The 2026 Movie Star Rankings: 35 Under 35

20:57Oh, is that what we're learning?

20:58Sean Fennessey:That's what we're learning, yeah. Isn't she also on stage right now? Is she being Juliet? That is correct. She's being Juliet. How's it going? I think they just did their first show on the West End. Yeah. Like recently. Sadie Sink is playing Juliet on the West End. Who's her Romeo? Noah Jupe. Noah Jupe. Wow. Vogue is really covering this like intensely for some reason. Well, that's so interesting. So I have a lot of info. Okay, spoiler alert. Neither Noah Jupe nor Sadie Sink are on our list. Okay. Yes. And I thought a lot about that because neither of them have really been the star star of any major movie.

21:35Sean Fennessey:They've both done a lot of work. But it did have me wondering kind of what is the, how much of that, the 50-50 do you want to lean into when you're making choices? You know, like what you could be and what you have coming up versus what you've already done. No Jew's been in a lot of movies. Yeah. But I don't know. I'm already questioning the choices that we made. Now I'm hearing all this West End news. That's what it is. I don't think the reviews are great. Again, I haven't really clicked through. That's the thing is when movie stars do theater, they usually get trashed anyway. So it's not a big deal.

22:09Sean Fennessey:In addition to Stranger Things and Euphoria, we've also got Industry, which had a real pop in its fourth season. And of course, has had kind of a rotating cast now. like Harry Laudy has moved on from the show David Johnson has moved on from the show but Mahala is still there Marissa Abella is still there Kiernan Shipka joined this year she is making some noise she is she wants her number to be called at some point do you think it will be on this episode? Spoiler alert no okay but also industry is a television show so what has what films has Kiernan Shipka been in recently? she's been in a couple hit me with the list she's been in some streaming joints I'm googling as fast as I can she was in a horror streaming movie a couple years ago.

22:50Sweethearts. Oh, she was in Last Showgirl.

22:52Sean Fennessey:Last Showgirl, that's right. She was, spoiler alert, very briefly in Twisters. Yes. One of the great kills of that year. But I chuckled when that happened. Red One. Don't remember that. You know what? I never saw that. I was on leave. Yeah. That was a very cool episode that we got to do about that movie, which everyone really liked. We all went out to the movie theater and we checked out Red One starring The Rock, Dwayne Johnson. he was one of Santa's power elves I think was that what they're called Jack? I don't believe it's what they're called but that is genuinely one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life it's really quite poor yeah rooting for her and this by the way these are all the people under 35 they obviously added like Kit Harington Max Minghella yeah that show was Cal Penn on it?

23:40Sean Fennessey:yes industry? briefly? season 4? yes yeah I mean J. Duplass was on a previous season oh yeah Yeah, yeah. There have been plenty of... Industry is great. Are you ready to start getting into the nitty gritty of this? Of course. So the biggest losers of this round. Is it a loser to no longer be eligible? I mean, I guess it means you're 35 or older. So in that sense, it's tough. That makes you a loser? I think perhaps so. Yeah. So 11 stars have aged out from 2024's list. Yeah, comes for us all. We needed to power up again. Here's who we lost. We lost our number one overall choice in 2024. Margot Robbie.

24:20Sean Fennessey:She's gone. Jennifer Lawrence was at number five. She's off the list. Kristen Stewart was at 12. Off the list. Dev Patel, 16. Off the list. Taylor Swift. Yeah. That was funny that we did that. 18. Off the list. At the time. Taylor's 62 now. How old is she? She's about to have at least three Bridesmaids weekends, according to reports. So I hope your invitation comes through soon. Is she getting married? um recently in the spotify offices they were playing uh a taylor swift playlist including the song taylor swift wrote for cats the film oh sure which we saw together yeah one of the worst songs i've ever heard yeah yeah the movie was good though as i recall very very good is that still the uh no you've seen the king speech but you still have never seen tom hooper's les miserables i have not seen it yeah no but i will one day i promise for sure bill skarsgård 21 he's out Dakota Johnson, 27, out.

25:11Yeah.

25:12Sean Fennessey:Jesse Buckley, 28, out. Josh O 'Connor, he would have had a nice plum spot this year. I think he's 35, right? Yeah, he's 35, so he's out. Aaron Taylor Johnson, out. Brie Larson, out, even though Rosalina reigns in the Super Mario Galaxy movie. From last year's list, that's 11 people, seven of whom were women. Can I ask something about Rosalina just really quickly before we... You may. I'm sorry. I know I'm derailing this, but it's just... So what happened that Rosalina just completely lost touch with Princess Peach? She sent her away to keep her safe, I think. Okay. And she sent her to another land to be a princess, but then she didn't realize that she created trauma for Peach because then Peach didn't know her family.

25:58Why did she send her away?

26:00Sean Fennessey:I don't know. Probably just jealous of her little sister. Okay. No, I think there was a legitimate reason. There was an incurring threat. What are the stars called? I don't know. Stars. But they're safe with Rosalina? It's just Princess Peach? Yeah, she's a mother to them. Okay. Yeah. All right. Thanks. Thanks for filling me in. Thank you. Other people who did not make our list, but could have this year, and have aged out. And I'll tell you, the first person I thought of when I was thinking of this new endeavor was Jonathan Bailey. Yeah. Who, you know, starred in Wicked and starred in the most recent Jurassic film.

26:33Sean Fennessey:And I'll tell you what, my wife has taken a real shine to him. He's wonderful. He was the only good part of Wicked for good. Yeah, she just powered through every season of Bridgerton. She's like, who's that guy? Yeah. I mean, he has a who's that guy quality. He does. It's just sort of... But he's 36. The timing of when, the last time we did this list, when those films came out, and then his birthday. Just didn't work out. Yes, so maybe when we do 35 over, I don't think he's going to be quite that popular. But so he's out. Another late bloomer, Monica Barbaro, my beloved. She's out. She's also over 35.

27:03Listen, you don't need to single me out on that. Our beloved, Monica Barbaro.

27:06Sean Fennessey:Okay, our beloved. Jeremy Allen White, very much would have had a case for this list. He's Jabba the Hutt? He's Roto the Hutt? Okay. Roto? Roto? Jack? Not quite sure. Okay. Okay. New best bit is asking Jack questions I know he doesn't know the answer to. Jabba the Hutt's son. Oh, okay. Who I think in some of the animated shows is a baby who is kidnapped. Oh, no. But in this new film is an absolutely yoked Coliseum warrior who will be doing battle with Mando. What is his relationship with Jabba like? I think it's kind of similar to Bruce Springsteen and his dad. I think. I'm not sure yet. We'll have to see the film.

27:48Sean Fennessey:Also aged out Lily James and Jack O 'Connell, who had a very big year. Who I learned has my birthday. Same birthday. Jack O 'Connell? Yeah. But you're not the same age. Who's older? Sadly, no. All right. We dropped some people from this list. Yeah. We dropped a bunch of women. We dropped a bunch of women. You did it. It was your choice. Why did you? We dropped one man as well. Who did we drop and why did we drop them? Well, okay, I was writing it again. We dropped Kaylee Spaney. How do you feel about that? Not good. We have another thing on this list called Still Not Sure Why We Can't Find a Spot for Them.

28:27Kaylee Spaney is on there. I think it's just that it's sort of a timing issue. I know that she was in the Prometheus. No, not Prometheus. It was Prometheus. No, Romulus. Romulus. Okay. Movie last year. But, you know, Priscilla and my favorite movie, Civil War, were like a couple years ago now. She was in Wake Up Dead Man. But that was quite bad and her character was not developed.

28:56Sean Fennessey:I think Wake Up Dead Man is good. I didn't really understand her character. Well, they didn't know what to do with any of the people who were not Josh O 'Connor in that. Or Daniel Craig in that movie. Okay, okay. And or Glenn Close, of course. Or Josh Brolin, sure. That's four. That's four. But these movies are made with like 25 people. Enjoy Wake Up Dead Man. She is going to be the star. Yes. In the next Sean Durkin movie, Deep Cuts. Very exciting. But that's, again, that's not out yet. It's a 2027 film. Yeah. She also has Elden Ring and Alien Romulus 2, which might make$4 billion combined. Well, that's great.

29:30But none of that's happened yet.

29:31Sean Fennessey:I didn't cut Kaylee Spaney for the record. I'm just providing additional context. We had to make room. Okay. And she's just kind of in a middle place. And as I said, it's the timing issue. Is this because she wanted Kirsten Dunst to wear a dress in Civil War? Is this why you've done this? Try this on. It's green. Yeah, it's green. It will help you feel like a woman because this is what womanhood is, as you know, because you've been paying attention. That's right. I'm a friend to women. Everyone is saying that. Yeah. Uh, how often, how many times a day will you just put on a dress and look at yourself in the mirror and think, I've done it again.

30:10Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Especially like it in my home with living with two men under the age of five. It's, it's three to four times, you know? Okay. That seems healthy. Kaylee Spaney out. Yeah. Don't know if I agree with that. Jodie Comer out. This is a list that you coauthored. So. I did. I did. Well, we'll come back to that. Jodie Comer out. Terrific actress. I think she's made some good movies in the last few years. She didn't really open the bike riders. And she had a smaller part in 28 years later. She's magnificent in 28 years later. We loved 28 years later. Again, this is another one where the timing of when this list falls in your career.

30:49Sean Fennessey:This is an example of you thinking like a studio executive where she's getting really close to 35 and you're ready to dispense with her. I'm like, good luck, Jodie Comer. No one talks like that. Rachel Zegler has speed bump with Snow White. Yep. I think she'll be back. But isn't she doing the stage right now? She's doing Evita? Is she doing Juliet? No, she's doing Evita. Evita. Yeah. Oh, wow. You're putting a little... Don't cry for me, Evita. Putting a little spice on that Evita. Wow. When will we do an Andrew Lloyd Webber episode? I guess we already did it with cats, but... I find them all to be bad films.

