10 BREAKOUT STARS

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

2020 has sure been a strange year. Highly anticipated films that were set to come out this year have been delayed to next year, or even later, due to the ongoing pandemic. Actors we expected to breakout this year, will now have to wait for audiences to see their big projects. But despite all that, we actually have had quite a few wonderful films manage to come out this year. Let’s take a look at 10 performers who did manage to make 2020 their breakout year.

 

Maria Bakalova

Bakalova’s name first became the topic of discussion when a scene from Borat Subsequent Moviefilm—in which she stars as Borat’s (Sacha Baron Cohen) daughter—depicted her posing as a journalist, attempting to interview Rudy Giuliani. At the same time, he seemingly fondles himself under his pants. However, aside from that, her overall performance in the Borat sequel has been singled out by critics. They were impressed by her ability to go toe-to-toe with Baron Cohen.

 

Riz Ahmed

Ahmed has been acting for a few years by now. He made history by becoming the first Asian actor to win an acting Emmy, and the first Muslim actor to win a Emmy for Best Actor for his role in the HBO miniseries The Night Of.  Ahmed has also taken on multiple major film roles, but it was his performance in this year’s Sound of Metal, as a musician who starts to lose his hearing, that has put him on the map to film stardom.

 

Sidney Flanigan

Flanigan is a complete newcomer to the world of film. She made her acting debut in this year’s abortion drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which was written and directed by Eliza Hittman. Flanigan played the film’s lead, Autumn, a teenage girl who has to travel from rural Pennsylvania to New York City to get an abortion. For her performance, Flanigan was nominated for the Breakthrough Actor award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards 2020.

 

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Abdul-Mateen II is no acting newbie, but up till now, his best-known performances were on television. That’s not to disparage TV; he did win an Emmy for his role in the HBO limited series Watchmen. But, 2020 is the year that his name has also entered the echelon of movie stars due to his role as Bobby Seale in the main ensemble in Aaron Sorkin’s newest picture Trial of the Chicago 7. He has two exciting projects coming out next year: Candyman and The Matrix 4.

 

Julia Garner

Garner, like Abdul-Mateen II is no newbie to the business. She has been slowly making a name for herself since 2011. Her major TV roles in the shows The Americans and Ozark put her on the map as a TV star to watch, but her film work this year has also established her as an upcoming movie star. This year, she starred in the Kitty Green workplace harassment drama The Assistant. Her performance has been highly praised by critics.

 

Kingsley Ben-Adir

Although this British actor made his film debut with an uncredited role in 2013’s World War Z, he is mostly known for stage work. That may be about to change. Ben-Adir stars as Malcolm X in the upcoming directorial debut from Regina King, One Night in Miami. While the movie isn’t out until December 25th, extremely positive preliminary reviews for the film and his performance have set him up as one to watch.

 

Talia Ryder

Like her Never Rarely Sometimes Always co-star, Sidney Flanigan, Ryder is a newcomer. However, she does have more credits than Flanigan. While Never Rarely Sometimes Always was Ryder’s first feature film, her career is poised to skyrocket. She has a role in the upcoming West Side Story remake, directed by Steven Spielberg. She will also star in the forthcoming romantic drama Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between.

 

Tom Burke

Burke is best known in his native England for his roles in the BBC series The Musketeers and War & Peace. However, his recent role as the larger-than-life Orson Welles in David Fincher’s Mank (a movie about the making of Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane) has him poised to be a big-name here across the pond. If Burke amazed Fincher with his performance as Welles, then we indeed have a new rising star.

 

Odessa Young

Young may have been dubbed “Australia’s brightest rising star” in 2015, but it was her performance in this year’s Shirley that has set her up as a rising star in the United States as well as Australia. In Shirley, she played a young housewife who slowly loses her grip on reality. Young proved that she could truly hold her own when she went head-to-head with Elisabeth Moss.

 

Aldis Hodge

Hodge is another actor who really got his start on television. He first gained recognition as a main character on the TNT crime drama series Leverage, a role for which he received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor on Television. His recent film roles in Clemency and The Invisible Man, as well as his role in the upcoming, highly anticipated One Night in Miami have set him up as a rising star.