There are always exciting, young actresses working in Hollywood but to see the wide range of projects that this current crop are selecting is really admirable. From franchise favourites to interesting indie films, here are some of the standouts.
Jenna Ortega
Jenna Ortega is a name on everybody’s lips these days, and rightly so. The relationship she is building with Tim Burton, through Netflix series Wednesday and now Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, has garnered a lot of praise as it continues to blossom on the screen.
It could be said that she is becoming almost typecast in the horror genre, with her roles in the Scream franchise, The Babysitter films and Ti West’s X, with many considering her a next-generation scream queen (alongside Mia Goth, who is deserving of an honourable mention). However, her brilliance shines through in all of her roles, and she has clearly proven to be a cinephile herself in recent interviews—a big tick for fellow film fans.
Cailee Spaeny
Another horror franchise star this year is Cailee Spaeny, with her performance in Alien: Romulus being the standout feature of an already very watchable film.
Civil War certainly divided opinion earlier in the year, yet the majority of people seemed to agree with their compliments towards her contribution. The diversity of her roles plays into the chatter around Spaeny too, stunning as the titular character in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla at the start of the year and leading the charge for Fede Alvarez in thrilling fashion just months later. There is a magnetism to her, an onscreen presence that you can’t get away from.
Ayo Edebiri
Ayo Edebiri is better known in the TV world due to her beloved performance as Sydney in The Bear, but her forays into cinema are taking her to new heights.
Bottoms has a sort of camp-classic aura to it already despite having only released at the end of 2023, and alongside her voice work in Inside Out 2 (2024) and the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film (2023), the 28-year-old has built up an intriguing CV. Her early days as a comedian and writing on Big Mouth really shine through here, whilst contrasting the drama of The Bear.
Ariana Greenblatt
Ariana Greenblatt is scarily young given that she was holding her own alongside actresses such as America Ferreira and Margot Robbie in the pink half of Barbenheimer last year.
65 (2023) and this year’s Borderlands adaptation, meanwhile, had a lot of scope for imagination but were as uninspiring as it gets. Fingers crossed the teenager is involved with something better in the coming months that helps to keep her on the map, because her work with Greta Gerwig demonstrated that she has a formidable talent.
Celeste O’Connor
Yet another star to delve into a franchise is Celeste O’Connor. They have featured in the last two Ghostbusters installments and proved to be a shining light in this year’s Frozen Empire.
O’Connor also delivered a noteworthy performance alongside Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh in A Good Person, with their career one that’ll be fascinating to see as it continues to develop.
Margaret Qualley
Margaret Qualley and interesting projects go hand-in-hand, and for that alone she has to be praised.
Drive-Away Dolls and Kinds of Kindness, directed by Ethan Coen and Yorgos Lanthimos respectively, both fit perfectly into this category with their electric music and vibrant colour schemes. Also, based off of the early reviews and trailers, the same can be said for Demi Moore-led The Substance.
Thomasin McKenzie
Thomasin McKenzie is simply not spoken about enough. Any role of hers instantly makes a film worth watching.
From interactions with Timothee Chalamet in The King to her chemistry with Anne Hathaway in Eileen, not to mention the powerhouse performance the New Zealander delivered in Last Night In Soho (2021), she has it all. McKenzie’s adaptability is a joy to behold, and the range of emotions she can convey with one flicker of the eyes speaks volumes.
Myha’la
Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Dumb Money and Leave the World Behind all releasing within the space of a year or so displayed the versatility of Myha’la, something which is a regular theme on this list.
She wasn’t spoken about enough off the back of this triumvirate, so to see her name all over in social media in regards to the success of TV show Industry is much-deserved.
Rachel Zegler
With big franchises come big fan bases and, sadly, we have seen poor treatment of the casts of reboots. Departing from this trend, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has instead proved really popular. The chemistry between Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler definitely contributed to this.
It’s easy to forget that Zegler is just 23. Following up Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and two Shazam movies (in which she was one of the only saving graces) with a Hunger Games film, and with 2025’s Snow White just months away, support for her will surely skyrocket even higher. She has an extra string to her bow, too, with a strong musical theatre background setting her apart from other actresses.
Words by Jamie Rooke
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