31:21Sean Fennessey:Evita might be the best movie. Best adaptation of his work. Yeah. Speaking of... We may or may not be on a Madonna movies episode at some point. I don't want to... but it's not on. I don't know if I've been fully booked for that. I am prepared to do it. I was booked. Right? Officially? I'm waiting for confirmation on my end. Okay. Well, I remember seeing Evita with the tea in theaters. I saw it in theaters on a school trip. Wow. Really? Yeah. Where was the trip to? A movie theater. Oh, I thought you meant like while you were on. We didn't see the stage show. Not the stage show. Or I don't know.

31:53I thought that you went to see the movie while you were in like Baltimore or whatever to see something. I don't know whether they're making a new Avita. Rachel Zegler is good casting. Yeah. And she was nominated for an Olivier, I see.

32:06Sean Fennessey:Okay. I mean, she's terrific. I just don't. She's really talented. I think she needs to get some stronger movies going. Hunter Schaefer never really took off for her after the 2024 list. Thought it was going to. The horror film for Neon didn't totally click. She might be back too. We'll see. We dropped Lakeith Stanfield. Yeah. And we find him at a tricky moment in his career. because we say this always happens to women, but it's happening to a man as well, which is he's still very young and he's had a lot of bites at the apple. And there's a real sliding doors thing where I feel like one of the Star Wars projects that was pitched, he was being tabbed as like one of the key Jedi stars.

32:46Sean Fennessey:And if that movie had happened before the Kathy Kennedy regime ended, I think we'd be having a different conversation. But he had a couple of movies that didn't totally click. Book of Clarence didn't hit. and then all of a sudden you wake up and you find yourself the fourth lead in Roofman. And also Die My Love. And Die My Love, yeah. Which I thought that character was quite strange. And he was mostly a manifestation of desire. Yes. So I would like to see him similar to the photograph just like in a studio movie as the lead. But the photograph was 2020. So it's been a while. After the photograph in Judas and the Black Messiah I was like, okay, it's happening.

33:26Sean Fennessey:Post-Atlanta, this is happening for him, and it has slowed down a little bit. Also took off Adria Arjona. Now, that is not a judgment on my feelings about her as a person. I was so outraged when I noticed this that I, you know, Googled and really sought to put my case together. Because I, too, am just, like, incredibly pro-Adria Arjona. But the movies that she's been in recently have been smaller. And the Thomas Crown Affair co-starring Michael B. Jordan is not out yet. So. She could be back. She just, you know, she's just continuing to be cast as the girl, you know, and not as the person at the center.

34:06Sean Fennessey:And I think The Father of the Bride is probably the last movie where she was really in the center of the frame, right? Fair to say. So she's off. Those were tough cuts. There's a few people who were in the pipeline who we did not include. Right. We'll mention them right now. Mention Noah Joop, his brother, Jacoby Joop. He of Hamnet Death. Right. And also like doing a bit at every awards show. Yes. It's very cute and very, very game. Yeah. They're promising. Madeline Klein. Which one's that? Oh, I know what you did last summer. Yes. She's the star of Outer Banks. Right. Her co-star from Outer Banks, Drew Starkey, also not here by the way, but he's also going to be the star of that movie, the Sean Durkin film opposite Kaylee Spaney.

34:48Sean Fennessey:He was good and queer. I, I, I'm keeping, keeping an eye on him. Of course. The Beatles boys. Mm-hmm. So one made it. Two made it. Two made it. Two didn't. Yeah. So Harris Dickinson, what do you have to say for yourself? You know, his time will come. Okay. John movie's coming. Mm-hmm. And sometimes you just have things for yourself and that's fine. A little tall for John. I think they'll work it out. Okay. Who's the other one? Joseph Quinn. Joseph Quinn, Stranger Things. George. Yeah. George always overlooked. What did you think of his work as the human torch? I didn't really understand what was going on with the human torch.

35:34Sean Fennessey:He flames up, flame on. Yeah, but like, did they ever really, and then what's up with Vanessa Kirby? She's elastic? Nope, nope. That's the film The Incredibles. She is the invisible woman. She does this. So she's like Violet from The Incredibles. Yes, The Incredibles is inspired by the fantastic film. No, I understood that when I watched the Fantastic Four. And then the poor Eben Moss Bacharach, speaking of people on Broadway, didn't get to show his face. Nope. Except in Flashback. He's playing Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing. And then Pedro Pascal is like... His catchphrase is, it's clobbering time.

36:14Sean Fennessey:Okay. And then Pedro Pascal is like, is so smart that he can't like hold his head up, basically. And it's the burden of intelligence, right? Yes, I'm one of the most relatable characters of 2025. Harris Dickinson is out. Joseph Quinn is out. Yeah, none of those people are on this list. Rachel Sennett. Yeah, I mean, I get it. But she put her money with TV for a little. Wish she didn't do that. Well, maybe she'll come back around. Chase Suey Wonders also spent 2025 on a TV show. Havana Rose Liu, who I think is very good in this movie with another person who we did not include, Leo Woodall in Tuner.

36:53Right.

36:54Sean Fennessey:And I hope it really works out for those two. I believe in them. Leo Woodall definitely has the, he's got the look. He's got the look of a dude. You know what I mean? He does. He could be a player. Isabel May was recently the daughter in Scream 7. And she is from the extended Taylor Sheridan universe. Okay. She's not here. Congratulations. Nicholas Gallatin? I wondered why you didn't put it on but it's because Masters of the Universe hasn't come out yet well and I see by the way that you've just written me off Masters of the Universe episode yeah I'm happy to announce I'll be doing that episode with Griffin Newman it will be probably the most normal episode of all time Griffin of course did voice Orko from one of the He-Man series adaptations and I know it's important to you and you have your thing I think if it's a disaster of a movie which is in play I don't want your negativity I need to be protected by a safe space.

37:50Sean Fennessey:And I'm viewing Griffin in this case as a safe space. But you don't think I can't just ask you about He-Man for a while? In the next episode. Okay. If you choose to see it. I'm not sure you're going to get anything out of Masters of the Universe. I don't think I am either. Although your sons may want to come see it with me. I mean, you're welcome to take my sons anytime for however many hours you want. I, yeah. Sai has like a, I don't really know anything about He-Man, but Cy has a bruiser He-Man quality about him. By the power of Greyskull. He does. He is like Adam. And he's veering towards the haircut also.

38:27You know? Yeah, the page boy.

38:31Sean Fennessey:Nicholas Galton, maybe he should be on. Where do you want to put him? Well, Red, White, and Blue is very big. Red, White, and Blue 2 is coming out. I don't think Masters of the Universe is going to hit. I could be wrong but it is a big Amazon movie. Idea of you. The Idea of You, obviously, he was the star of that, opposite Ayn Hathaway. And I think he has one other big project coming up. Can you help me out? Figure out what that is. Nicholas Galatso. I just stopped at Googling his age. Oh, he's in The Sheep Detectives. Is that what you were thinking about? I was thinking of that. I'm not sure if that means he should be on the list, but I was thinking of that.

39:02And he's also apparently in the new Peter Berg movie, The Mosquito Bowl?

39:06Sean Fennessey:Yes. Is that what you were thinking of? That's a sports movie, and I think he's the star. Is he the star of that film? He is. Shoot. Okay. Gallatin, what do you think? I thought Masters of the Universe trailer looked abhorrent, so I personally would be out, but I think the case is compelling. Okay. Thank you for that, Jack. I will keep him out for now, but you could say that maybe we screwed that up. Hannah Einbender from Hacks, we got to see it first. She's the star of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the new Jane Schoenbrunn movie. She's also starring in a movie that just premiered at South by, a romantic drama.

39:43Sean Fennessey:I think. Sorry, I was distracted because I was just reading the cast of Sheep Detectives, which I'm just really excited about. Feel free to share it. No, I closed it. Now I'm focused. But like, Devil Wears Prada 2, May 1st, and then Sheep Detectives, May 8th, is just really a mandible, you know? Is Sheep Detectives something you're interested in? No, I also remember when we saw it at CinemaCon last, and we were like, is this a joke? This was part of the famous Amazon presentation, which is late at night, so I was drunk. Yes. So, And then Emma Thompson did a whole, did a reel from like a random street in London where there was someone carrying luggage over cobblestones.

40:19Do you remember this? I do remember this, yeah. Yeah. I can't believe that's a real movie.

40:23Sean Fennessey:Movie's coming out in one month. I'm pretty excited. Okay. You know, I put Charlie XCX on the list and you took her off. I did. I thought it was a funny bit. Oh, do you have Charlie XCX on the list? Yeah. No, I do too, but we just, we don't have room here. Okay. we have to do. She's doing a lot of acting though. I know. She's making her foray into movies and I think she's very good. Okay. We really, really liked the moment. We watched A Hard Day's Night at home last night at my house and I was like, oh, this is, you know, the moment is like in the grand tradition of this sort of thing. I'm very pro.

41:00But, we just had to make room for other things.

41:05Sean Fennessey:Over the last, if you go back to last December, all the way until this fall. So in a 12-month period, she will have appeared in not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but seven films. Sure. Now, she's only the star of one or two of them. And how widely seen are any of those? Not very. Right. We don't know. We don't, I mean, Faces of Death comes out this weekend. She has a small supporting part in that movie. I don't know if the gallerist yet received distribution after Sundance got some not very nice reviews. I would say. Kathy Yann's new movie. The moment, you know, that was a niche hit for the Amandas of the world.

41:48I enjoyed it. I'm very pro.

41:50Sean Fennessey:Okay. I just think that we have to make room other places. Because she's a woman? Yeah, that's what it is. There are a lot of women on our list. Louis Pullman. Yeah. Hmm. Is this a mistake to not include Louis Pullman? Is Louis Pullman well-known? He was a presenter at the Academy Awards this year. With his dad. Yes. Yes. So you're saying it's a Nepo thing. We should not include him because Nepos are not allowed on the list. Their bit was about being a Nepo baby, if I recall. That was quite painful. Yeah, not all of the bits were well written at the Oscars. He's wonderful, but I think this is another one.

42:25So he was in Thunderbolts, very good in Thunderbolts.

