Hollywood’s Hottest Rising Stars

From Broadway stars to YA streaming hits to franchise actors, these nine rising movie stars (cover) are capturing the attention of audiences and the entertainment industry.

Some are simply bursting, and others are larger. After years on the Amazon giant The summer I became prettyLola Tung is gearing up for high-profile turns in anticipated feature films from A24 and Neon, while Whitney Peak is gearing up to play her biggest roles yet in the latest hunger games movie and Miami Vicewhere she joins Michael B. Jordan. Elsewhere, Tom Francis is building his bona fide on-screen reputation after a Tony-nominated musical series, while Keyla Monterroso Mejia is perhaps the most prolific star currently working in television.

The Class of 2026 joins Next Gen alumni like Zendaya, Paul Mescal, Florence Pugh and, most recently, Black Panther newcomer David Jonsson. Regardless of how they got there, this talent is already in demand. As Passionate rivalry And Yellow jackets The remarkable Sophie Nélisse says: “Career-wise, this is the busiest I’ve ever been. »

Keyla Monterroso Mejía

In an era where network sitcoms are nearly extinct and the average number of episodes in a season of streaming comedies that exist is in the single digits (and those seasons have about the same frequency as Halley’s Comet), Monterroso Mejia has managed to achieve the impossible: ubiquity. After assisting Seth Rogen on Apple TV The Workshop (as fictional Continental Studios executive assistant Petra) to train with Larry David on HBO. Limit your enthusiasm (cast in his autobiographical series Young Larry) to drive-bys on everything from ABC Abbott Elementary School to Netflix Nobody wants thatshe has built an enviable career by taking on the greats of comedy.

It wasn’t always this easy. After attending a performing arts high school in Pomona, Calif., the Baldwin Park-raised actress decided to jump straight into auditioning. She says she even had trouble getting into theaters at first — in fact, she mostly landed student work and short films (in one, she stars with Obsession India Navarrette). “I tried for years and years – and then: King COVID,” she continues. Suddenly, self-recordings became the norm in hearings and decision-makers had more time to devote to the unknown. Slowly, then all at once, the industry started paying attention.

Looking back, Monterroso Mejia’s rise truly began with Sidewalk. He was first asked to audition for a small role with only five lines of dialogue. A week later, she received a callback where she hopped on a Zoom with the show’s producers — and David himself. “I was like, ‘OK, geez, this is why the show is so successful,'” she says. “They really care about even the smallest parts of the show.” The role turned into a guest-starring arc that continued Sidewalkthe last two seasons of. Later it was Abbott creator-star Quinta Brunson who told Rogen to check out Monterroso Mejia while he was filming his Emmy-winning Hollywood satire. While she initially auditioned for Quinn, the creative direction role given to Chase Sui Wonders, Monterroso Mejia ended up being offered the role of Petra after that first audition. In film, she’s already shared screen time with everyone from Keke Palmer (2025 One of these days) to Will Ferrell (the Prime Video comedy You are cordially invited), and other projects are underway.

“I thought a lot about how much was luck, how much was talent, and how much was work ethic — or maybe people are just nice,” she says of her successes. But at 28, she became aware of a new reality: “Maybe I am the common denominator. » -MG

WHAT HAS AND HAS NOT CHANGED MOST IN MY LIFE “What hasn’t changed at all is my brother. He’s still the same, very boring, very nice, I love him. And what’s changed is everything else. I’ve been so lucky to have worked consistently over the last two years, so what my life was like is completely different than it is now.”

MY BIGGEST PINCH ME MOMENT FROM LAST YEAR “Being back for The Workshopseason two, is very crazy. After the much-deserved success of the first season, being back on set with everyone was crazy.

THE ACTOR I LIKE MOST AT THE MOMENT EAST “Right now, just because I just finished watching LanternsIt’s Kyle Chandler. My king can do no wrong. 10 out of 10 across the board. I looked at Kyle Chandler in awe. So present and alive.

MY MOST PERFORMED ARTIST THIS YEAR WILL BE “It’s related to music, but not. I was addicted to Addicted to crime and everything under their banner. I left from Addicted to crime has Park predators. But since I started listening to this specific genre of podcast, I don’t listen to music as much. I probably listen to music maybe 5 percent of my time, and the rest is Addicted to crime. It took over my life.

Keyla Monterroso Mejia was photographed on October 7 at Viceroy Santa Monica. Viviano trench coat; Yvonne Léon earrings; L’Dezen earrings; Viltier earrings.

Hair: Mel Dominguez. Makeup: Bryan Méndez.

Whitney Peak

Peak’s acting career didn’t get off to the easiest start. The star, who was born and raised in Uganda until her family moved to Canada when she was 10, signed with a fake agency when she was starting out as a child actress. She was sent to auditions which later turned out to be a scam. The first setback didn’t stop her, however.

In fact, at 23, Peak has a resume that would be impressive for someone twice his age, having led the HBO Max show. Gossip Girl reboot for two seasons — “All the fashion, all the locations, all the access; it was a movie, honestly!” – and starred in both Netflix films Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series and Disney Hocus Pocus 2. She believes that being an actor has helped her come out of her shell, acknowledging that auditioning hasn’t always been easy. “I was shaking uncontrollably, my whole body, and I was really shy,” Peak says. “I was choking and starting to cry; it was basically a disaster.”

She is about to enter her biggest arena as one of the stars of The Hunger Games: Sunrise over the Harvesta role she almost didn’t accept for. Peak’s character (Lenore Dove Baird) called out for singing, which almost scared her — she took on a voice like Rachel Zegler (who starred in the 2023 film). The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) would be expected. To his relief, Broadway-caliber belts were not necessary.

After Peak finished her world tour, she is currently promoting hunger gamesshe has another blockbuster waiting for her at home. Yes, she will join Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler in Miami Vice ’85filming of which has already started. The buzzy project will also reunite Peak with director Joseph Kosinski, with whom she worked on a short film for Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle perfume in 2023. (As a brand ambassador for the fashion house, she admits she’s also become a “nerd” about “different collections and different designers.”)

That’s a lot of big business plans for a self-described “independent girl,” but Peak isn’t complaining. “I’ve read some really great scripts, but nothing is more striking than finding yourself in a large-scale film and working with every actor you’ve ever admired,” she says, referring to a hunger games cast that includes Glenn Close, Elle Fanning and Jennifer Lawrence. “And I just look forward to the work, so whatever that looks like, it’s good for me.”

Looking ahead, she has a list of directors she dreams of working with, including Joachim Trier, Janicza Bravo, Savanah Leaf, Eva Victor and Raven Jackson. More recently, she added Prime time And You can see everythingLance Oppenheim is on this list. But Peak also works on herself. “I’m just building my arsenal,” she says, “and making sure I’m equipped to do whatever I want to do next.” -K.C.

MY FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTIST IS “Nina Simone. I didn’t know who she was until I was maybe 14. The first time I heard a Nina Simone song, I was in a hair and makeup trailer on one of the first jobs I ever did. Tati Gabrielle, who was in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, was in the makeup trailer, and I don’t even know if she remembers it, but she was playing music and she was playing Nina Simone, and I was like, “Who is that?” Then I went down like a deep rabbit hole.

MY MOST IMPACTIVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE WAS “I feel like it’s always the last one, because you’re always learning on each job. You take the tools you got from the last one and then transfer them to the next one. So probably THE hunger games. It was amazing, nothing to complain about.

THE ACTOR I LIKE MOST AT THE MOMENT EAST “I love Viola Davis, always. Everything she does is…