These 6 actors are set to rule 2021

What do the rising stars of 2021 have in common? With talent and perseverance, they’ve navigated one of the most difficult years the film industry has ever faced, but in doing so, have also identified what could change for the better. In the wake of a global pandemic, the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, political uncertainty and an ongoing climate emergency, these actors are outspoken and determined to push the movie business towards a more diverse, engaged and accountable future.

Over the next 12 months, you’ll see their faces on screens big and small, as they book more major blockbusters, collaborate with Oscar-winning filmmakers and take awards season by storm. But, they’re not content to simply remain in front of the camera, either—some have penned scripts while others are carving out roles as directors and producers, eager to tell stories about their own communities and create the safe spaces they may not have had when they first started working.

As Hollywood enters a new era, here are six women leading the charge.

1. Odessa Young

In Josephine Decker’s hallucinatory thriller Shirley (2020), this 22-year-old Australian indie darling gives a star-making performance—a beguiling mix of naivety and malice that more than measures up to that of her scene partner, Elisabeth Moss. It comes as no surprise, then, that Young secured her first acting job at the age of 11 before making waves in searing dramas such as The Daughter (2015) and Looking for Grace (2015), and charming critics further with 2018’s riotous social satire Assassination Nation. In 2021, she’ll take centre stage in the moving family saga Mothering Sunday, but before that, there’s The Stand (2020 to 2021), a miniseries based on Stephen King’s 1978 novel of the same name, which tracks a global pandemic. “His work is so prescient,” says Young with a shudder.

You’ve just wrapped on Mothering Sunday, which also stars Olivia Colman, Colin Firth and Josh O’Connor. What was it like working with this incredible cast?

“As a unit, that cast is so incredibly funny. We riffed off each other and played these games on set. Poor Colin unknowingly became a part of a competition between me and Josh. It started with a bet that we had over who could have a beer with Colin first and then it became this grander scheme of who could become his best friend. I won, but eventually, Colin found out and he felt a bit used.”

Beyond work, you’ve also attended Black Lives Matter protests this year and, in June, you posted on Instagram about being arrested at a peaceful gathering in New York. What was that like?

“I didn’t expect or plan to be arrested. As a citizen of New York, I felt that it was important to show up for the marginalised people who have consistently been under the foot of systemic racism. The aim of the police was to remove as many people from the streets as possible to send a message, so I’m glad that my white body could sit in a holding cell in place of a marginalised body that may have been treated far worse than I was.”

Photography David Raboy. Full look by MIU MIU.

Beating 15,000 actors to land the role of a lifetime is all in a day’s work for Ramakrishnan. The 18-year-old Tamil-Canadian, who had no previous screen credits, became an overnight sensation this spring as the lead in Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s Netflix comedy series, Never Have I Ever. In it, she plays a charming high-schooler navigating friendships, crushes and a strained relationship with her family. Now, with season two in production, she’s got more than a million Instagram followers and is using her platform to spotlight worthy causes. In October, she even became an ambassador for Plan International Canada, an organisation dedicated to child rights and gender equality. What else could we expect from her next? “I’m a sucker for animated projects and Mindy told me I have a cool, unique voice,” she replies, laughing. “But, I don’t know. My brother thinks it’s annoying.”

Never Have I Ever was a massive hit. What do you hope its impact will be going into season two?

“It’s bewildering how long it’s taken for us to get a show like this. If it inspires fellow brown girls to chase after their artistic dreams that’d be amazing, but I also hope that producers and directors watch the show and realise that diversity and adding this kind of authentic representation to your cast isn’t going to set you back. We’re not one dimensional. We have lots of stories to tell.”

If you could change one thing about how the film and TV industry operates, what would it be?

“We need to think about how much we glamourise the people we put in front of the camera. I think it’s time that we humanised them and brought it back down to earth.”

Photography BRENT GOLDSMITH. Styling SKYE KELTON. Hair and makeup SANDRA YANG.

Shirt by COMME DES GARÇONS at VSP CONSIGNMENT. Hardwear wrap necklace in yellow gold by TIFFANY & CO. Custom 18k-gold jadeite ring on Index-finger ring by VSP CONSIGNMENT. Left middle-finger ring by CUCHARA. Left ring-finger ring by BEAUFILLE. Right ring-finger rings and nose ring, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s own.

3. Talia Ryder

After being taken to see Matilda the Musical on Broadway at the age of 12, the now 18-year-old Buffalo, New York native convinced her mother to let her audition for it. Before she knew it, she was doing seven shows a week and wondering if she could parlay it into a big-screen career. Ryder made the leap in spectacular fashion earlier this year, playing a soft-spoken, clear-eyed teenager in Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), a delicate drama about a young woman’s journey across state lines for an abortion. If that wasn’t enough, her upcoming projects are a testament to her range: the tender romance Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between and a role as a Jet in the sweeping remake of West Side Story, due out in December 2021. “I’m dying to see it,” she grins.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is so powerful. What responses did you get from viewers?

“A lot of mums would approach me after seeing the film and say, ‘I’m going to go call my daughter. I want to make sure I’m there for her.’ Being part of the film strengthened my relationship with my own mum, too. I was a minor at the time and she would come on set with me. We had a lot of conversations that we might not have had before.”

Up next, you’ll be in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. What was he like as a director?

“He always encouraged us to ask questions and look at things beyond our roles. During rehearsals, he was going around the studio with a phone, framing things and planning the shot, and I asked him about it. He just sat down right there, pulled out his phone and explained the storyboarding process. Eliza and Steven have really inspired me to look at working behind the camera as well.”

