Hollywood’s young talent pool has never been more dynamic. From franchise stars commanding billion-dollar box offices to complete unknowns who’ve become overnight sensations. Here’s who’s dominating the industry right now.
Tom Holland
Age: 29
Known For: Spider-Man, The Odyssey
Holland’s facing the biggest year of his career. July 2026 brings two massive releases: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (July 17) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31). His Spider-Man franchise has grossed over $3.9 billion, with No Way Home alone hitting $1.9 billion.
The $250 million budget Odyssey, shot entirely on IMAX, has Holland playing Telemachus opposite Matt Damon and Zendaya. He’s also got Avengers: Doomsday dropping in May, a Fred Astaire biopic in development, and his own production company Billy17.
Kit Connor
Age: 21
Known For: Heartstopper, Warfare
Connor’s got arguably the most impressive growth on this list. After winning the inaugural Children’s and Family Emmy for Heartstopper, he made his Broadway debut as Romeo, won a Theatre World Award, and starred in A24’s Warfare (earning a British Independent Film Award).
His 2026 slate includes Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter, an A24 live-action Elden Ring adaptation with Alex Garland directing, and Heartstopper Forever on Netflix, where he’s also serving as executive producer.
Owen Cooper
Age: 16
Known For: Adolescence
Cooper’s debut story is legendary. With zero professional experience, he landed Netflix’s Adolescence after 500+ auditions. The series became Netflix’s second most-watched English-language show ever, and Cooper swept awards season as the youngest male Emmy winner in history and youngest Golden Globe winner for Best Supporting Actor.
He’s just appeared in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights as young Heathcliff. Stephen Graham compared him to Robert De Niro.
Miles Caton
Age: 20
Known For: Sinners
A gospel singer with no acting experience, Caton learned guitar in two months for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. The film grossed over $360 million worldwide and earned a record 16 Oscar nominations. Caton won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Young Performer and scored BAFTA Rising Star and two SAG nominations.
Jack Champion
Age: 21
Known For: Avatar franchise
Champion’s role as Spider in Avatar: The Way of Water made him a franchise cornerstone. He reprised the role in Avatar: Fire and Ash (December 2025), which grossed over $1.23 billion. He’s already filmed portions of Avatar 4, scheduled for 2029.
Noah Centineo
Age: 29
Known For: To All the Boys, action pivot
Centineo’s pivoting hard from rom-com heartthrob to action star. In 2025, he starred in A24’s Warfare (92% on Rotten Tomatoes). His 2026 slate is stacked: Ken Masters in Street Fighter (October 16), young John Rambo in a Lionsgate prequel, and a live-action Gundam movie for Netflix opposite Sydney Sweeney.
Finn Wolfhard
Age: 23
Known For: Stranger Things, multi-hyphenate career
The most prolific Stranger Things cast member, Wolfhard’s amassed $1.8 billion in box office across 17 films. In 2025, he co-wrote and co-directed Hell of a Summer, released his solo album “Happy Birthday,” and hosted SNL on January 17, 2026. He’s now focusing on music and touring, with a Replacements biopic in development.
Joe Locke
Age: 22
Known For: Heartstopper, Marvel’s Wiccan
Locke made the leap from Heartstopper to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Billy Maximoff/Wiccan in Agatha All Along, earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination. He’s reprising Charlie Spring in Heartstopper Forever and is rumored to begin filming Marvel’s Champions (Young Avengers project) in 2026.
Dominic Sessa
Age: 23
Known For: The Holdovers
Sessa broke through with zero professional experience in The Holdovers, earning a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He’s now playing young Anthony Bourdain in A24’s Tony and serves as brand ambassador for Yves Saint Laurent and J.Crew.
Ben Wang
Age: 28
Known For: Karate Kid: Legends
Wang made history as the first Asian American lead in the Karate Kid franchise, selected from over 10,000 auditioners. He won the CinemaCon Star of Tomorrow Award and is joining the Hunger Games franchise in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026).
