by Nathaniel R
A month ago we celebrated Tye Sheridan's 25th to crickets from readers. Today it's Lucas Hedges turn and he bears the notable distinction of being the youngest male actor working to have already been Oscar-nominated (Timothée Chalamet, also a December baby, is a full year older).
If an actor isn't yet famous the quarter century mark is a great time to start landing roles, honing their skills, and finding a breakthrough project. If the actor is already established, chances are they were already a teen or child star; They have easier access to offers but it's much trickier career navigation. There are already years of pop culture baggage, preconceptions, and expectations before they're even right / ready for the leading man parts that can make a career enduring.
From our purely anecdotal evidence, Lucas Hedges has already been through several stage of film stardom...
DISCOVERY
OSCAR NOMINATION
UBIQUITY (and with it miscasting)
BACKLASH
BROADWAY DETOUR
WHO? (Though to be fair, 98% of famous actors go through this now, given how splintered celebrity has become in the 21st century with one fan's superstar object-of-affection another person's blank faced "i don't know her")
Hedges past few years have been relatively uneventful despite a lot of work. French Exit and Let Them All Talk were showcases for their leading ladies. Indies like Honeyboy and Waves and Mid90s won pockets of raves and fans but Hedges wasn't the draw and was largely left out of those conversations. The last time Hedges was the center of the attention about any of his movies was three years ago when he headlined the troubled young man dramas, Boy Erased (about gay conversion therapy) and Ben is Back (about drug addiction) back to back.
If you were his management what would you be suggesting now?
And won't it be a "comeback" at this point if he can regain some of the excitement from the Manchester by the Sea / Lady Bird years. As previously stated, the 1996 vintage of rising male stars is already robust including not just Hedges but Paul Mescal, Tom Holland, Tye Sheridan, Keean Johnson, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Skyler Gisondo, Harris Dickinson, Mason Gooding, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tony Revolori, and Jacob Latimore. Who are you rooting for?