Every year, The Hollywood Reporter releases their “Next Gen” list – the actors under 35 that make up Hollywood’s next generation. This issue always makes me happy. In 2016, the issue featuring Zendayaon its covergave me hope for the future on the day after America chose a pretty f-cking bleak future. I use the word “hope” a lot when Iwrite about the youthof Hollywood. That word is why I love this issue. I can’t help but feel hopeful looking at the names on this year’s list.
There’sBlack Pantherfaves,Letitia Wrightand Winston Duke, #AsianAugust favesAwkwafinaandLana Condor, and my newest faves fromIf Beale Street Could Talk,Stephan Jamesand Kiki Layne. OH, and Geraldine Viswanathan fromBlockers! She played Kayla, John Cena’s daughter. I loved her so much in that role. She’s got another raunchy comedy coming, Netflix'sThe Package. She jokes that she’s worried about being typecast as"the brown girl who does dick movies."I think I just fell in love with Geraldine Viswanathan.
There are a lot more rising stars on this list that I’m sure will have big and bright futures but I want to focus on the ones I mentioned above. Letitia Wrightgets her own featureand reminds us, from the first sentence on, that she’s a DELIGHT.
"I didn't know that. I influence people? Amazing!"
Her influence has just begun. She’s going to be playing Shuri for a while I’m sure but she’s also got a new sci-fi romance with John Boyegain the works(black people falling in love in space? I’M IN) and she appears in the Donald Glover and Rihannasecret projectthat may be called Guava Island but probably isn’t.
"I can't tell you anything,"she says with a smile."I don’t even know ... what isGuava Island? I have no clue. I don’t know anything. I don't even know where they got my name from!"
She’s adorable. Also adorable? Lana Condor. In her write-up, we learn that she’s an Emily Blunt stan and is still deserving of all the things, including a long and successful career in acting which she says she didn’t realize was possible until recently.
"Only now am I starting to see I could actually do this for the rest of my life."
Lana’s hesitation to think she could do “this for the rest of [her] life” may have something to do with the lack of examples she had of people who looked like her doing the same. The sentiment is echoed by Awkwafina who is one of THR’scover starsand says the only reason she is working now is because of the shift in the industry.
"This might sound weird, but I think that I was looking for someone like me when I was little, just to feel less alone."
I’m going back to HOPE again because looking at these “Next Gen” stars, a list of diverse talented young people, makes me feel like the little Noras growing up now to become the next Awkwafinas will feel a lot less alone.
最后,我想给一些喜欢吻ki Layne andStephan Jamesbecause we’re a few weeks away from the release ofIf Beale Street Could Talkand I don’t think anyone is talking about this movie enough. Hopefully, that will change after more people have seen Barry Jenkins’ latest masterpiece. I’m going to be screaming this all award season but Kiki Layne and Stephan James are SO GOOD. They are revelations. Their performances will break you. They’re both very deserving of their spots on this list. I’m so excited for them.
You can read about the rest of THR’s Next Genhere.
