the Hellboy reboot
Why she's a standout: Discovered on a Florida spring-break trip by indie director Andrea Arnold, the 22-year-old Houston native has a natural charisma that drew the film industry to her, not the other way around.
"Life post-American Honey has been pretty fast and kind of surreal," she tells the New York Post. "I've never had so many good things happen at once. I still get a lot of love from the movie, and that feels nice."
She also thinks the subject of Cameron Post is one people need to know more about
"I think it's something that should be brought to people's attention: Gay-conversion camps, and how horrible they can be, teaching kids to hate themselves because of something they can't control," Lane says. "Working with a bunch of women and a crew that felt the project in their hearts, was very humbling."
You may know her from: The show Humans and December's Black Mirror finale on Netflix, Black Museum.
Where you'll see her this year: Playing Princess Shuri, the half-sister of Chadwick Boseman's title character in the highly anticipated Marvel movie Black Panther, as well as in roles in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, the Liam Neeson thriller The Commuter and as Shuri again in Avengers: Infinity War.
Why she's a standout: A Londoner who was born in Guyana, the 24-year-old actress is a rare overtly religious Christian in Hollywood. Wright has said she's prioritised God over roles in the past.
"I gave my life to Christ, and I thought that would be it for me, and he was like, 'No, you're not finished with acting, acting is not finished with you,'" she told Women's Wear Daily.
She has also been an ardent advocate for more positive black roles in the film industry.
"Shuri is one of the most exciting characters I've been blessed to portray," Wright tells the New York Post. "I'm looking forward to the positive impact her love for technology and science will have on the younger generation. Being a part of the film feels kind of like history in the making!"
You may know him from: His breakout performance in the 2012 Matthew McConaughey indie Mud and his role as Cyclops in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.
Where you'll see him this year: Starring in Steven Spielberg's retro-tastic sci-fi thriller Ready Player One and the next X-Men movie, Dark Phoenix.
Why he's a standout: Sheridan got his start working with auteur Terrence Malick on Tree of Life at the early age of 10, but he didn't go into the business a film-obsessed kid.
"I grew up in the middle of Texas in a very rural area, so we were always outside fishing or playing a sport — we were never in front of a TV watching films," he told the Independent. The square-jawed, 21-year-old actor brings an ease and authenticity to his roles that should make him the perfect centrepiece to Spielberg's otherwise-highly-CGI'd film about virtual-reality gaming.
You may know her from: The teen noir Veronica Mars; the 2014 film Dear White People, playing Michael B. Jordan's artist girlfriend in Creed and the warrior Valkyrie in last year's Thor: Ragnarok.
Where you'll see her this year: Reprising roles in Avengers: Infinity War and Creed II, as well as alongside Natalie Portman in the Alex Garland thriller Annihilation.
Why she's a standout: The 34-year-old actress has an incredible screen magnetism — and she makes sure the roles she chooses don't fall into stereotypes.
Playing an athlete's girlfriend in Creed became more than just a generic supporting role for Thompson: "With Bianca, people could see a woman that they know," she told Vanity Fair. "And, in a broader sense, you got to really see a love story between two millennials where, unlike when the first Rocky was made, our ideas about love and gender roles, even in the context of a relationship, are different."
She'll be at the forefront of transforming race and gender on-screen in the years to come.
You may know him from: A breakout role in the chilling 2011 film We Need to Talk About Kevin, his DC role as the Flash and playing Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Where you'll see him this year: Reprising his role as Credence in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Why he's a standout: The 25-year-old New Jersey native came out in 2012.
"I'm queer. I have a lot of really wonderful friends who are of very different sexes and genders," he told Out magazine.
He was one of the first of a flood of younger stars who've since opened up about their own bisexuality, and although Miller has said he had been "told by a lot of people that I'd made a mistake," his busy schedule in the years since then says otherwise.
A musician who trained in opera as a child and currently plays in a three-piece punk band called Sons of an Illustrious Father, he's one of the most distinctive and charismatic younger actors in Hollywood today — and he's helping dismantle the industry's outdated views on sexual orientation.
You may know him from: His role as Casey Affleck's brooding nephew in Manchester by the Sea, which bagged him an Oscar nomination; Frances McDormand's son in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; and as a high-school dish in Lady Bird.
Where you'll see him this year: Hedges will play a Baptist teen forced to undergo gay-conversion therapy in Boy Erased, also starring Nicole Kidman.