Photography EMILY SOTO. Stylist CECE LIU. Hair AYUMI YAMAMOTO. Makeup AI YOKOMIZO.

Full look by MARYAM NASSIR ZADEH. Socks by FALKE. Shoes by CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN. Jewellery, Talia Ryder’s own.

2020 was the year this 33-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, conquered the streaming platforms. Having cut her teeth on gothic romance Beautiful Creatures (2013) and crime series The Following (2013 to 2015), she scored a trio of prominent parts: as a fierce fighter exposing Nazis alongside Al Pacino in Amazon Prime’s Hunters, a younger version of Kerry Washington’s character in Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere and an astronaut in George Clooney’s Netflix sci-fi epic The Midnight Sky. 2021 will see her return for the second season of Hunters while also taking on a new challenge: a role in the mystery miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers with Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy. “I feel like I’m getting paid to go to acting class,” she says of her co-stars. “I’m obsessed.”

Did George Clooney really tell you to start your own production company?

“He and his producing partner were talking about how they started, then George turned to me and said, ‘You need to start now.’ I haven’t followed his advice yet, but I will for sure. My desire to do it was also solidified on the Little Fires Everywhere set. It was run by a diverse group of women and everyone felt heard, seen and safe. I would love to create that kind of atmosphere for people.”

Do you think 2020 will be seen as a turning point for the film and TV industry?

“It has to be. After the uprising for Black lives this year, the industry needs to step up when it comes to representation. There are pay disparities that need to be addressed and other things we don’t talk about, such as the hair and makeup side of things. So many of us go to set and get our hair destroyed. Actors are going to start speaking up and I, for one, am not going to shut up.”

Photography BEN SIMPSON. Styling CHARLOTTE AGNEW. Hair CHRISSY ZEMURA. Makeup SIAN HOWARD. Earring and ear cuff on left ear by ANTI-MATTERMANE. Ear cuff worn as brooch on jacket collar by ANTI-MATTERMANE, Brooch worn above button by DANIELLE KARLIKOFF. Jacket, skirt and boots (not pictured) by DIOR.

Born in Surrey, UK, to Singaporean and Zambian parents, this 28-year-old action star has always had a penchant for blockbusters. At the age of 17, she booked the BBC show Spirit Warriors (2010) and made history as the first woman of east-Asian descent to play the lead in a British TV series. She’s been breaking boundaries ever since, appearing in everything from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) to Game of Thrones (2011 to 2019). 2020 was pivotal—she worked on the monster movie Underwater, buddy comedy On the Rocks, apocalyptic adventure Love and Monsters and the animated series Blood of Zeus—but the best is yet to come. She’s set to stun viewers opposite Keanu Reeves in The Matrix 4 and has co-written Nancy Wu Done It, a comedy show for Amazon.

You’ve spoken about wanting to do a female-led spin-off of Keanu Reeves’s John Wick action series called Jess Wick. Is he keen on the idea?

“He loves it, but I don’t know who I need to pitch it to next. The funny thing was that he didn’t make the connection that my last name is Henwick until recently. But maybe that was the final push I needed to get him to make it happen. After all, it was my name first. He stole it [laughs].”

Representation really matters to you. How do you think Hollywood can become truly inclusive?

“It has to start behind the scenes. I started writing because I felt like I shouldn’t keep waiting for someone else to tell the story. If I want to create something that I feel is an authentic representation of a modern-day, young Asian woman, who better to tell the story? To everyone out there who’s underrepresented in any way, please pick up the pen.”

Photography MATT BERBERI. Stylist OLGA TIMOFEJEVA @ THE ONLY AGENCY. Hair SASKIA KRAUSE. Makeup JAZZ MANG. Dress by PREEN BY THORNTON BREGAZZI. Cuff earring by EERA.

With her infectious energy and simmering sensuality, this 30-year-old Californian has been lighting up the screen for more than a decade. She started out as a dancer, coming of age on VH1’s Hit the Floor (2013 to 2016) before a memorable turn in White Boy Rick (2018). It’s her two most recent performances, however, that are expected to catapult Paige to stardom: in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) she goes toe to toe with Chadwick Boseman in his final role following his death on August 28, 2020, and in Sundance hit Zola (2020) plays a stripper on a wild road trip to Florida. The latter is due to arrive in cinemas in 2021, after which Paige will join the cast of Eddie Huang’s New York-set Boogie. “I also have secret projects I can’t talk about yet,” she says. “I’m so excited.”

Is it true that you worked undercover in a strip club for a month to prepare for Zola?

“After I got Zola, the shoot was pushed back, so I was sleeping on friends’ couches, nannying and cleaning houses. Then I thought, ‘I’m going to go strip. I need the money. I’m a dancer, but I don’t know what that’s like.’ At first, I looked like Bambi on ice but by the time I got to Florida to film the movie, I was ready. It was funny learning about all of the nuances: the language, the veterans, not to walk by certain people because they’ll trip you up, and what happens when a rapper comes in.”

What have you learned from this tumultuous year and what are your hopes for 2021?

“This year, we’ve all collectively had to sit with ourselves and think about things. I’ve learned that I have everything I need. Things will come back, I look forward to working more and connecting with people again. I feel like I say this every year, but 2021 is going to be my year for sure.”

Photography BLAIR CALDWELL. Styling TRUDY NELSON. Hair CYNTHIA ALVAREZ. Makeup DANA DELANEY. Manicurist CARLA KAY. Bodysuit by COPERNI. Pants by ECKHAUS LATTA. Earrings, Taylour Paige’s own.

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