by Nathaniel R
Since it's 26 days until the Oscars we thought we'd look at 26 year-olds... or soon-to-be 26 year olds rather. Only one actor born in 1995 has been nominated to date. That'd be the internet's twink boyfriend Timothée Chalamet. But which other actors of the 1995 vintage will join him in receiving Hollywood's greatest stamp of approval? We've collected six potential suspects after the jump along with a few handful of alternates though it bears noting that the next big star born in '95 could very easily be someone who hasn't even made their first film yet since careers take time to build and Hollywood was forced to take a full year off of discovering new talent in 2020...
WHICH BORN IN '95 ACTOR WILL BE OSCAR NOMINATED NEXT?
(ALPHA ORDER)
RJ CYLER scene stealer
He first came to the media's attention in the Sundance hit Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Critics Choice nomination, Best Young Performer) and found more mainstream love with the reboot of Power Rangers (2017) and a supporting role in Sierra Burgess is a Loser (2018). Hollywood has been receptive so you've also maybe seen him in movies like War Machine and White Boy Rick, or TV series like Scream and Black Lightning. But we're placing him in this speculative 'top six' because he's already completed three news films which sound promising for their variety of genres. Up next: He plays Benvolio in the modernized Shakespeare adaptation R#J, some kind of supporting role in the black western The Harder They Fall (which has a frankly incredible cast including Regina King, Jonathan Majors, and Idris Elba), and a leading role in the runaway slave drama Freedom's Path.
MOLLY GORDON funny girl
You've surely seen her and loved her as "Triple A" in Booksmart (2019) or as "Hannah" in Good Boys. You're in for a treat next week when the very funny Jewish comedy Shiva Baby opens in which she plays an out lesbian confronting her ex (Rachel Sennott) at an uncomfortable crowded worlds-colliding shiva. Her vibe is currently surely more "future Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy nominee" than Oscar nominee but whatever. The point of this post is POTENTIAL and television and movies are becoming more fused all the time. We're hoping for big things either way. Up next: ???
SHIRA HAAS legend in training
You already know where we stand on this Israeli sensation (and two time Ophir winner) who broke through in a big international way with the miniseries Unorthodox (2020) for which she should have won the Best Actress Emmy despite incredibly formidable competition from awards-magnets like Regina King and Cate Blanchett. We've been heart-eyed fans of Shira's since her wrenching supporting work in The Zookeeper's Wife (2017). She recently starred in the Israeli Oscar submission Asia (2020). Up next: the Barbra Streisand produced series Lioness in which she'll play the young "Mother of Israel" Golda Meir. Will she get any movie roles worthy of her gift or become queen of the miniseries?
HALEY LU RICHARDSON the dazzler
A professional actor since her early teens, casting directors noted Richardson's promise right from the jump. Her first three features (The Last Survivors, The Young Kieslowski, Escape from Polygamy) were all leading roles. None set the world on fire but she's been working ever since. She's had success in films like Split and The Edge of Seventeen, but for us it was her cheerfully exuberant and irressistible turn in Support the Girls that had us convinced she was one to watch. Now, if she can just find some more quality projects because most of her films and TV shows haven't been critical darlings or big hits. Up next: leading roles in the sibling drama Montana Story with Owen Teague, and the romance The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and part of the ensemble of the the sci-fi drama After Yang with Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith.
QUINN SHEPHARD DIY queen
The reason we're including her is not because her career is hot right now. In fact we're wondering why it isn't hotter. When she was just 20 she co-wrote, produced, edited, directed and starred in her own vehicle Blame (2017), a high school drama about two rival teenagers and a drama teacher (Chris Messina) during a production of The Crucible. The movie won her girlfriend Nadia Alexander (who co-starred as her rival) Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival. Shephard herself did a beautiful job in all five of her hyphenate jobs so if Hollywood doesn't come around we hope she builds another vehicle for herself. Other credits include TV's Hostages, the movies Unaccompanied Minors, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, and The Man in the Woods. Up next: ???
JUSTICE SMITH the new breed
He's been working steadily since his teenage years (and first came to wide notice on The Get Down). Last summer he came out with his boyfriend, fellow actor Nicholas Ashe (Queen Sugar), to celebrate #BlackQueerLove. In a beautiful illustration of how far the industry has come, this didn't remotely derail his career. In fact it felt like it lit a fuse and the explosion could be very big indeed. He's the lead of the brand new and very entertaining HBO series Genera+ion. Up next: The lead role in the thriller The Voyeurs (2021) with Sydney Sweeney and Ben Hardy, a reprise of his franchise role with Jurassic World Dominion (2022), and the next attempt to make Dungeons and Dragons (2022) into a thing again.
Other actors who might be worth keeping an eye on, but success is always an unpredictable mix of talent, the right opportunities, good management, media savvy, taste in projects, and dumb luck...
Sophia Ali (The Wilds, Uncharted), Paula Beer (Transit, Undine), Luke Benward (Dumplin', Life of the Party), Matilda de Angelis (Undoing, Robbing Musollinni), Sarah Dugdale (Virgin River, In the Shadow of the Moon), Natalia Dyer (Stranger Things, Velvet Buzzsaw), Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton, Younger), Sasha Lane (Hellboy, American Honey), Alex Lawther (Imitation Game, Howards End), Ross Lynch (My Friend Dahmer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Shameik Moore (Dope, Wu-Tang: An American Saga), Victoria Pedretti (You, Haunting of Hill House), Ryan Potter - pictured left (Big Hero 6, Titans), Nick Robinson - pictured above (Love Simon, A Teacher), and Ashton Sanders - pictured right (Moonlight, Native Son), Julia Goldani Telles (The Wind, Girlfriend Experience)