In 2023, I wrote a list of the biggest young rising actors on film and TV. Since that article, all those young stars careers became bigger and shined brighter with new projects and award winning and nominated work. In Part 2 of this women’s edition, we bring you a new list of young actresses who have been electrifying our screens for the last few years and are becoming prominent as the next generation of diverse actors from around the world as they begin to reach the top tier of the industry. This list is to showcase the talents of these diverse and talented women, and give them their flowers as their careers continue to flourish upwards and onwards. Melissa Barrera, Rina Sawayama, Millie Bobby Brown, Monica Barbaro, Dominique Fishback and Tara Abboud have all brought charisma, vibrancy, empowerment, intensity and grace on the small and big screens with their own individual styles and panache.
Melissa Barrera Martinez was born and raised in Mexico, Monterrey, Nuevo León. It was during her middle school years that she began getting into theater, developing her passion for the arts and taking part in school plays and musical theatre shows such as ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ ‘Footloose,’ ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and ‘Aida.’ In her senior year of high school, she took part in the Mexican production of Roméo et Juliette (musical) the French musical inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet in the role of Juliette. She would the audition for and be accepted to the prestigious Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21) as part of the world famous Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU) in 2009. During her time there she would continually hone her skills, study her craft and enhance her abilities in preparation for her future roles. Melissa is a triple threat – she can act with a variety of range, she can dance in various styles, and can sing, whether it be in musicals or live on film making her exceptionally talented, showcasing this in plays such as Sweet Charity. She would join the Mexican reality show ‘La Academia’ (2011) showcasing her dancing and singing ability, she would get her major acting debuts on TV Azteca again on a few prominent Mexican Telenovelas ‘La Mujer de Judas’, ‘La Otra Cara del Alma’ and telenovela as Olvido in ‘Siempre Tuya Acapulco,’ showcasing her talents as one of the leading rising actresses in Mexico. She would get another big break which would expose her to American audiences in Starz’s Latin American drama series Vida (2018). This would lead to more opportunities, and she would be cast as a lead opposite Paul Mescal in Carmen and In the Heights opposite Corey Hawkins and Anthony Ramos showcasing her triple threat abilities in both roles. Next she was cast in the lead role in Scream 5 (2022) and Scream 6 (2023) as Samantha Carpenter, a role which would make her a name globally, gaining new horror fans while rejuvenating a horror franchise which had not been on the big screen for over a decade with new fresh faces and rising stars like Jenna Ortega and Mikey Madison. In Scream she shows off her visceral emotions and empathy with somebody overcoming trauma and dealing with mental health in a heightened setting. Another terrific performance is Netflix’s Keep Breathing (2022) limited series where she plays a lone women stranded in the Canadian wilderness having to fend for herself. It takes a high level of charisma to keep the audiences attention, and another skill to exude intensity, intelligence and integrity through physicality and athleticism which she does in spades here. I believe she is one of the best actresses around at showcasing this in all her roles, which varies depending on he project. She was recently in the action horror ‘Abigail'(2024), the Broadway inspired fantasy drama Monster (2024) and will next be seen in the Sci-Fi/action series ‘The Copenhagen Test’ opposite Simu Liu. Melissa exudes a natural empathy and likability, mixed with her ability to balance her physicality and emotional integrity that pulls in the audience and allows you to want her to succeed on screen and follow her journey. She has this raw power and honesty whenever she performs, which resonates on screen. Her star power will continue to grow, outside noise will never ever dim undoubted talent.
Rina Sawayama is a young Japanese/British global popstar, music producer and writer. She has over 400 million plays across various streaming platforms and her debut album ‘Sawayama’ was on various top 50 album lists in 2020. Her reputation has been growing as an actress once she showed her talents in a scene stealing performance as Akira in John Wick 4 (2023) in her film debut opposite Keanu Reeves. Rina was born in Nigita, Japan then raised in North London. She attended Cambridge University where she studied politics, psychology and sociology. Her solo music career started in 2013 when she released the single ‘Sleeping in waking.’ Rina was an independent musician and financing her debut EP herself during the beginning of her career, later working with labels but maintaining creative control of her music. She would also direct and act in her own videos, showing a creative passion and exploration in her music allowing her to express herself. She recorded the song Eye for an Eye on the John Wick 4 soundtrack. Chad Stahelski discovered Rina after watching her music videos and was so very impressed, that he mentioned this while promoting John Wick: Chapter 4. Rina’s performance is alluring, charismatic and her presence on screen breathtaking. I was shocked to discover this was her film debut and the fact she went toe to toe with screen legends Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada and Donnie Yen who all have combined careers and experience in TV and Film spanning over a century in the business was exceptional, along with her athletic attributes she had to show in the martial arts and weapons training she had to do showing discipline in physicality and her mentality. Rina has intangibles that you can’t teach, can’t learn, but are born with. This natural born talent which if she continues to hone and improve, will take her straight to the top.
She spoke on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on how she got the role:
Rina Sawayama – “So basically, I had just finished writing my second album, not fully, but the bulk of it. And I was having a creative block before that, so it was like kind of- It was amazing that I managed to write most of it in two months. And never in my schedule have I ever had a couple of months free. And then I randomly get a call from Chad Stahelski. He wants to speak with me, I’m like why the F**k does he want to speak to me? Why does the director of ‘John Wick’ wanna speak to me for? I took the call, so I spoke with him and he was like, ‘So I’ve been trying to cast this role.’ And he described the character, and ‘what are you doing for the next three months?'”
Millie Bobby Brown is a young British actress whose reputation has been steadily blossoming since she showed her talents on Netflix’s global mega hit 80’s inspired TV series Stranger Things (2016) as the mind bending Eleven which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at age 13. She most recently starred in films such as Godzilla vs Kong (2019), Enola Holmes (2020), Enola Holmes 2 (2022), Damsel (2024) and Electric State (2025). Millie was actually born in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain. Millie’s performance as Eleven was what brought her into viewers hearts. Her intensity, vulnerability, and strength shined through as she grew up in front of a global audience in one of the biggest TV streaming shows in the history of Netflix. We have only started to peel back the talent in her young career she also appears as a producer on her projects, it is intriguing in which direction her career will continue to blossom and develop. Stranger Things 5th and final season premieres in November 2025.
Monica Barbaro is an American actress who was born in San Francisco, California on the West coast where she grew up until high school. Monica’s father is Italian/American while her mother is of Mexican, German, and Nicaraguan descent. It would be on the East coast that truly her acting journey would start when she was accepted into New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she took her first acting classes and studied for her Bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. She became classically trained in ballet, modern dance, salsa, flamenco and West African dance, and also studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Monica Barbaro would make appearances in TV shows Hawaii Five-0 (2016) Chicago P.D (2016), Chicago Justice (2017), Unreal (2016), The Good Cop (2018) and many more helping her gain valuable experience. It wouldn’t be until she would be cast as Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace in Top Gun: Maverick (2022) opposite legendary actor and producer Tom Cruise, a role that would change the trajectory of her life and career forever. Top Gun: Maverick would make over a billion worldwide at the box office, winning multiple Oscars, BAFTAS, Golden Globes, SAG awards and more. Her balanced portrayal of Phoenix was graceful, humorous, witty, intense and physical as she had to train to literally fly in a jet with the rest of the cast. She looked like an absolute star on screen and this would be shown when she was cast as the co-lead with Arnold Schwarzenneger in the action/comedy espionage drama about a father and daughter FUBAR (2023) where she showed her comedic and action chops as CIA agent Emma Brunner opposite arguably the greatest action movie star ever, Arnold Schwarzenegger, doing great numbers and being one of Netflix’s highest rated shows of 2023. She would then take on the role of legendary musician Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown (2024). Monica did a hard year of intensive training learning to sing and play the guitar from scratch, and she played and sang the music live. This helped her capture Baez’s signature vibrato and high voice and vocals, showing her absolute dedication and commitment to master and embody every role she plays. It paid off as it earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2025, which was well deserved showcasing her all round talent and ability to be a triple threat in singing, dancing and acting. It comes across so natural and smooth on screen. Monica will next be seen on Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas (2025).
Dominque Fishback was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up with a passion for filmmaking and the arts. The last few years she has shown her range and ability to take on characters with diverse personalities and varying moral compasses, gaining critical acclaim and fan appreciation of her talents. I truly believe we have not fully tapped into Dominque’s potential, she has this innate likability mixed with grace and visceral power to draw you into any character she plays, sometimes without words even just her ability to react stands out amongst many and truth of the moment. After graduating from Pace University with a B.A. in Theater in 2013, she would make her breakthrough on acclaimed TV shows such as The Knick (2014), The Affair (2014), Royal Pains (2015), The Americans (2015) and The Bluebloods (2015) with impressive guest appearances. She would also demonstrate her ability as a young playwright debuting her off-Broadway play Subverted (2014) in which she played 22 different characters and started originally as part of her thesis for University, exploring the systemic destruction of Black identity and experience in multiple facets. She would continue to excel in more roles continuously, before she would be cast in a high profile action, superhero powered movie Project Power (2020) for Netflix opposite Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This would give her global exposure and more to audiences awareness of her talents. She would then be cast in the biggest role of her career so far in 2021, where she played Deborah Johnson the girlfriend/partner of Fred Hampton played by Daniel Kaluuya, who was the chairman of the Black Panther party from Illinois, in Judas and the Black Messiah, which was nominated and won Kaluuya the Oscar for best supporting actor. Dominque thrived in this role showing her ability to go toe to toe with the best actors around. She would have another visceral and outstanding performance as Dre in the Prime Video series Swarm (2023) about a young woman whose obsession with a pop star takes her character down a dark and twisted path. She also recently appeared in the Bumblebee (2018) sequel Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) showing her first taste of a big blockbuster summer movie.
Tara Abboud was born in Amman, Jordan. She is relatively new to the industry as an actress first starring in a string of indie short films and TV shows. In 2019 she got one of her big roles in a TV role in Ramadan series Obour, which would lead to her first feature starring role in Amira (2021), directed by Mohamed Diab which premiered in the 78th Venice film festival. Her star was rising very fast and her talents were making a big impression in the industry. The young Jordan actress would be involved in another high profile film REBEL by Adil el Arabi and Billal Fallah (Bad Boys: For Life) who both wrote and directed the film, which would help her to begin gaining more recognition internationally as the film premiered at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The Disney+ streaming series ‘Culprits’ is where Tara gained my attention as ‘Azar’ where she was the standout in that whole series. She displayed heart, bravery and this kind of raw innocence and strength while carrying her character’s burdens and flaws. She jumped off the screen immediately, an internal charisma that glows amazingly for such a young actor, so it is with little surprise that her career is going from strength to strength. She is currently starring in Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (2025) and Prime Target (2025).
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