Walker Scobell
Age: 17
Known For: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Scobell leads Disney+’s Percy Jackson franchise. Season 2 premiered December 2025, and Season 3 is currently filming for a 2026 premiere. He also starred in Looking Through Water with Michael Douglas (83% critics, 96% audience on Rotten Tomatoes).
Christopher Briney
Age: 27
Known For: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Briney rode three seasons of The Summer I Turned Pretty (reaching 70+ million viewers for Season 3) to become a Prime Video star. He’s now pivoting to HBO’s Emmy-winning Hacks Season 5 and filming The Julia Set with Gillian Anderson. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2025.
Hero Fiennes Tiffin
Age: 28
Known For: After franchise, Young Sherlock Holmes
Best known for leading all five After films, Fiennes Tiffin’s pivoting to prestige work. He stars as the titular Young Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie’s 8-episode Amazon Prime series (premiering March 4, 2026), co-starring Colin Firth.
Lucas Hedges
Age: 29
Known For: Manchester by the Sea
One of the finest dramatic actors of his generation, Hedges earned an Oscar nomination at 19 for Manchester by the Sea. His 2025 included Sorry, Baby (A24), and he’s currently filming Love Is Not the Answer (Michael Cera’s directorial debut) and Trust the Man (Vietnam War thriller).
Jacob Tremblay
Age: 19
Known For: Room, career resurgence
Tremblay’s experiencing a major resurgence. He won a Primetime Emmy in March 2025 for Orion and the Dark. His recent work includes The Life of Chuck (Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation) and upcoming Unabom (playing young Ted Kaczynski opposite Russell Crowe).
Gavin Casalegno
Age: 26
Known For: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Casalegno played Jeremiah Fisher across all three TSITP seasons. He’s now leading Chasing Red (Wattpad adaptation with 261 million reads, co-starring Madelaine Petsch) and co-starring in The Devil’s Mouth (Amazon MGM survival thriller).
Jaeden Martell
Age: 23
Known For: It, indie film
After breaking through in It ($701M worldwide) and Knives Out, Martell’s carving a niche in indie film. His lead performance in Our Hero, Balthazar was called “phenomenal” by IndieWire. He’s filming The Boy in the Iron Box, a Netflix horror produced by Guillermo del Toro.
Gaten Matarazzo
Age: 23
Known For: Stranger Things, Broadway
A Broadway veteran, Matarazzo’s diversifying aggressively post-Stranger Things. He voices Lucky in Andy Serkis’s Animal Farm (May 1, 2026) and stars in/executive-produced the Hulu comedy Pizza Movie (premiering at SXSW, March 2026).
Asa Butterfield
Age: 28
Known For: Sex Education, 20-year career
With a 20-year career spanning Hugo, Ender’s Game, and Netflix’s Sex Education, Butterfield remains prolific. In 2025, he made his theatrical stage debut in Second Best. Upcoming projects include Terry Gilliam’s The Carnival at the End of Days with Johnny Depp and Jeff Bridges.
Caleb McLaughlin
Age: 24
Known For: Stranger Things
Beyond Stranger Things, McLaughlin voices the lead in GOAT (Sony Pictures Animation, February 13, 2026), a sports comedy timed to NBA All-Star Weekend. Broadway-trained as Young Simba in The Lion King, he’s actively seeking roles to redefine his post-Stranger Things identity.
Wrap Up
The defining story this year is reinvention. Major franchises like Stranger Things, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and Heartstopper have been concluded, forcing their stars to pivot. The winners are those diversifying fastest: Kit Connor jumping from Netflix teen drama to A24 war films and Broadway; Noah Centineo reinventing himself across three action franchises; Finn Wolfhard leaning into music and directing.
Meanwhile, complete unknowns like Owen Cooper and Miles Caton have become award-winning, agency-signed talents with zero prior experience.
