Up-And-Coming Silver Screen Stars
So many actors are unjustifiably pegged as the ‘next big thing’ that it’s almost hard to keep up and tell them apart. However, this is not the case with the following five fresh-faced gents. New kids on the block, each one has their own USP, which has caused casting directors worldwide to sit up and take notice. These hungry and driven young men are chomping at the bit to prove to you why they aren’t just the flavour of the week. Be it through their natural unwavering confidence or the belief their collaborators instil in them, we take a look a the new crop of matinee idols that are set to take over the box office in 2015.
1. Iain De Caestecker
Iain De Caestecker is one of those humble Scots that’s just as at home in a plain white tee as he is mugging in the pages of Interview magazine. Perhaps it’s these chameleon-like abilities that allow him to conceal the one blemish on his outstanding CV: a stint in long-running TV soap Coronation Street. However, it wasn’t long before he started piling better work on top of that – a role in Trainspotting sequel Filth and a recurring spot in TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has made him a definite one to watch over the past couple of years. For 2015, the 27-year-old will be burying his skeletons even further as the screen-stealing lead in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, shooting furtive glances at love interest Rat (played by Saoirse Ronan). It’s heavy on the visual flair, but Caestecker provides that perfect balance of geeky and cool. Oh, and his dream role? Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
Photo: Interview Mag
2. Brenton Thwaites
Hailing from Australia, 25-year-old Brenton Thwaites traded in his skateboard for a bit-part on Aussie TV soap Home and Away and a cringy, made-for-TV film called Blue Lagoon: The Awakening. The plot? Shirts off, guns out. Yet he soon grew out of his Bondi Beach boho style and into a bona fide prince charming – a role he pulled off with aplomb in Maleficent. Then, he warped minds as the lead role in Lois Lowry adapted teen sci-fi, The Giver. He’s headed back to the beach later this year as a college dropout turned surfer in Ride, directed by Helen Hunt. Oh, and there’s also the small matter of overhauling the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Henry. “I don’t think about [whether I’m close to making it big] at all, I have never really thought about that,” he told Dazed magazine last year. “It’s very moment by moment with this job.”
Photo: New York Post
3. Jack O’Connell
Stephen Fry said it quite plainly at the BAFTAs after O’Connell scooped the Rising Star award, joking, “[That one is] so lacking in confidence”, as 24-year-old O’Connell strutted off stage clutching his new golden mask. Although it was a public vote (as if that discounts his talent any), this is one guy that is about to peak. An extremely hard worker, O’Connell has now paid his dues. His breakthrough came as troubled James Cook in E4’s Skins, and as one of the scally lads in This Is England. As Olympian turned prisoner of war Louis Zamperini in Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, he laid it all on the line in a heart-wrenching performance. Next, we’ll see him in Justin Chadwick’s Tulip Fever opposite Alicia Vikander, Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan.
Photo: Esquire UK
4. Shameik Moore
Shameik Moore came right out of left field. The 19-year-old Atlanta native started out as a back-up dancer for music videos such as “Turn Me On” and “Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em”; graduating to Cartoon Network sketch-comedy series Incredible Crew in 2012. At the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, he caught audience’s attention as Malcolm in Rick Famuyiwa’s drama-comedy for the post hip-hop generation, Dope. He may be a little wet behind the ears, but after sharing the screen with model Chanel Iman and A$AP Rocky, he’s got some serious contacts in his iPhone.
Photo: Verge
5. Tye Sheridan
Tye Sheridan’s first role was in Terrence Malick’s philosophical, garden-panning Tree of Life, where he played Brad Pitt’s son, Steve. Not a bad place to start for any actor, which is perhaps why he’s quickly filled up his day planner with back-to-back shoots until 2016. Before breaking into the industry, Texan Sheridan was just your average backwaters guy, growing up hunting and fishing. The 18-year-old has since retired his rifle and will soon appear in films like the forthcoming biblical epic Last Days in the Desert, about Jesus’ forty days of fasting and Scouts vs Zombies where, you guessed it, scouts attempt to save their town from a zombie outbreak.