Why he's a standout: Want your movie to be nominated for an Oscar? Cast Lucas Hedges. The 21-year-old actor has, in just two years, carved out an impressive resumé almost entirely of acclaimed hits. This year alone, two of his movies are nominated for top prizes at the Golden Globes.
What is it about Lucas? Although he's from Brooklyn Heights, he exudes small-town charm and vulnerability — perfect for both deep dramas and indie darlings. Attending the Oscars for the first time last year, he says, was freaky.
"I took my whole family, and I can't say that I was very calm at all," Hedges tells the New York Post. "I was nervous, anxious and uncomfortable. But I was also very excited. I felt like I had entered into the world of a fairy tale I had grown up reading, where all of the characters knew my name."
You may know him from: His performances as the young romantic lead in coming-of-age film Call Me By Your Name and the jerk boyfriend in Lady Bird.
Where you'll see him this year: In Beautiful Boy, he'll play Steve Carell's son who is suffering from meth addiction.
Why he's a standout: We only meet an actor like Chalamet once in a generation. Cut from the same cloth as James Dean, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio, Chalamet has the face of a Greek statue paired with a poet's smarts and a coyness that keeps us intrigued.
The 22-year-old is a fourth-generation New Yorker whose grandmother was a performer, too — in the Broadway cast of Wonderful Town. But his father is French, which is why Chalamet tackles the romance language so effortlessly in Call Me By Your Name.
His star has risen wildly since that film premiered, and he's a favorite to win best actor at the Oscars.
You may know him from: His turns as the titular web slinger in Spider-man: Homecoming and in Captain America: Civil War.
Where you'll see him this year: He snagged another huge role as the lead in Uncharted, Sony's major new action franchise based on the PlayStation treasure-hunting game.
Why he's a standout: Not every superhero is also an accomplished dancer. But Holland got his big break onstage in the title role of Billy Elliot The Musical in London, which required street dance, tap and ballet.
The 21-year-old Brit grew up in Kingston upon Thames, and his own boyhood had shades of Billy Elliot's controversial hoofing hobby.
"I went to an all-boys school, where I played rugby," he told Interview magazine. "So ballet wasn't the coolest thing to do."
But his dance talent gives him a leg up in Spider-Man — he's a gifted physical comedian, who, unlike some previous Spideys, was able to do his own backflips and leaps.
You may know him from: Jordan Peele's Get Out, in which he plays the boyfriend who gets more than he bargained for, as well as Black Mirror and Sicario.
Where you'll see him this year: As W'Kabi in Marvel's Black Panther and in Widows, co-starring Liam Neeson
Why he's a standout: Like his smash-hit horror-satire Get Out, Kaluuya is an actor with mondo complexity.
He can simultaneously be tense, loveable and terrifying. In Get Out, Kaluuya mingles at a garden party in one scene and violently offs bad guys minutes later.
The 28-year-old British actor has been working for about a decade, but with Get Out he's finally getting widespread recognition and fan love. It's a brilliant success story for a man whose mother came to the UK from Uganda and worked hard while raising her infant son in hostels.
"I was working class, I had to fight for this, and I had to outwork everyone in order to get anywhere and anything," Kaluuya told Vice. "That's why hip-hop and grime resonates with me and my friends. We don't fit in with the establishment."
You may know her from: Her roles as the introverted (and hilarious) best friend with a crush on her math teacher in Lady Bird and as an energetic sorority girl in Neighbours 2.
Where you'll see her this year: As a silly scientist in Whitney Cummings' new rom-com, The Female Brain.
Why she's a standout: Feldstein, the sister of the equally funny actor Jonah Hill, has legit Broadway chops. Eight times a week, she is onstage in Hello, Dolly! in which she plays Minnie Fay alongside Bette Midler.
In fact, Lady Bird is how the scene-stealing 24-year-old landed her part in Dolly.
"[Producers Scott Rudin and Eli Bush] hadn't found a Minnie Fay yet. And I sing a little bit as Julie in Lady Bird, and they were like, 'Oh, maybe we should bring Beanie in,'" Feldstein tells the New York Post.
But she's not abandoning the stage for movies just yet. "I really look up to [Lady Bird co-star] Laurie Metcalf in many ways," Feldstein says. "If I could be an ounce like her, that would be the greatest thing ever. And [co-star] Tracy Letts as well. They really bounce back and forth between film, theatre and also television in such a beautiful, seamless and organic way." Feldstein's definitely got the skills to tackle all three.
The latest entertainment news from NZ Herald Chief Lifestyle and Entertainment Reporter, Jenni Mortimer.