TMS List: 6 Hyped Actresses for Late 2024

(Jay L. Clendenin)

In a rare instance for autumn movie season, there seem to be more male lead performances getting exposure and critical praise than female led performances. Will Ralph Fiennes finally win an Oscar for his recent performance in Edward Berger’s Conclave? Is Adrien Brody going to have a successful comeback with his starring role in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist? These are questions that intrigue me as well. But before we get to the awards season talk, I’ve also simultaneously noticed recently there have been a few actresses having a pretty good year themselves. Here’s who I think made notable appearances in late 2024.

Sophie Thatcher:

(Kat Irlin)

Originally breaking through playing the younger version of Juliette Lewis’ character on Showtime’s hit series “Yellowjackets” (2021- ), Sophie had quite the boost in publicity this year with roles in both Ti West’s MaXXXine and Scott Beck & Bryan Woods’ Heretic. With her current preference for thrillers and horror, I’ve seen some compare the starlet’s rise in popularity to fellow modern scream queen Jenna Ortega. Like Jenna, the raven-haired gal’s style is also a bit of a contemporary throwback to goth icons like Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. But Sophie doesn’t seem to be sticking to one lane thus far either, as she has a growing side gig as an indie pop music artist and some even calling her the best part of Jon Favreau’s underwhelmingly received Star Wars series “The Book of Boba Fett” (2022).

Mikey Madison:

(O’shane Howard)

Skyrocketing to fame in 2024, Mikey went from playing a moody teenage daughter on FX’s critical favorite “Better Things” (2016-2022); to a Manson girl in Quentin Tarantino’s historical comedy Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019); to a Ghostface killer in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett’s Scream 5 (2022); to now starring as a Brooklyn stripper-turned-trophy wife in Sean Baker’s Anora. Well noted for her acting in past work, Mikey is not only being praised as a new leading lady this fall, but also arguably the best performance by an actress this year as the title character of Baker’s dark comedy. Soft spoken in real life, the dark-haired lady has proven her range, and it’s no surprise she’s the new darling of Hollywood.

Florence Pugh:

(Jingyu Lin)

Already an in-demand thespian in both the US and the UK, Florence’s resume continues to impress, and this year was no exception with a supporting role in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part Two and co-starring in John Crowley’s romantic drama We Live in Time. Between playing a main character, Yelena Belova, in various Marvel projects since 2021; and providing her voice for two animated features, Joel Crawford’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron (2023); Flo reminds us of her dramatic talents that she previously delivered in William Oldroyd’s Lady MacBeth (2016), Ari Aster’s Midsommar (2019), Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (2019) and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023).

Felicity Jones:

(Robert Deutsch)

Like Florence, Felicity is a Brit who successfully crossed over the pond. Beginning her career in period dramas such as Jon Jones’ Northanger Abbey (2007), it wasn’t until the college set indie romance of Drake Doremus’ Like Crazy (2011) when the brunette started appearing on Hollywood’s radar. Since then, she’s earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in James Marsh’s biopic The Theory of Everything (2014), played the lead in Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars prequel Rogue One (2016), and portrayed Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Mimi Leder’s On the Basis of Sex (2018) to name a few credits. This autumn, the character actress has been consistently name dropped as a Best Supporting Actress contender for Brady Corbet’s historical epic The Brutalist, which blew up on the recent film festival circuit and is in theaters next month.

Zendaya:

(AB+DM)

If you’re between the ages of 13 and 30, the one-name female celebrity you would most recognize behind Madonna and Beyonce is Zendaya. A former Disney child star who quickly abandoned a pop music career, Zendaya has organically risen to A-list status with parts in Marvel’s Spider-man reboot since 2017, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi Dune trilogy (2021- ), and HBO’s teen drama series “Euphoria” (2019- ), the latter where she won two Emmys for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Earlier this year the Californian was a highlight in both Dune Part Two and Luca Guadagnino’s tennis love triangle Challengers, and she seems to be returning to fans’ radars as we gear up for numerous ‘best of’ lists at the end of the year.

Saoirse Ronan:

(Jennifer McCord)

As probably the closest thing to Jodie Foster’s successor, Saoirse has unsurprisingly, naturally matured into a respected A-lister. From becoming one of the youngest nominees in Academy Award history for Joe Wright’s Atonement (2007), to gaining three more noms for John Crowley’s Brooklyn (2015), Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017) and Gerwig’s Little Women (2019). In between her awards friendly performances, Saoirse was also a part of Wes Anderson’s star-studded casts for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The French Dispatch (2021). This fall, the Irish woman is the star of both Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun and Steve McQueen’s Blitz in two completely different, but effective roles.

Have any currently popular actors grabbed your attention lately? Who is your favorite contemporary actress currently? Do you agree with my list?