42:28Sean Fennessey:He's going to be a big part of Doomsday, I think. Yeah, but is Doomsday out yet? No. No, it's not. And then he was in Testament of Anne Lee in a supporting role. He's very good in that. but like you and I and four other people saw it. That's great. Wait, can we share the, the bit about how the Testament of family choreographer is the, uh, mean wedding instructor in, uh, in the drama. It's perfect casting. I salute everyone involved. Brilliant gag. I just, I think it's, it's happening. Okay. But not quite yet. Okay. Um, I'm big. I'm a big fan. I've thought of someone else. Okay. Kaya Gerber. Speaking of, yeah.

43:14Sean Fennessey:Not a star and yet weirdly very famous. And has been in a bunch of movies. Has a small role in two movies that are coming out this month. She's in Outcome, the new Jonah Hill streaming movie, which will be randomly appearing on Apple TV on Friday. And Mother Mary. I'm a huge fan. Okay. But she's just, she's doing kind of like the Charlie XCX thing, but without even being at the center of the frame, which is just, she has good taste and is showing up randomly in cool movies. Okay. She's a very successful model. You want, is she? How do you know that? Have you seen her in Returns? She's doing this, and she has a very successful book club that's very rigorous.

44:00Sean Fennessey:What was the last book that they read? I don't know. Let's Google it together. But it's like, it's stuff, both she and Dua Lipa are picking stuff where I'm like, that is way too hard. What are we talking about? Like William Gattis? What are we talking about here? I mean, Dua Lipa, it's not too hard, but she did like Marilynne Robinson recently. And I was like, I don't want to cry. No, it's wonderful. I'm not, I'm not negging any of it. I'm just kind of, let's see. Kaya Gerber Book Club, Library Science. Okay, what are we doing? Is this the most recent one? Ruins Child. This is independent publishing.

44:35I mean, listen, these are deep cuts.

44:40Sean Fennessey:Giada Scolidario. It looks great. Scodayaro. Okay. Library Science, that's the name of her show? This is the name of the book club, yes. And that's the April pick. It's just a club. There's no podcast attached to it? I believe that there is. Is it a club that has a limited number of members? You know what? I'm not a member, so I don't know. Let's find out. but oh so Hamnet was a couple couple months ago I did read that okay but these are not Jamie Quattro Stephanie LaCava sure I know these writers yeah that's cool Stefan Zweig this is what I'm saying wow Eve Babbitt they had the Rachel Kong book that's exciting yeah Ellen Martyr I've been wanting to read this this is real hipster millennial taste right here I know but it's it's serious stuff okay so Jane Fonda's memoir sure oh I mean listen Gia Tolentino I mean sure we need to we need to do a book club with Jane Funn as memoir it's so good me and you?

45:37Sean Fennessey:yeah haven't read it it's crazy stuff anyway alright well sorry to Kaya Gerber seems like she's got other things going on she doesn't need us by the numbers we have 17 new entrants to this list which is a lot there are more women than men yeah which as I said is how Hollywood works where we take them seriously at the age of 25 and then cast them off forever we're part of the problem um i'm always solving problems if you listen to me consistently on this show especially at the top of show i'll say here's what's happening yeah here's what i think it means act accordingly and if people want to listen you that's great find that they listen you'd be surprised you'd be surprised all right here's the real question do you find that i listen well that i know doesn't happen well that was kind of by design right i was like let me get somebody who hates me, but then they'll be more excited about my opinions because they know it'll already be pre-negged so they don't have to neg for me.

46:35Sean Fennessey:This is all, this is industrial design. Okay. That's what I'll say. That's beautiful. You are, you know, you're the true puppet master. One last name I want to throw your way before we get into the 35. Cooper Hoffman. This isn't the good actors list, right? Once upon a time, somebody who worked on the social team here put this up and was like, here are the 35 best actors under 35. And everybody was like, you guys should kill yourselves because these are not the 35 best actors. And that's the only time that's happened. That one was particularly difficult because obviously movie stardom is what we're talking about here.

47:06Sean Fennessey:But Cooper Hoffman did star in The Long Walk last year. Right. And very much carried the film with David Johnson, the industry star. And he was, you know, he's going to be in Gregor Ackie's new movie, I Want Your Sex, opposite Olivia Wilde and Charlie XCX. I think he also has the look, so to speak. Obviously, also from a lineage of great acting. He's not here. Did you know he's an artificial? I did, yes. He's playing Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI. Yes, of course, and I definitely knew that. Well, I thought after you watched your one AI documentary and you're like the expert. You know, that man's name did not come up.

47:47Okay.

47:47Sean Fennessey:There's a lot of... So Sam Altman and Greg Brockman? Those sound like fake names. Here's what I'm doing is I have I'm hovering the cursor over his name on the artificial page and reading the like pop up biography. So he's his screenshot, his Wikipedia photo is him with a tiny Britney mic staring off into the distance, looking very solemn. And then it says he's co-founder and president of OpenAI. He began his career at Stripe in 2010. And he left in 2015 to co-found OpenAI. OK, good luck. Greg Brockman and Sam Altman has tremendous Dirk Diggler and Reed Rothschild energy. That's all I'm saying.

48:28Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Those are great names. All right. Should we do the list? Yeah. Any final prayers? It's artificial going to be at Venice. In all likelihood. Just, I got to book that travel. What happened last time you saw a Luca Guadagnino movie at Venice? I got stuck in the rain for 45 minutes because someone, I won't name who, needed to make sure the sound levels were just right before letting us all in. It's okay. Number 35 is Ayo Debrey. Yeah. Now, I strongly considered taking Ayo off the list. Ayo was on the list last year. She had a tough year. She did a lot of work. She was present. She starred in our buddy Mark Anthony Green's Opus.

49:15Sean Fennessey:Yes. she also speaking of After the Hunt yes appeared in After the Hunt unsuccessfully I would say yeah and she appeared in Ella McKay not her fault but truly the weirdest part of Ella McKay to me was her subplot that felt kind of beamed in from another planet I also didn't know that she was going to be in it so had a certain element of surprise okay um yeah it's just a lot of swings on paper good swings Yeah. And this happens sometimes that it's just things don't pan out for you, box office wise, critically, whatever. But so we have traditionally used spot 35 for, you know, as kind of like a thank you and a good luck and we'll see.

50:04A real on the edge person, but also someone who really made a go for it. And I like that Io had ever retried. And she is also very much like she is still the star part. She seems like she has a real public consciousness. Now, a lot of that is because of the bear. And a lot of that is because she's like very beautiful and, you know, is very has embraced the fashion world. I think she has a Chanel partnership. So do you? I wish, man. Meryl Streep was wearing new Chanel today on the Devil Wears Prada tour.

50:40Sean Fennessey:When you were like today, I thought you meant like I'd found coffee. No, no, no, no. I just, you know, because she, it's interesting. She and Anne Hathaway are doing like the international photo call thing and they're really going for it. And I had this moment this morning where I was like, oh, now I'm in the phase of life where I want Meryl's outfit more than I want Annie's outfit. But in this case, it's because she was wearing new Chanel. Chanel's very big right now. Don't have Matthew Blasey. I don't know. You up on any of this? I mean, you make it sound like Chanel was like down bad for 10 years or something.

51:10Sean Fennessey:It was actually because... It's fucking Chanel. Like they're still, they're going to always be in the window at Nordstrom. Remember Margaret Qualley's outfits in the Glenn Powell movie that we both like, the John Patton Ford movie? Yes. It was like very tacky Chanel that on purpose... How to make a killing. How to make a killing. Good movie. Liked it. Anyway, that is old Chanel. This is new Chanel. I owe a debris. She has new Chanel, but she has not had a lot of luck at the box office, so she will be number 35. She's appearing next in what looks like a supporting part in Clarissa, which is Ari and Chucco, a series adaptation reimagining of Mrs.

51:53Sean Fennessey:Dalloway. Have you read Mrs. Dalloway? 25 years ago? Okay, I've never read it. Virginia Woolf novel. Oh God, I have to rewatch the hours. I don't. You're not going to rewatch it? Why would I rewatch the hours? I don't know because we're doing Meryl Streep. One was enough. Same, but I don't know. No, that's not. The opening shot of her with a giant, giant bouquet of flowers is very big on Instagram. Anyway. Okay. Thanks for sharing. Ayo doesn't really have a whole lot planned beyond that. There's been talk that she's maybe making a Barney movie, Barney the Purple Dinosaur, in the spirit of the Barbie reimagining.

52:29But we'll see.

52:32Sean Fennessey:Interesting pivot point for her career. number 34 do you want to read these every other sure back and forth Austin Abrams yeah so my guy my guy from weapons who played the addict he's your guy but he's really Chris Ryan's guy he is Chris Ryan's guy yeah he has a very very big year coming because he is the star of Zack Kreger's Resident Evil have you followed any of the news around the Resident Evil movie just that those of you who are very excited for it are going to get exactly what you want. There was some news about a test screening. Here are the phrases that were thrown out there. The Mad Max Fury Road of horror movies and 90 minutes long.

53:18I'm a huge admirer of Zack Greger.

53:20Sean Fennessey:Let's go, baby. Let's go. You guys deserve to have nice things too. It's so exciting. He's also going to be in an original movie called Whale Fall from Brian Duffield, which comes out in the fall as well. and can I give you a really weird person who he reminds me of a little bit? I thought you were going to read the premise of Whale Fall. Do you know what it is? I do, but I can't remember. A scuba diver, Austin Abrams, searching for his father's remains in the ocean is swallowed by a sperm whale, leaving him an hour to find a way to escape. So it's like Escape Room Job. Correct. Job? No, Jonah.

53:54Sean Fennessey:Jonah, yes, thank you. Sorry. I know, I'm going to get kicked off JMO. You let Faith go away. I'm going to get kicked off Women Wednesday. You let go of the Christian rope and you begin forgetting these allegories, these tales that mean so much to our culture. Whalefall sounds really interesting. It sounds like a complicated movie to make. Resident Evil sounds incredible. No, the person Austin Abrams reminds me of weirdly is... If you're inside a whale, are you swimming? Or does gravity work when you're swallowed by a whale? But just production movies is so mad. If you're not watching on video, you got to see Sean's reaction on that one.

54:34Sean Fennessey:Welcome to Amanda Dobbins' Science Corner.

54:41Is there water in the whale that he's swimming? Is there gravity? Like, what does it do to your center of gravity? Like, are you just walking around? Is it just like on a stage? Because he's just like in the... But then is it moving like a ship?

54:54Sean Fennessey:Are you asking about the production of the film? Yes, I'm asking like what environment he's going to be in. I don't know what happens when you get swallowed by a whale. Are you also floating? Are you lighter? Are you subject to the atmospheric pressure of the whale or of the ocean? I got to tell you, save it for Woman Wednesdays. What is this? That's called Science Corner. You think you're in the what is her legend territory, but you're actually asking unanswerable questions. I could never know what you're asking. Maybe, again, Science Corner is just a conversation starter. Like, what do you think?

55:35Sean Fennessey:I have no idea. I'll tell you what. More pertinently, I don't care. Okay, wow. Austin Abrams. Austin Abrams, I care about your work. The actor that he reminds me of is Tom Hanks. I'm just going to put that out there. I've been trying to say for the last five minutes. And he does. And so I'm happy that he's on this list. Number 33, McKenna Grace. Yeah. She's 19 years old. This is a swing. This is a swing. Is McKenna Grace a bigger star than Kaylee Spaney? In my opinion, she's not. Well, but regretting you, Scream 7, and she's in the new Hunger Games. Yes. You know? Yes. And Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

56:12She's been in a lot of very...

56:15Sean Fennessey:She's been seen a lot in movies. That's a way to put it. I'm sorry. I just thought... Okay. I'm like imagining... I'm done. McKenna Grace, number 33. 33 way to go I saw these movies literally 32 more of these to get through I'm just like imagining like how big is the whale like how do you get from top to bottom I think there's some like childhood book illustrations floating through my head right now but I'm focused on McKenna Grace and the Hunger Games you thought the whale's name was Job Job Jonah I was like pretty close I said that's not the whale that's the man swallowed by the whale I know that Yes, that's correct.

56:57Sean Fennessey:Have you seen Pinocchio? Which one? Walt Disney's? Yeah, a long time ago. He gets swallowed by a whale. Are you serious? I don't even remember. I remember his nose. I remember Guillermo del Toro made him a fascist. He's swallowed by Monstro. I remember Chow Papa. Okay, all right. Well, you got some book learning to do. McKenna Grace, I think, is a good pick. I'm not sure if at the expense of Kaylee Spania makes sense, but she's in the Ghostbusters films, obviously, as well. She played Egon Spangler's granddaughter. Is that correct? Yes. Been in a lot of franchise stuff. Yeah, but you need one of these.

57:38One of these people who is just kind of like, yes, I will be the shiny face of every single thing that makes a decent amount of money.

57:46Sean Fennessey:I generally agree. 77 acting credits by 19 is absurd. That's scary. Wow. What a workhorse. Those are LeBron numbers. Number 32, Miles Caden. Mm-hmm. Okay, so he's incredible in Sinners. Yeah. He got a SAG nomination. He performed magnificently at the Academy Awards. He is a musician and has no acting credits lined up after Sinners. How do we feel about this? Well, you don't want to stick him into just anything that's bad. I think we would feel worse if he had like McKenna Grace's lineup coming up, you know, Mouse Gaten now in like Five Nights at 33. I think he might be playing the whale in Whale Fall.

58:31Sean Fennessey:I think they've been trying to keep that under wraps. But I, so you want them to have like an actual music movie or something where they can use his particular talent. On the other hand, like it's been almost a year since Sinners came out. So get on it. Agreed. Number 31. Ava Victor yes so they burst onto the scene with Sorry Baby yeah they're gonna be in Teenage Sex and Death of Cat Miasma and also Behemoth very promising I'm wondering do you think Ava Victor will be a lead performer or a supporting character in most of the work that they do And has great character actor shows up steals three to four scenes energy and then also can keep writing their own material like sorry baby for for themselves.

59:29So you could see a world in which Ava Victor just shows up like you know keeps the lights on keeps doing interesting stuff in other places and then writes their own work.

59:40Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Interesting. I'm very curious where Ava Victor's career goes. Okay. Number 30. Chase Infinity. Yeah. 25 years old. Has only appeared in one film and one streaming television series. Snubbed for an Academy Award nomination, in my opinion. 1 ,000%. Probably should have gone into supporting. That's just me. No? Who won supporting? Amy Madigan. Oh, yeah. No, I think... They didn't want her to compete against Tiana Taylor. Yeah, I think that was good. She was fine. She's got a new film coming out called The Julia Set. Yeah. She's also about to appear or maybe is already appearing on a Hulu show.

1:00:22Sean Fennessey:Here's a weird question to ask while making a list like this in which she appears, but is she going to make it? I hope so. I think it's as great like a launch in one battle after another as you can ask for. and I think that, you know, no one knows how to use actors quite like Paul Thomas Anderson and he creates like a very special place but if you think about all of the people who have been featured in his films, they do find other landing places. So... I'm thinking of other people on our list who had incredible debuts like this. Yeah. I don't want to spoil any names, but we'll leave this up as we go through some of these conversations because there's a couple people who she reminds me of a little bit.

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1:01:48Sean Fennessey:Okay, number 29, Barbie Ferreira. This is kind of a reach, but it's a well-timed reach. She is about to star in two movies in two weeks. She's the lead in Faces of Death, which comes out on Friday, and then she's also the lead in Mile End Kicks, which comes out on the 17th. she was in Bob Trevino likes it last year a well liked indie she was previously on Euphoria she's been in Nope I just I feel I feel I feel a vibe this is your pick this is this is kind of where Kaylee Spaney was this is where Charlie XCX was in this range and you take some swings again timing does play a factor in when when we do this episode and when we release this list but I buy it and And I guess we'll see in a week or two.

1:02:34But right now...

1:02:35Sean Fennessey:Also a model. There you go. I mean, everyone's a model now. You're a model. Am I? I mean, your image and your Alex Mill shirts are regularly featured visually across social media and Netflix. So, you know, it's really just a mindset. Am I being compensated for that work? Well, that's a larger conversation, isn't it? Okay. 28 Dominic Sessa Dominic Sessa best known for his work in Now You See Me Now You Don't as well as The Holdovers his big breakthrough in the Alexander Payne film a few years back and he will soon portray Anthony Bourdain in Matt Johnson's Tony total gut reaction will Tony be an Oscars movie?

1:03:23I don't think so

1:03:25Sean Fennessey:okay because I think I'm nervous about it. Not that I like everybody involved. I really like Matt Johnson. I obviously liked Anthony Bourdain. I like Dominic Sasa. Who else is in it that I'm forgetting? I know. Okay. But it's such a thorny subject and then it feels if you're going to do an unconventional biopic it seems like an awkward situation in which to be doing that. It's a great cast. Leo Woodall also in the film. Antonio Banderas. Yeah. Emilia Jones and Stavros Halkius. Stavvy baby. I like it but I think that it won't hit the traditional biopic range that gets you, you know, your Judy Oscar.

1:04:13Sean Fennessey:Okay. And on the other side of things, I don't know how it's going to go. I only hope it will be as good as Judy. Jesus. I think another dude who's got the look who needs good material but I thought he fit in pretty well in the big shiny dumb third now you see me movie he was very charismatic yeah number 27 also also a vibes pick I'll say but I like the pick Emily Bader who we saw who I saw not for the first time if someone reminded me that people we meet on vacation which was her big breakthrough is not the first time I ever saw her the first time I ever saw her was in paranormal activity The Next of Kin.

1:04:57Sean Fennessey:Okay. Which she was the star of, which was, I think, the Amish set Paranormal Activity movie directed by William Eubank, one of the great underrated program directors. Okay. She's got two movies coming out. The 99ers, in which she's playing Mia Hamm in the biopic of the U.S. women's soccer team. And is apparently going to be in a remake of 13 Going on 30. Yes. For Netflix. Which was met with a lot of hand-wringing among the 13 going on 30 conversation, like a community. Do you consider yourself amongst them? I'm not a member of that community. So, listen, I respect Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo immensely, but they can remake that.

1:05:38You respect them immensely. Immensely. Immensely.

1:05:43Sean Fennessey:I think I've seen it. I think I've seen it. It's just, it's not one of my ones. I think I was a little too old when it happened. You were neither 13 nor 30. Correct. So we saw her at the DGAs and I was just like, God damn, that's pretty much why she's on this list. She's just very striking and has something that is extremely rare, I think, in actors, which is I will call a Sandra Bullock quality. She's not the hottest actress ever. She's not, maybe not Meryl Streep, but she has a kind of very relatable normality. Yeah, while also being really, really pretty. She's beautiful but, and I'm not trying to reduce that but there's something very regular about her.

1:06:30Sean Fennessey:Something common seeming in a good way that I think makes it very easy for her to plug into modern stories. And so I'm curious to see her, you know, taking on a biopic role that's a different kind of acting. Maybe she's got more arrows in her quiver than I know about but I think we both were pretty impressive. with her. She's instantly relatable to the point that at the DGAs she was in the bathroom at the same time and I almost reached out to her to just be like you are so great which I don't know that person and I don't like talking to celebrities. I really don't like talking to people but there is something she has like a connection with audiences so I think it's a good pick.

1:07:06Sean Fennessey:Okay, number 26 is Bad Bunny. Yeah. Bad Bunny is a superstar. Yes, he's appeared in multiple films now. It seems like if he wanted to do this between his work in Caught Stealing, Happy Gilmore 2, Bullet Train, and also his work in the WWE and on Saturday Night Live. Yeah. He probably could just act in comedies and I guess in action movies to some extent. And he does have a film coming called Puerto Rico. It's like a little bit of a cheeky pick, but maybe not as much as I think it is. I don't think so. It could definitely happen. He was the best part of Happy Gilmore 2. Yeah. I watched the whole thing.

1:07:48He's really good. He obviously has a ton of presence. And he's sort of that thing where he has a huge audience from music, from wrestling, from all the other things that he does where it's like, oh, we put a very famous person in this movie. But to your point, he backs it up every single time. So I think it works. This is sort of, this is, Taylor Swift is no longer eligible, but this is the Taylor Swift spot.

1:08:16Sean Fennessey:It certainly is. Okay, 25, a late ad. Yes. Which I feel good about. It's Aaron Pierre. Now, if it were merely on the strength of Rebel Ridge, I think it would have been a debatable pick. He's done some voice work in Mufasa the Lion King and in Goat. He was on the Underground Railroad series adaptation. his next three things are really fucking big so he's in Star Wars Starfighter the new Gosling movie by the way Gosling out of the the Daniels movie you saw that I did I saw that what do you think happened there I think that it was announced and then like 36 hours later he was out I think some people really wanted him to be in it and so they announced it hoping that it would work out interesting nevertheless Aaron Pierre will be in Starfighter he'll also be in Man of Tomorrow, the next Superman movie.

1:09:09Sean Fennessey:And he's going to be on the streaming series Lanterns. Now, I assume you did not listen to the House of War hype draft. I love you all, but no. Okay. I was on that episode. I selected Lanterns. I think I selected Lanterns. Tell me more about Lanterns. Lanterns is... So a man is swallowed by a whale. Damon Lindelof adapting the Green Lantern story. Okay. The DC comic books. Do you know about the Lanterns? They're an interstellar core of crime fighters and superheroes. They have rings. Those rings allow them to create anything that they can imagine with their mind. But how powerful are their minds?

1:09:45Sean Fennessey:Well, it's a good question. It does come up over the years in the comic book. The TV series, which stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, has two canonical. I think they're playing Hal and John, two very famous lanterns. But it's pitched as like a true detective style, like kind of boots on the ground, like crime show. but then they also have these rings where they can make green superpower stuff and my take on that episode was like they better be fucking lanterning like if it is just like a gritty like you know Logan style like we're just out here solving crimes thing big fucking problem for me so all the lanterns are green all the lanterns are green it's not like a there may be some Captain Planet thing where you're like you get or like mighty I'm not a lantern expert okay it's not like a Power Rangers I'm not a lanternite I like I like the Green Lantern comic book series but I'm not an expert.

1:10:38And historically the movies have been quite bad.

1:10:40Sean Fennessey:Well there's only been one film. Okay. And it stars Ryan Reynolds and it is terrible. And that inspired the crucial Bill Simmons article about movie stars. That's correct. Yes. And hilariously after that piece was written Ryan Reynolds turned into perhaps the single largest movie star of his generation. Yeah. I think Bill's summation there was like this guy doesn't got it. I'm sorry to say. and you can make the case that he doesn't got it but he has he has managed to transform himself into a very very popular person Aaron Pierre that's a TV show that's not even a movie but being in these two big movies and then hopefully things with the mold of Rebel Ridge and then famously Rebel Ridge he wasn't supposed to be in that movie it was John Boyega I remember and he left the film and Aaron Pierre replaced him and he is phenomenal in that movie so again some vibes picks going here it's the Green Lantern core the core yeah C-O-R-P yeah But it's not a corporation.

1:11:33No, no, no. I know. But it's Green Lantern. Green Lantern, yes. So they're all green. Yes. Okay. Yes.

1:11:38Sean Fennessey:If you could Lantern any item, what would it be? Well, they're impermanent. What's Lantern? So like... But how impermanent? Probably the Heartbreak Kid on 4K. Elaine May's masterpiece. But then it goes away. But just to watch it one time. Okay. And then I feel good about that. Okay. What would you, what would you lantern? The Chanel dress that Meryl Streep wore this morning because I can just wear it and then it goes away, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I know I really want, I want to get some Prada stuff to wear for the Prada, the Devil Wears Prada 2 episodes. Okay. But it's like, you know, it can't just be Prada.

1:12:22It has to like say Prada or else no one will get it, you know? So then that is a whole thing. I'm not going to get there in time.

1:12:28Sean Fennessey:Is this, you're just really hoping that a brand coordinator from Prada really likes movies or something? No one from Prada knows what a podcast is and it should stay that way. That's what makes Prada Prada. That's very funny and also not true. Okay. Aaron Pierre at 25. Number 24 is Mia Goth. Yeah. We almost forgot Mia. I take responsibility. Yeah. Mia, one of my gals, somebody I've been repping for for a long time on this show. But you were a little hesitant because I texted you last night and I said, we forgot Mia Goth. We got to put Mia on. And you said, I don't know. You said, I'm a little worried about Maxine.

1:13:05Well, the post-Maxine thing, it didn't spike.

1:13:07Sean Fennessey:I thought it was going to be bigger. I thought that movie would have been a little bit more of a thing considering how much love there was for Pearl and X beforehand. Didn't totally pop. Now, obviously she was in Frankenstein, which was very widely seen. Yeah. I thought not her best performance in Frankenstein. Didn't love that character. Pick it up with Mary Shelley. Well, it's not the most faithful adaptation. Nevertheless, she also has a huge roster of films coming up including Star Wars Starfighter and this summer she's in the Odyssey it's a minor character but I didn't check to see whether if you're in the Odyssey and eligible you're on this list but I do think we're pretty close to that almost everybody who's going to be in the Odyssey sub 35 is on the list I think so I love her I think she's great You know, I don't know if anybody's going to the movies to go see Mia Goth, but when I'm at a movie and Mia Goth shows up, I'm like, hey, now, what's going on here?

1:14:05Sean Fennessey:What's happening with this kooky lady? So happy to have her. She's always really good. She is. I think she's really figured out what her thing is in movies. Number 23, new entrant. Yeah. Dylan O 'Brien, who, you know, perhaps we've been overlooking a little bit in previous episodes, but since 2024, has appeared in Saturday Night, where he was terrific as Dan Aykroyd. Twinless, where you play twins. Anniversary. You still haven't seen Anniversary, have you? No. Okay, Anniversary pod coming soon. Send Help, one of the nice surprises of the year. And then he's got a bunch of new projects coming up, including Apparatus, Being Human, which is Sean Hader's follow-up to Coda coming out later this year, potentially an Oscars film.

1:14:47Sean Fennessey:And I don't know what Marceau is. What is Marceau? So Dylan O 'Brien. Is it a Marcel Marceau biopic? Let's see. Gamed Mime? Yes, it is. Are you being serious? Is he playing Marcel Marceau? Yo, I'm reading you the IMDb thing. I just plucked that out. This is the true story of Marcel Marceau and his involvement in... Nazi Germany. The French Resistance. There you go. Sick. Oh, Mark Straughan is the other person in here. He's playing Gaston. Don't know who he is, except he's playing... Gaston from The Beauty and the Beast? Wow. That sounds great. Who's directing this movie? David Petrarca? David Petroika.

1:15:28Petroika. Petroika. I don't know who that is. The director of, yeah, it seems TV director, and this might be first feature.

1:15:34Sean Fennessey:Let me ask you this. Where are you at on mimes? I appreciate the craft a little weirded out by it. Okay. Good to know. Number 22, Daisy Edgar Jones. Yeah. This is one where I was like, I don't know, and then I pulled up the credits, and I was like, oh, yeah, Daisy Edgar Jones is in a lot of his. Hollywood is booking her right now as well. She has the Sense and Sensibility adaptation coming up later this year. She has Here Comes the Flood, which is the new Denzel Robert Pattinson crime movie. She is going to be in A Place in Hell, which is Nick Winding Refn's new movie, which is probably going to Cannes.

1:16:09Sean Fennessey:You know, she had those crawdads singing, right? She did that. She was twisting in Twisters, twisting around Glenn Powell. You know, I think jury's out on whether she's good. but she's I've had a good time in all of these movies yeah Fresh which people always want us to talk about yeah I saw it Sebastian Stan yeah that was a film saw it at Sundance 2022 I think during COVID it was alright she is not quite at that like oh Daisy Edgar Jones is in this I'll go check that out yeah but but it's also two more twisters and then all of a sudden well but she's also of the association where you're like oh and Daisy Edgar Jones was also in that.

1:16:52She's reliable. She's like a safe pair of movie star hands.

1:16:55Sean Fennessey:Yes. Yes. Okay. Number 21 is Barry Keoghan. Yes. Now, we've just seen his work in The Immortal Man, the Peaky Blinders film. Sure, and Crime 101, where he's doing a similar thing. Yes. I mean, a different, he's cast in a similar role. Yes. They meet, without spoiling things, different ends. Did you see Hurry Up Tomorrow? Trey Edward Schultz's film about The Weeknd starring Jenna Ortega? What? Wait, The Weeknd, like, you know, I feel the moment. Hurry up tomorrow. You're not familiar with this film? Came out last year. Oh, I do remember this. No, I never saw it. Do you remember when The Weeknd performed for us at CinemaCon last year to promote this movie?

1:17:39I do remember that.

1:17:40Sean Fennessey:That was very strange. She did a three-song mini concert for thousands of movie theater exhibitors. No, no, I wasn't there yet. You were texting me live from it because it was the Lionsgate presentation and I was on the plane. The film was not a success, but Barry Keoghan was sort of like The Weeknd's manager in the movie. Okay. Kind of doing a similar performance. I'm a little worried about... Him doing One Note? Yeah. Okay. Banshees of Inn and Sharon is, of course, different. And I want to see that, Barry. Yeah, sure. Also Ringo, you know? Well, he'll be Ringo. Ringo incoming. He'll be Ringo, which I think is good casting.

1:18:10Yeah.

1:18:11Sean Fennessey:He's going to be in the Batman Part 2. Who is he? Batman. No, he was the Joker in the Batman. he was the guy in the cell in Arkham Asylum that was Barry Keoghan like at the end yeah but remember when I had to text you being like who was that at the end of the Batman and you said that was the Joker yeah but I well if I didn't know it was the Joker how would I know that was Barry Keoghan as I couldn't see you have the computer that you could just type things into no no no you just looked up Whalefall well that's true but I I had forgotten that that was sort of a block on I watched that movie over four nights on like two hours of sleep The Batman good film he's very tall that Batman.

1:18:48So I'm rooting for him.

1:18:50Sean Fennessey:Barry Keoghan, interesting moment in his career. you know, Saltburn, that was a thing. Yeah. I liked it. You did. Well, I had a good time. That's different. I didn't. I thought it was bad. I know. Number 20 is Micah Monroe. Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought this would happen. I thought she was going to be relegated to the indie final girl dustbin. And, she's making moves right now. You know, love to see it. She obviously had a huge breakout with Long Legs which was a huge horror hit. We just discussed her work in Reminders of Him which I thought was not her strongest. But, I like that she's trying to branch out.

1:19:33Sean Fennessey:No, definitely not her fault. Yeah, it's the material. She has a very big couple of years coming. She's going to be in a horror movie later this year called Victorian Psycho and then next year I believe she'll be in They Follow which is the sequel to her big breakthrough. It follows David Robert Mitchell's movie and he's back to direct the sequel. 32 years old, added also at a turning point for actresses who have done the kind of work that she does. Reminders of him box office right now. Let's take a look. I'm going to guess it's at 37. It is at 45 domestic. Nice. And 33 international. Creeping towards 100.

1:20:11Sean Fennessey:There you go. Creeping towards 100. Okay. So that worked out. for her. I mean, that movie must have been very cheap to make, right? We got Bradley Whitford's quote. We got Lauren Graham's quote. We got, uh, who else's quote? Are they in North Carolina? Where are they? Are they in, no, they're in, no, they're not in North Carolina. They're in, um, Colorado because where his land, you know, where he's building the house and he's, I'm, I'm looking at Wyoming. Oh, interesting. Okay. Man, love Wyoming. beautiful beautiful country beautiful part of the world where did where do we think they actually filmed it though Alberta Canada Calgary okay well there you go so they got those tax breaks Canada too number 19 31 years old Saoirse Ronan yes now it's been a quiet stretch she got married I believe they had a kid yes foe the outrun and blitz all didn't turn out the way that we had expected no She was pretty high on this list last time.

1:21:18Sean Fennessey:In fact, while you're vamping, I'm going to look up just how high she was. She's one of the great actresses of her generation and has that sort of like Meryl Streep-esque quality. I mean, she's been nominated for, is it four or five Oscars? I think four, yeah. Four, but I think that was like four at age 27 or something. It's real accomplished territory. And obviously she's started very young. It took me a long time to forgive her for the atonement, but that's just how good she was in it. And also, Hannah, the other Joe Wright film? Yeah, Hannah. Hannah. Yeah. It was Hannah. Well, I thought it was German, but maybe I'm just, because Cate Blanchett is in that, but maybe she's not playing Lydia Tarr in Hannah.

1:22:01Sean Fennessey:No, I think she's an evil American CIA operative. Yeah, that sounds right. But then, that's a good movie. Hannah, I agree. Joe Wright. Joe Wright Hive have you watched no Mussolini I want to watch it again stop making TV shows like I don't know what to say Joe Wright three and a half hour Mussolini movie 100 % would watch it in a minute 6 episode Mussolini mini series I don't know man I gotta do the laundry and shit I got stuff to do Empire of Light is a Joe Wright right no Sam Mendes sorry Joe Wright would never I know Joe Wright's Big Blunder which some people like but I didn't really get it all with Cyrano I didn't really get that oh I didn't get that either.

1:22:39That's what I was thinking of when I googled Empire of Light.

1:22:42Sean Fennessey:I appreciate Joe Wright. Former guest of this show. I think he's a very interesting director. Anyway, Saoirse Ronan, very talented. Just hasn't been doing as much. And the last couple didn't pan out. I mean... Well, she's gonna be in The Beatles. I know. Linda. So what do we think that means? Because they're doing one movie for each band member. Yeah. This is a good question. And so, will Linda be just in the Paul? movie? Reminder, we only have three more years to talk about this. Two! Two! Yes, I was making a joke. I think I did say to my son last night, they're making movies about these, and you'll be six years old when they come out.

1:23:25Because I had to do the math for it. So you can go see all of them. But yeah, that's sooner than you would think. So Linda will definitely be in Paul. But will Linda show up in the George or the John or the it's all about the time period that they focus on for those characters I know but then also how much is it focused on one person versus what's going on like I don't

1:23:50Sean Fennessey:my instincts tell me that the Paul or yeah that the the Paul film will be about the breaking point for the band okay so it'll be like that's my instinct 68, 69 yeah and then do you think it'll like go through Scotland I don't okay I don't I think it's gonna be that get back period is going to be where we see those two. You think he goes last or you think John goes last? I would guess John because I think John's will have to feature John's death in some way. Okay. And so that that will be it'll be like a chronological bridge. But I don't think that there's anyone who's paying for these movies who's going to let you put out a Ringo or a George film first of the four.

1:24:33Sean Fennessey:They're coming out on the same day. No, I thought they were coming out one week at a time. One at a time. Yeah. That's like That's even a worse idea than Horizon 1 and 2. You might be right. Yeah. But can't you do George first and do George, and you can do Germany and Ed Sullivan, and then Ringo joining the band? Because Ringo's not there at first. And yes, George meets these two Liverpoolian chaps, joins up with them. Then we get Ringo getting kind of introduced. I guess so, but then— And then we use Ringo to take us through, you know, Revolver, Rubber Soul. We're traveling to India. We're having all these revelations.

1:25:13Sean Fennessey:Well, don't you want George for that? Don't you want to flip that? Maybe you can't deal Ringo first. I know. It's a real problem. We may be thinking about this all wrong in that each of the films may cover lots of different timelines. I mean, they may all be featured. And then maybe our understanding is that it's not one film for each guy. so you don't have to then sell a Ringo film first. Oh, so it won't be individually focused? Well, I don't know. See, that would be novel to me, is if each one was a character film. That actually makes it more appealing. I agree, but you can't. If it's just like Lord of the Rings for the Beatles, I'm not as interested in that.

1:25:49Sean Fennessey:I will watch it, of course. But you know that you can't, but you already said to me, you can't start with Ringo. I think you can start with George, though. You can flash back in the Paul and John films. So you're going to try launching, I'm sorry to be that creature I hate most, like a studio exec right now but like I like the marketing that's not the person you hate most that's true that's not the person I really like a lot of marketing people but like you're trying to tell me that you want to open this project with a solo Joseph Quinn film about George Harrison like good luck we have lots of evidence that that's not how it's going to work I think the most obvious move is to open with Paul Meskel and John Lennon because of the star power and the recognition but that is the most isn't Paul playing Paul McCartney Sorry, with Harris Dickinson and John Lennon.

1:26:37Sean Fennessey:But because of the arc of Lennon, and I don't mean Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, I mean John Lennon. Wow. Honestly, I'm very impressed that you could do the full name there. So I've studied his work.

1:26:55Sean Fennessey:I'm betwixt in between on this whole thing. Okay. I'm torn asunder. You're the most stressed out that you've been. Sam Mendes knows something I don't. What do you know, Sam? Show me the way. I'll follow you anywhere, except to the Empire of Light. You have to start with Paul and finish with John. Like, as a list maker, as a person who puts together editorial projects, like, you know that I agree. It's just one week in between. How is there a Paul movie going first and Linda's in it? We still have not seen Horizon 2. I know. I know. Fuck. We just haven't seen it. It's out there. We haven't seen it.

1:27:33Sean Fennessey:Should we start a film distribution company and present the film? And then we can present all four Beatles films in the order we think they should be released. I think Sony has the rights to those. Anyhow, Saoirse Ronan will be in those movies. They'd be partners. They need partners. They have a partner, Netflix. So we're all synchronized together. Here we go. Maybe we can all team up. Saoirse Ronan, 19. Feeling good about it. You fought hard for the Philly boy at 18. Who is it? you forgot superman butthead uh-huh superman uh-huh that and also you know how i realized that you forgot superman was i just pulled up the box office for 2025 and went through the top 10 films to make sure we weren't forgetting any major stars and then lo and behold david cornsweat what percentage of americans can name the man who portrays superman i don't think it matters when at Superman.

1:28:28I'm just asking. Yeah. You know, when Christopher Reeve

1:28:31Sean Fennessey:came through as Superman in 1978, he did every talk show in the world and he became instantaneously famous. That didn't happen for Corn Sweat. That doesn't mean he wasn't a good Superman. I thought he was. And I like that movie and I'm looking forward to Man of Tomorrow. A little bit less so Supergirl. I... I'm... This is interesting because it's an old test applied to a new crop. And we're kind of moving out of this era of movies. And this is still one of the biggest parts that you can have. Did Henry Cavill ever make this list? I don't remember. Why don't you search our document? He did not.

1:29:10Did he ever make 35 over 35?

1:29:13Sean Fennessey:I don't know. I don't think so. He's currently 42. So he has been over 35 for the entire run of the series. Okay. But I don't think he ever made it. Well, you're competing. It's, you know, a larger net. At 35. I don't know. I mean, I think that the really brand name superheroes and still the role that they play in the box office, like in the movie's economy. That movie made so much money. Okay. I'm rolling with you. You love Superman. I thought he was very charming. I agree. I thought he was good. That's the other thing. I thought he was good. He was good in Twisters, too. So if Dave Edgar Jones makes the list, David Koren's wet.

1:29:58You're doing the work.

1:29:59Sean Fennessey:Fair enough. How old is Rachel Brosnahan? I do think I Googled this and she is 35. Damn, we just missed. I know. Damn. I checked. And Nicholas Holt is like early, is even older, but I thought he was good. K-pop Demon Hunters, Haja Boys Breakfast Meal, and Huntrix Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle. So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day. It is an honor to share. No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor. No, really. Stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle.

1:30:38Pick a meal to pick a side. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. And participate in McDonald's while supplies last.

1:30:43Sean Fennessey:What if you could have the most reliable Wi-Fi at the same price for five years? That's the Xfinity five-year price guarantee. No annual contracts, no hidden fees, and our best equipment included. Plus, get online in minutes with same-day Wi-Fi. Just five years of fiber-powered Wi-Fi that boosts speeds to the devices that need them most. Lock in your price and unlock the possibilities. Xfinity. Imagine that. Select plans only. Restrictions apply. Powered by fiber. Connected to the premises by coaxial cable. Actual speeds vary. Number 17, Haley Steinfeld. she had been backburnered a little bit you know she she was doing spider-verse voice work yeah but sinners kind of threw her back in the mainframe but then now she got married yeah she just had a kid she's having a baby she had a baby yeah congratulations curious if she goes right back into movies after this I really like her I've always really liked her and she was one of the people I was thinking of when we were talking about those big breakthroughs that that people like Chase Infinity and Ava Victor had, where they're sort of like, whoa, who's that?

1:31:51Sean Fennessey:She had that very early in True Grit. And got an Academy Award nomination for that performance. And has made good movies, but maybe has not totally lived up to what I thought was going to happen for her. In my mind, and this I learned during the Sinners and post-Sinners press tour, because I had the same experience. I was like, whoa, Hailee Steinfeld. I had forgotten, didn't realize that you could do that as a grown-up. But I think after True Grit, she launched a singing career, and she was in The Edge of Seventeen, which is very good. But she was in Pitch Perfect. She was doing kind of just skewing younger, which she was younger.

1:32:31And so she was not, to the best of my knowledge, like a Nickelodeon star, but I had her in that box of teen star. and so Sinners was like a reintroduction of, oh, she's grown up and she's very talented. There's a generation younger than us that has been keeping with Haley Steinfeld the whole time.

1:32:53Sean Fennessey:And her pop song career. Did you watch Dickinson? No, I didn't, but people really liked it. Yeah, but so Haley Steinfeld has a fan base. It just has not been us until Sinners. Did you watch the Hawkeye television series? Set at Christmas? Yeah. I think that I, is she, is there something about a bumblebee? She was in the film Bumblebee. I watched Bumblebee. I can't remember why. Is there something about a bumblebee? For some episode that we did where I had to, I watched, I watched Bumblebee. And I know that the Hawkeye shows. Bumblebee is a Transformers film. Right. And I know that the Hawkeye shows happen at Christmas because I remember Chris and Mallory and Joanna saying very insistently, like, it's a Christmas show.

1:33:42And I still didn't watch it.

1:33:44Sean Fennessey:Okay. She's 17. Feel good about this. 16 is Paul Meskel. Yeah. Very famous. Mm-hmm. Has led big movies. He was the star of Gladiator 2, which did not quite elevate. Hamnet, obviously, one of the most discussed movies of 2025, if not one of the most seen. Not nominated there. Not the worst thing in the world. He's been previously nominated. He is going to be Paul McCartney. Yeah. Which I really have mixed feelings about. And I've said that before and I'm saying it again. Say more. This is now just a Beatles pod. It's a Beatles and Wales pod. Here's one of the things that I think you and I both like about Paul.

1:34:23Sean Fennessey:There is such a dark core under the sweetness. And under the aw shucks-y balladeer. Yeah. And he has got this engine inside of him. And I don't know if Meskel can get there. It's funny that you characterize it as a darkness. I characterize it as almost like a dissociation. That there is a part of him that he is completely unconnected from. He is obviously a deeply ambitious. and I mean, he is a musical genius, which we like in the true dictionary sense of the word. So, but not to bring up the infamous post-death interview again, but that there's something in that where - I really hung up on this.

1:35:18Yeah, you've been thinking about it.

1:35:20Sean Fennessey:By the way, we didn't discuss the fact that you think somehow that you're going to die before me, which there's a 0 % chance of happening. 0%. no I just I watched it in this in the moment I was just like wow that's exactly what Sean would do and it's just like but there's just a disconnection from the emotions right which you make fun of me for not yes for putting things in a box but I think that he is like not I think he's I always think he's been protecting something I always think he's been shielding something yeah but I always think it's almost like he's protecting it so much that like the whole register is not available and you think Meskel can do that I don't know whether he can but it's different than darkness it's it is like it's separation so and I agree that he is like a very warm connected emotional person yeah I think you know like in After Sun he's very he's very withholding his character doesn't say the turmoil but it's very evident he communicates the turmoil really really well in that film and he also communicates like the love for his film like Paul McCartney can almost just kind of be robotic and you're like Like, what's going on?

1:36:25Why are you talking like that? Or what are you doing?

1:36:27Sean Fennessey:I know it's so askew from, I think, how most people who are just like vaguely like aware of the Beatles but not obsessed with the Beatles think of him though. They think of him as like, hey, you know. Yeah, they think of him leading a sing-along for, you know, Hollywood's Best and Brightest at the Fonda Theater at the age of 70. How old is he? 80-something now? I think so, yeah. We didn't get invited. To the Fonda Theater for Hollywood's Best and Brightest? Yeah. Is that literally what it was called? No, but you didn't see the guest list? yourself amongst the best and brightest? Of Beatles fans.

1:36:57Sean Fennessey:Okay. And I did look at the list and I was like, I don't know how many like hardcore fans there are here. You felt overlooked. I think that they could have saved us a couple spots, but that's okay. I never know about any of these things. I only learned about it from Matt Bellamy's newsletter. Okay. Number 15 is Kiki Palmer. Yeah. Kiki Palmer has one, two, three, four, five, six movies coming out in the next two years. she was delightful in one of them days iconic to me and nope I'm currently watching her on the television series The Burbs with Eileen that's our show right now it's okay it's not bad

1:37:33Sean Fennessey:I Love Boosters coming out in a month haven't seen it yet haven't either I'm excited I'm looking forward to it so I heard it's pretty good fashion film by the way yeah I know One of Them Days 2 is happening great I would watch 45 of those but not in TV form. Just make movies. Is Sister Act 3 really happening? According to IMDb. Well, but IMDb is not, you know. Sister Act 3. Sister Act 3. So... Is Lauryn Hill coming back? I mean, I'm like too excited to actually form words right now. Do you know how important Sister Act and Sister Act 2 are to me? We've talked about it some over the years. Yeah, they're both very good.

1:38:11Sean Fennessey:I'm a huge fan. Just absolutely. So I'm both in theaters. When the kid does the backflip at the end of Sister Act 2, I remember it well. Ugh. Really, really. And I was just the right age. Impressionable stuff. So I've never seen the musical. And I can't really find any info about Sister Act 3. You should do an Emil Artelino pod. Yeah, I know. That's really your guy. I know. Emil Artelino, Dirty Dancing, Sister Act, Chances Are, Three Men and a Little Lady, and the Nutcracker. I know. The Nutcracker that you love. And Bette Midler's Gypsy. And it's a beautifully photographed Nutcracker. That's your guy.

1:38:46Sean Fennessey:I know. In March of 2025, Whoopi Goldberg said the Sister Act 3 script was finished. Okay, that was a year ago. So it could be cooked. We don't know. Did she say that on The View? That was reported by Variety. That's excellent. Okay. Okay, Kiki Palmer 15. Number 14, Mikey Madison. Yeah. Huge arrival here. Sure. You won an Oscar. Surprise Best Actress win over a year ago for her work in Enora. We had seen her in the Scream films and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood before this and she was on Better Things. and she's now about to appear in The Social Reckoning. She's one of the stars of this new Aaron Sorkin written and directed feature film.

1:39:25Sean Fennessey:Does that have a date yet? October 9th, I believe. October 2nd. Wow, so like the actual, they're doing the same thing as they did for Social Network because wasn't Social Network also New York Film Festival? Same time of year, yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, I just, you know, I'm working through it. I will be ready emotionally when the time comes. Okay. I believe, is it her, Jeremy Allen White, and Jeremy Strong are the stars of that movie? Yes. And I also, according to Wikipedia, I'm seeing that Bill Burr, Wunmi Masaku, Billy Magnuson, and Betty Gilpin. Oh, oh my God. Betty Gilpin. Sheesh. A bunch of people I really like there.

1:40:01Sean Fennessey:She's also going to be in The Mask of the Red Death, which she talked about a couple times, the Charlie Pollinger adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story. I like her a lot. I hope it works out. She's got a great vibe. she's obviously a very skilled actor if you ever see her speak and then watch a Nora you can see what a talented actor she is number 13 Ariana Grande now tricky one because on the one hand Wicked Wicked for Good huge movies yeah you know she was Oscar nominated for Wicked she's going to be in Fokker-in-law which low-key might make 500 million dollars I expect it to and she's the new big addition and I guess she's not going to be a Fokker Is she the titular Fokker-in-law?

1:40:47Is she the titular in-law or is she the titular Fokker?

1:40:51Sean Fennessey:Is she the titular in-law to the Fokkers? The titular role. I'm Googling Fokker-in-law. Does Greg Fokker have a son or a daughter? Is her last name Fokker? It is not. It's Olivia Jones. Olivia Jones. All right. Well. Oh, but do you know who the Fokker that she's marrying is? No. Skylar Gazzando. Oh, yes. I did know that, which is a genius casting. Yes, and then Beanie Feldstein is playing a sister. Oh, I'd love to hear it. Okay. I actually don't care about these movies at all, but I like that casting. Meet the Parents is funny. Sure. I think this will make a lot of money. It will. It definitely will.

1:41:31Sean Fennessey:Okay. That's Ariana Grande. Number 12, Margaret Qualley. Margaret Qualley, not exactly opening movies, and yet I feel like is getting increasingly very famous. Yeah. Now, like, full-blown I am a magazine cover star level of famous. Totally. Obviously, it has a famous marriage. Sure. But, you know. And also, I mean, it was a great cover. Like, that cover, which is a Vanity Fair cover, had a little bit of the feeling to me of, did someone else fall through at the last minute? Because it was her. Yeah. But she is so, I mean, she is obviously very beautiful, but has that magazine cover quality. It reminded me a lot of the Daryl Hannah, Tina Brown cover from like the early 90s.

1:42:17That was also like early in Tina Brown's career. Anyway, like she made that cover. So and she has that quality, right? And she has that quality in a lot of movies, even if the movies themselves are always a little off kilter. Or if maybe she doesn't totally fit in them. And you're like, what's Margaret Qualley doing here? But she's still very watchable and memorable. and yeah very high profile

1:42:43Sean Fennessey:this is subject to change but she is going to be one of the stars of Ridley Scott's new movie The Dog Stars and she'll have increasingly big roles coming in the future I think The Substance did a lot for her profile yeah number 11 Jenna Ortega yes now since we last recorded she has had Beetlejuice Beetlejuice which was very big she also had two duds in Death of a Unicorn and Hurry Up Tomorrow however she's the star of The Great Beyond the new J.J. Abrams movie her and Glenn Powell. Yeah. She's also apparently going to be in a remake of Single White Female and she's in Taika Waititi's long-delayed Clara and the Sun, which I'm fairly certain is coming out this year too.

1:43:17Sean Fennessey:So big 2026 for her. Clara and the Sun, big literary adaptation. Yeah, an Ishiguro adaptation. Yes. So, you know, that's Taika Waititi. I don't, you know. Who knows? Could be a mess. I'm not really sure. But she's still only 23 years old. She's very big. And obviously a lion's prey. Yeah, but it's happening and she is, it seems like she has the Netflix TV stardom cemented, but enough name recognition that she will keep doing movies and clearly wants to keep doing movies and doing things other than Wednesday. Yeah. She's like one of those people who secretly on Letterboxd will never give her account.

1:43:57Yeah, but like all of her film references and things that she does give out are very accomplished.

1:44:03Sean Fennessey:Number 10. Did you see Robert Pattinson calling out other actors? It was just like they don't really seem to like movies, which is amazing and also I think pretty insightful. And about why some people have more interesting careers than others. And anyway, you can tell that Jenna Ortega also likes movies. Yes, I agree. I hope that means she starts making some better movies. I find that what the things that she proclaims as her favorites are not often reflected in the choices that she makes, even if she's trying in some cases. But nevertheless, number 10. is Austin Butler. Yes. This is his last year of eligibility.

1:44:37Sean Fennessey:He's 34 years old. Complicated 2025. Yeah. Very amusing in Eddington. Maybe a little young for that part, but very amusing. And caught stealing didn't take off. No. I got what he was going for. I knew what he wanted. He wanted like, you know, Brad Pitt's California or that's what he wants you know Denzel Washington's Ricochet you know like a just a nasty little crime movie to break up all the prestige shit that he's doing I got the idea it just didn't it didn't hit for me I don't think that he's quite nasty enough for that part and for some of the the nastier Brad Pitt stuff that seems to be his guiding light his like yeah his blueprint like I don't know whether Austin Butler has that Fincher, you know, like dead inside in him.

1:45:38But I think he has a lot of other, you know, he's kind of like Paul Mescal where it's like, do you have too much like emotion and softness for all the things that you're being asked to do? But maybe you just find different ways to use that.

1:45:53Sean Fennessey:Miami Vice and Heat 2 are both on the slate. And I mean, this is just absolute chaos for CR and Bill. just I've never seen news that could more discomfit those two guys and Austin Butler being a participant in both of them would be very challenging the Heat 2 thing is not confirmed so so what is confirmed now about Heat 2 Bale and Leo Bale and Leo that's it okay Butler has been rumored Driver has been rumored I don't know if those would be the younger versions of key characters would Butler just play Chris Scheherlis you know is Leo playing the bad guy that's something I've heard speculated did.

1:46:30Sean Fennessey:Okay. That would be fun for Leo. Could be interesting. Leo could be playing I don't know. Leo's not playing Pacino, that's for sure. I don't know what to expect from that. There's been a suggestion that he might be cast as American Psycho in the American Psycho remake, which Luca Guadagnino is going to make one and I don't know if that's going to happen anymore. You know, we really hope he makes it happen. I'm rooting for him. I get it. Number nine is Elle Fanning rocketing up the list. That's what a surprise Oscar nomination will do to you. Yes. And she had a huge year last year. She was in A Complete Unknown at the end of 2024 and then was the lead of Predator Badlands and also Sentimental Value.

1:47:12Sean Fennessey:I got that Academy Award nomination. Now she's going to be... Is she Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games, Sunrise on the Reaping? I think so. Let's see. Sunrise on the Reaping movie. I should also just say while we're Googling this that I got some core Hunger Games lore incorrect. Effie Trinket is the publicist. And then Lenny Kravitz plays the stylist whose name starts with a C. Can't remember what his name is. Hunger Games stylist. Let's Google this. Stylist. Okay. Cinna. A soft C like Cy.

1:47:57Sean Fennessey:El Fanning is incredibly talented and is doing the thing that you like to see which is like you'll keep sure over here Predator over here that's the pathway Hunger Games over here and then I'll do something a lot smaller on the next go around so top 10 wouldn't have guessed it five years ago we wouldn't have guessed it until Oscar morning we were like oh okay congratulations to Rachel whatchamacallit what's her last name Rachel Kemp? Yes. Yeah. She was wildly mistreated by that journalist at that Netflix junket, I gotta say. Number eight, Florence Pugh. In 2025, Florence Pugh appeared in the film Thunderbolts, aka New Avengers.

1:48:40Sean Fennessey:And she was, what was her name? Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov? Lenin? How do you remember that specifically? How many full Russian names can you do? because I find like the patronymics and everything to just be very confusing. Too many to count, I would say. Why? Like, when did you, is this from a history course? Like, how does this stay with you? This is kind of, this is one of the major hurdles for me in Russian literature is that I just, like, who are we talking about half the time? Well, those Karamazovs are brothers, you know? So you only got to remember one of them. Florence Pugh is going to be in Doomsday and Dune Part 3.

1:49:19Yeah.

1:49:20Sean Fennessey:what an insane weekend for her I like the efficiency right I think you only have to pay for like one stylist one glam team at that point is she the only actor who's going to appear in both movies like will Zendaya's will MJ be in Doomsday do you think will Flo Pugh be the only one Robert Pattinson isn't in Avengers no that would be sick if he was actually Dr. Doom and it wasn't Robert Downey Jr. if he just ripped the mask off and he was like it's me Victor Von Doom I'm trying to think Brolin Thanos Thanos is gone good guess but I don't think he okay you gotta give me some credit there honestly maybe he is and frankly he probably is Momoa he's in DC oh he was Aquaman and now he's gonna be Lobo we talked about this once before yeah but I don't remember what he does Lobo is DC's answer for Wolverine he's kind of a marauding vigilante type okay but is Lobo a real animal did you see they're reintroducing Wolverines to Colorado wow you got a Wolverine algorithm huge huge no no no that was that my friend Gilbert our friend Gilbert texted me that yeah no I don't um I can't think of anyone else that's a big so who do you think has a bigger like grooming budget uh Disney or Warner Brothers so like where is Florence Fugger to expense this for this this tour honestly not something I care about I think she is an amazing actress.

1:50:51Sean Fennessey:I do too. And I think it's very interesting that her last three films will be Thunderbolts, Avengers, Doomsday, and Dune Part 3. I hope she gets a chance to flex soon. Yeah, does she have anything else in the pipeline? I don't know. Not that's announced. That is interesting. Yeah. Number seven is Anya Taylor-Joy. Yeah. Princess Peach herself. Princess Peach is absolutely cooking right now. She did not cook in the gorge. which is a movie that did not work that went straight to Apple TV. Furiosa mid-cooked? It was sautéed? Yeah. She was fine in it. The gentle grilling? Yeah. She's good. I think she's good in Furiosa.

1:51:34Yeah, she's good. It was more that we only cared about Chris Hemsworth in that movie, which was the issue with the film was the construction of it.

1:51:43Sean Fennessey:She plays a much more important role in Dune Part 3, But I don't think she does she have anything planned after this? No, I'm learning about an upcoming crime thriller television miniseries for Apple TV that she's going to be in with Annette Bening, Timothy Oliphant and Anjoune Wallace Taylor. Hate to hear about that. It's terrible news. It's called Lucky. And oh, Drew Starkey is also recurring. Who wrote and directed it? That's a great question. Created by Jonathan Tropper. Oh, sure. He's the author of the forthcoming Star Wars movie. Okay. Well, I still can't figure out what's happening. You created your friends and neighbors starring Jon Hamm.

1:52:20This is a Reese Witherspoon is one of the producers of this. I can't figure out what it's about. Because it's based on Melissa Stapley's novel of the same name, but they're not hyperlinking to that.

1:52:32Sean Fennessey:Well, I don't respect that Annie Taylor-Joy is doing that. I'm not. She's on notice. Okay. She's at seven, but she's on notice. She's at seven, but she's on notice. More films. I believe there is a rumor that she could potentially be in a Joni Mitchell biopic from Cameron Crowe, but that is not anywhere close to being confirmed. Yes, I've heard the same. Lucky centers on a woman, Taylor Joy, who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago, but must now embrace her darker criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past. She's the titular Lucky. Well, we don't know.

1:53:05I guess that's what the miniseries will explore.

1:53:08Sean Fennessey:But her name is Lucky. No, it centers on a young woman. named lucky it doesn't say okay uh number six is Jacob Elordi yeah that's right

1:53:22go ahead

1:53:23Sean Fennessey:share uh this to me this is a movie star um if movie stars were measured by height he would obviously be number one um no I mean he's been on a run and we didn't love Wuthering Heights but it's you know a cool choice that and salt burn Frankenstein we also didn't love, but he got an Oscar nomination out of it. Paul Schrader. Sofia Coppola. Like, he does, he has interesting taste. He's doing cool stuff. And he has the presence in one woman's opinion. Is the Outer Dark film actually happening? I don't know. He's also allegedly in the Ridley Scott film with Margaret Qualley. Yes. The Dog stars. I you know it was it was discussed at a at Cannes 2025 it was going to be Jacob Elordi and Lily Rose Depp and Laszlo Nemes the Son of Saul director was going to adapt Cormac McCarthy's book Outer Dark I haven't heard much about that I wonder if that's going to happen it's an interesting one to keep track of he is he is he is following the path he is and I'm happy for you yeah and I think he's a very talented actor So I hope good things for him.

1:54:42Sean Fennessey:It'd be kind of interesting to see what they do with his character on Euphoria this year because he's a real bastard on that show. And I know he enjoys playing complicated characters, but like the things he does in the first season are vile. Number five, Millie Bobby Brown. