The Rising Stars of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Other Streaming Services

As we all shelter at home through this global pandemic and increasingly spend our time watching streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, a new generation of stars has become to emerge on the small screen. From Normal People’s Paul Mescal to Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in Never Have I Ever, here is a look at eight actors who have definitely caught our eye over the last couple of months.

1. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever (Netflix)

The new vehicle from Mindy Kaling is a coming-of-age comedy series from the perspective of a South Asian teen, a view rarely explored onscreen. It’s funny, gentle, and anchored brilliantly by 18-year-old Tamil-Canadian actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in her TV debut as Devi, a young woman struggling to fit in. With rave reviews and a number one Netflix show in the U.S., Canada, France, and India, Never Have I Ever looks certain to be commissioned for a second series while Ramakrishnan is busy clocking up hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. It may be her first role, but it most certainly won’t be her last.

2. Sonoya Mizuno, Devs (FX, Hulu, Foxtel Now)

Directed and written by Alex Garland (The Beach, Ex Machina), this self-contained eight-episode limited series is part tech thriller, part dystopian sci-fi, and part good-old-fashioned love story. Featuring a cast of mostly newcomers—alongside Janet Mock and Nick Offerman—the heart of the story centers on Lily Chan, a quietly fierce character played brilliantly by Japanese-born British actress Sonoya Mizuno, 33. Frank Ocean fans may remember Mizuno from his Nikes video, and she also had a small role in La La Land (2016). No doubt Devs will mark the breakthrough for this talented actor. Catch Mizuno next alongside Rosie Perez on HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant.

3. Paul Mescal, Normal People ( Hulu, Stan)

If you’re not obsessed with Normal People yet, you should be. The Hulu/BBC Three adaptation of Sally Rooney’s 2018 best seller breaks every rule, not least nearly bettering the book itself. Irish newcomer Paul Mescal is proving so popular there’s even an Instagram account dedicated solely to his chain. (It’s adding a good few thousand followers per day.) As the conflicted, brooding Connell, Mescal is utterly convincing; it’ll be impossible to read the book and not picture Mescal as Connell. Though this is the 24-year-old’s first significant screen role since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 2017, we predict he’ll be getting the call from every major casting director worth their salt.

4. Woo-shik Choi, Time To Hunt (Netflix)

This Seoul-born, Vancouver-raised actor is already well established in Korean film and television, thanks to roles in 2014’s Set Me Free and 2016’s Train To Busan, as well as a small part in the Netflix hit Okja (2017). But Choi is now finding global acclaim thanks to his memorable portrayal of Kim Ki-woo in Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning black comedy Parasite (2019). Effortlessly switching gears from the scavenging Ki-woo to studious tutor Kevin, Choi’s performance inhabited humor and naïveté with a brilliantly nuanced mischief. Choi, 30, is also a gifted singer—it’s his voice on the film’s closing track, A Glass of Soju, which received an Oscar nomination for best original song. Choi can currently be seen in South Korean crime thriller Time To Hunt, available on Netflix.

5. Jeremy Pope, Hollywood (Netflix)

A newcomer to the screen, triple Tony-nominated Pope made his name on Broadway in 2018’s Choir Boy, written by Moonlight co-author Tarell Alvin McCraney. In 2019, Pope auditioned for television kingpin Ryan Murphy’s (Glee, Pose) latest vehicle, the 1940s-set Hollywood. He won the role in 30 minutes—and no wonder. Pope plays aspiring black, gay screenwriter Archie trying to make his way in town, despite the odds being stacked against him. Pope, 27, is winning rave reviews for his disarming performance, more than holding his own against heavyweights Darren Criss, Dylan McDermott, and Patti LuPone.

6. Taylor Russell, Waves (Amazon Prime, Apple TV)

Canadian Russell made her name on the small screen with a lead role in Lost in Space (2018) before graduating to cinema with Escape Room (2019). But it was her outstanding turn in what might be one of the world’s most emotionally wrenching films that put the 25-year-old on the map. Her performance as Emily in Waves is revelatory, carrying the second half of Trey Edward Shults’s drama so brilliantly well. An auteur too, Russell has just co-directed a documentary for Chicks in Crisis, a not-for-profit that helps mothers in need. She will be back for Escape Room 2 later this year and can be seen alongside Charlie Plummer and Andy Garcia in Thor Freudenthal’s Words on Bathroom Walls in the near future.

7. Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime)

Based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning 2016 novel by Colson Whitehead, this TV adaptation by Moonlight director Barry Jenkins is sure to be as haunting as the book. Set in the pre–Civil War era of slavery, the period drama focuses on the story on Cora, a slave attempting to escape a horrific reality. Played by South African Mbedu, 28, who was nominated for an International Emmy in 2017 for her portrayal of Winnie in Is’thunzi, the series will follow Cora’s journey across 11 hour-long episodes. One of the most powerful books of our times directed by one of the best directors working today, The Underground Railroad is guaranteed to be a huge moment for Mbedu and the series’ other newcomers: Aaron Pierre and Chase W. Dillon. Originally slated for a 2019 release, hopes are high that this will be coming to Amazon Prime very soon.

8. Leo Sheng, The L Word: Generation Q (Showtime, Now TV, Amazon Prime)

Making a welcome return after 11 years, Showtime’s seminal lesbian-centered series has learned some lessons since its first iteration. As well as a more inclusive cast, Generation Q is also navigating the trans perspective a little more mindfully. One of two trans lead characters on the show, 23-year-old Leo Sheng, born in Hunan, China, and brought up in Michigan, plays the gentle Micah Lee, through whose perspective we explore the nuances of this particular trans man’s multifaceted experiences. Besides a role in Adam, alongside Margaret Qualley and based on a book written by Sheng, this is his first major screen role. A writer and director who has documented his own experience through transition, Sheng will return to Generation Q for the new series when it hopefully airs in 2021.

Originally Appeared on Vogue