Breakthrough Performers: 2017

Occasionally, the year serves not only as a chance for some of film's best to be offered, but also a time for a fresh new crop of actors and actresses to break out. Examples from recent years include the starmaking performances of Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson in 2013, the charismatic of a little-known, freshfaced Michael Fassbender in 2009, or the beginning of the actress of the decade with Jennifer Lawrence in 2010. However, 2017 proved to be a fantastic year for diversity and equality to spread throughout the industry in the newcomers and future faces of Hollywood. 
==​10. Zendaya==
Breakout Roles: ​Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Greatest Showman 
To be perfectly fair, Zendaya is hardly a new face for the Disney generation. She was a favorite for a few years to tweens everywhere for her dancing and comedic timing on the TV show Shake it Up​, which she used as a platform to further her own impressive talents. After a brief foray into music, Zendaya proved to be one of the most successful and talented Disney alumni in the acting world. Not just an attempt to draw in younger crowds, Zendaya's deadpan one-liners help add flavor to the high school environment of Spider-Man: Homecoming, while she's the best female performer in The Greatest Showman​, who's acrobatics match only her talented voice. 
Future Projects: ​Duck Duck Goose, Smallfoot 
==​9. Algee Smith ==
Breakout Roles: Detroit 
Talk about a powerhouse performance to end the summer. As the lead of Kathryn Bigelow's epic about the 1967 Detroit Riots, Smith sings both literally and figuratively in the phantom of a performance. He easily gets the best scene of the year, expressing his broken heart and tender soul fantastically as he performs "If You Haven't Got Love". He also does excellently in the acting portion, portraying the shell of the excitable youth from earlier in the films towards its end. Smith exudes confidence and reservation at the right moments, lifting the film on his shoulders as he saddles a difficult narrative that flies when he's taking center stage. 
Future Proejcts: ​The Hate U Give
==​8. Dafne Keen ==
Breakout Roles: Logan 
Along with being this personal writer's choice for Best Supprting Actress, Keen gives one of the most ferocious and entertaining performances by a child actor in a long time. Savagely tearing apart soldiers and flinging herself around the set, Keen's "Laura" instantly becomes a fan favorite. Physically capturing the feral but vulnerable child without saying a word for the majority of the film, Keen proves that great gifts come in small packages. Even throwing aside her physicality, she still gives a harrowing emotional heft that lets her compete and outshine Hugh Jackman in his career-defining role. 
Future Projects: ​Ana 
==​7. Caleb Landry Jones ==
Breakout Roles: ​Get Out, The Florida Project, American Made, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 
For the sheer amount of work he has done this year, Caleb Landry Jones has become the favorite supporting actor part that viewers didn't realize they loved. First, he chewed scenery as he twirled a lacrosse stick at Daniel Kaluuya as the unhinged brother in ​Get Out​, before turning a dime and competently going alongside Willem Dafoe as his adult son in The Florida Project​. He plays stupid hick fantastically in his best performance against Tom Cruise in American Made​, while he is much more subdued and tragic in his simple businessman with a heart of gold in ​Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri​. Without a doubt appearing in some of the best films of the year, you'd be hardpressed to find a more prolific breakout actor than Jones. 
Future Projects: ​Tyrell, Welcome the Stranger
==​6. Dan Stevens==
Breakout Roles: ​Beauty and the Beast, ​The Man Who Invented Christmas, Legion 
Starring in the highest grossing film of the year for a majority of the year is certainly a feather in Stevens' cap; as the titular Beast in ​Beauty and the Beast​, he proves one of the better parts of the remake with his talented voice and motion capture emoting. He also tried his hand at holiday filmmaking, getting to play alongside Christopher Plummer in The Man Who Invented Christmas​ as a young Charles Dickens. But perhaps his best contribution is in the television world; starring in one of the best received comic book television shows of the year as the main character David Haller, Legion ​provided Stevens to establish his skills as an eccentric but powerful talent.
Future Projects:​ Apostle 
==​5. Hong Chau ==
Breakout Roles: Downsizing 
Despite glowing reviews from Venice, most soon realized that Alexander Payne had a flop on his hands with Downsizing​. However, what was universally praised was the supporting performance of Hong Chau. She demolishes established actors like Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz, easily stealing every scene from them with her hilarious cariacture of an immigrant. Despite possibly offending the more PC sensitive audiences, it's Hong Chau's performance that manages to save the film from its imbalances and many, many flaws. Many agree, with her receiving a Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild nomination for her diamond in the rough performance.
Future Projects: N/A
==​4. Mary J. Blige ==
Breakout Roles: Mudbound 
Not only does Blige get to deliver a fantastic song for Dee Rees' familial masterpiece, but she also gets to provide one of its best performances. Her Florence is a nurturing, protective entity over the film, effortlessly drawing viewers into her life with comforting intimacy and confidence. Despite smaller roles in flims over the years and her continued prioritzation of her music, Blige proves she has a wealth in her second talent as a thespian. Critcs agree, giving her a Golden Globe nomination, as well as a Screen Actors Guild nod and a spot on the Critics Choice ballot. 
Future Projects: ​Sherlock Gnomes
==​3. Tiffany Haddish ==
Breakout Roles: Girls Trip 
"You can fit anything in a bootyhole. Issa bootyhole!" Honestly, that line alone is aboslutely fantastic and will make this writer cherish Tiffany Haddish for years to come. Aside from that, however, she delivers phenomenally as the soul of the otherwise absurd and crass comedy hit Girls Trip​. She also happened to make history, being the first female black stand-up comedian to host ​Saturday Night Live​ ever, and proved to be this season's best host so far. She's earned a couple critics awards, but ultimately it's her endearing personality and down-to-earth humor that will keep her around. 
Future Projects: ​Night School 
==​2. Daniel Kaluuya ==
Breakout Roles: Get Out 
To be honest, he was almost on this list in 2015 for Sicario​. Consider this an "I told you so" moment, because Kaluuya's trajectory has skyrocketed beyond that initial supporting role. Much like Get Out​'s overall complete adoration, Kaluuya proves to be one of the many factors that defines the film's legacy and appeal. As Chris Washington, he conveys much with his uncomfortable silences and his eyes alone. It's a great performance in a great film, and it's truly great to honor such a great upcoming talent. 
Future Projects:​ Black Panther, ​Widows 
==​Honorable Mentions==
*Harry Styles - Dunkirk 
*Barry Keoghan - Dunkirk, ​The Killing of a Sacred Deer
*Ana de Armas - ​Blade Runner 2049
*The entire cast - ​It 
*Beanie Feldstein - ​Lady Bird
==​1. Timothee Chalamet ==
Breakout Roles: Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird​, ​Hostiles
​Picking anybody else to top this list would just be objectively wrong. As the precocious main character of the coming-of-age film Call Me By Your Name​, Chalamet provides some of the most subtle and affecting acting anyone else older and more established than him and competes tooth and nail. He also has a hilariously pretensious and self-serious role in Lady Bird​, participating in amusing musings about things he has no idea about and in the film's most thoughtprovoking scenes. Finally, he has an interesting role to play in Scott Cooper's best film Hostiles​ that has him compete alongside legends like Christian Bale, Wes Studi, and Ben Foster. If that wasn't enough, he's been a critical darling for the first mentioned role, being the perceived second spot to try to take the future Oscar away from Gary Oldman- that alone is an accomplishment for anybody. 
Future Projects: Beautiful Boy, ​A Rainy Day in New York
Category:Breakthrough Performers