Manuel here. 2015 may be over but 2015 lists won’t stop for another week or two. This one comes courtesy of IMDB. In their own words, “the rising stars on this list experienced the largest increase in their best weekly STARmeter ranking in 2015 as compared to 2014.” If you’re like me and had to confirm what an actor’s STARmeter is, know that it basically calculates people’s awareness:
The primary measure is who and what people are looking at on IMDb.”
Testament of Youth co-stars make the 2015 list
It’s a fascinating list if one that skews young, white, and television-heavy. I have to admit I could only easily identify half the list and those are primarily the ones in the thick of awards conversation. From the 10 listed, we have 2 Golden Globe nominees, and 3 SAG-nominated actors.
Unsurprisingly, the list is full of pretty faces that you’ll recognize from established TV tentpoles like Fear the Walking Dead, buzzy Netflix series like Narcos, Orange is the New Black, Sense8, as well as big box office hits like Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Straight Outta Compton. Of course, 2015's “It girl”/ hardest working actress Alicia Vikander makes the list though she’s probably lower than we’d all have wagered. A reminder, perhaps, that prestige “rising stars” can sometimes exist in their own little critical bubble. [More...]
Moura in the queer Brazilian flick Futuro Beach
10. Frank Dillane (Fear the Walking Dead)
9. Alycia Debnam-Carey (Fear the Walking Dead)
8. Wagner Moura (Narcos, Futuro Beach)
Proving that network television isn't really the place to cement up and coming stars, AMC and Netflix get the youths clicking away trying to find more about 'that guy on that Colombian drug cartel show' . Here's hoping they catch Moura's other 2015 title (no, not Stephen Daldry's Trash, no one saw that)
Egerton in the fiery Kingsman
7. Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, review)
6. Cara Delevingne (Paper Towns)
5. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl, et al.)
Vikander really does feel like an anomaly among the list, doesn't she? Egerton and Delevigne both fall under "attractive stars" in well-received and slightly profitable films that hit a nerve with younger moviegoers. Might they follow them in their next projects? Egerton is next seen alongside Hugh Jackman in that ski jumper film and Delevigne will be seen in Suicide Squad.
Sense8's Freema Agyeman and Clayton
4. Jamie Clayton (Sense8, S1 review)
3. O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton)
2. Rebecca Ferguson (MI: Rogue Nation, review)
The runners-up are all scene-stealers from their respective shows/films and make a pretty great trio of diverse and exciting new talents.
And the number 1 spot goes to a rogueish seductress from Litchfield who wormed her way into a lot of people's hearts:
Rose, showing undeniable charm as Stella in OITNB
1. Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black)
Which of these "rising stars" do you think will best capitalize on their breakthrough year?