Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2013
Posted by Linda Ge and Rebecca Lewis
Brie Larson | Age: 24Breakout Moment: “Short Term 12″
When we put Brie Larson on our Faces to Watch in 2013 list, we honestly expected her supporting turns in slightly more high profile films like Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s “Don Jon” and James Ponsoldt’s “The Spectacular Now” would get people talking, but sometimes, a great breakthrough lead role in the tiniest of indies is all it takes and that’s exactly what “Short Term 12″ did for the talented and deserving Larson. Her first lead role in a movie had her playing a dedicated social worker who’s uncannily good with troubled kids but is also haunted by dark memories and demons of her own. Larson pulls it off brilliantly, with a layered and nuanced performance that has won raves from everyone who’s seen it. There’s a grassroots effort to get her some Oscar recognition, and while that’s the longest of long shots, she’s already made an impact. High profile opportunities have started knocking on her door, with the female lead in Rupert Wyatt’s “The Gambler” opposite Mark Wahlberg penciled in. The first of many, to be sure.
Adèle Exarchopoulos | Age: 20Breakout Moment: “Blue Is The Warmest Color”
It’s rare for foreign films to break through to American audiences, and even more rare for the stars of those films to become Hollywood It Girls, but that’s just what’s become of Adèle Exarchopoulos, the star of Cannes’ Palme d’Or winner and rather controversial “Blue is the Warmest Color.” The proof? We can now spell that last name without having to Google it. Exarchopoulos was only eighteen when director Abdellatif Kechiche cast her as the titular teenager coming of age and discovering her sexuality in “La Vie d’Adele,” (“Blue”‘s original much more fitting French title) which co-starred Lea Seydoux as the great love of the onscreen Adele’s life. Those long-winded lesbian love scenes may be the most frequent topic of discussion among film buffs, but even more undeniable is the performance that Exarchopoulos gives, anchoring the three-hour film with a lived-in confidence. She truly made her onscreen counterpart come alive, riveting French and international audiences alike, and is in the hunt for an Oscar nomination even with the film not eligible for the Foreign Language category.
Margot Robbie | Age: 23Breakout Moment: “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Watch out for those Aussies! Margot Robbie is the latest in a long string of expats from Down Under taking over Hollywood. The star of ABC’s short-lived historical drama “Pan Am,” where she made an impression as a sheltered small town girl who ditches her wedding to become a flight attendant and travel the world, the early cancellation of what could have been her big break turned out to be a major blessing in disguise. She quickly landed the female lead of Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” opposite Leonardo Dicaprio. She’s earning raves for her head-turning performance, but before the film was even screened, she had already gone on her way to conquer more high profile projects. She beat out the likes of Michelle Williams and Jessica Biel for the co-lead opposite Will Smith in upcoming grifter rom com “Focus” and is likely to land the Jane role in “Tarzan” opposite Alexander Skarsgard as well.
Lupita Nyong’o | Age: 30Breakout Moment: “12 Years a Slave”
Mexico-born, Kenya-raised actress and filmmaker Lupita Nyong’o is no stranger to the movie business, having majored in Film Studies and then gone on to Yale Drama School. She’s also worked as a crew member on major Hollywood productions like Ralph Fiennes’ “The Constant Gardner.” But it wasn’t until her graduation from Yale in 2012 that she landed her very first and, as it turns out, breakout role, in Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave.” Nyong’o's riveting, heartbreaking turn as Patsey, the beautiful slave who attracts the wrong kind of attention from her cruel masters, gives the film, as well as Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Solomon Northup, incredible heart and empathy. It’s rightfully earning her some of the best reviews of the year and maybe even an Oscar statue in the coming months. Next up: mainstream Hollywood as Nyong’o takes on the role of a flight attendant opposite Liam Neeson’s air marshal who gets trapped aboard a hijacked plane in “Non-Stop.”
Greta Gerwig | Age: 30Breakout Moment: “Frances Ha”
Indie mainstay Greta Gerwig has been working steadily since the mid 2000s and has spoken publicly about the elusiveness of mainstream success up until now. But that’s all changed for her with the wide release of “Frances Ha” in 2013, which landed her widespread acclaim and her first Golden Globe nomination to boot. In Noah Baumbach’s latest indie, Gerwig’s 27 year-old Frances has to deals with lack of money, poor prospects as a professional dancer and an increasingly strained relationship with her best friend, Sophie. It’s a similar vein to some of her other roles like “Lola Versus” and “Damsels in Distress,” which have all been met with mild critical acclaim and has seen Gerwig become the go-to girl for indie rom coms about young women dealing with the uncertainties of life. But Gerwig is multi-faceted, having also co-written “Frances Ha” with Baumbach and seems to finally be coming into her own. She is also making smart career choices, not allowing herself to get pigeon-holed, and up next we’ll see her in something vastly different – French drama “Eden” which follows one of the pioneers of French electronic dance music in the 1990s.
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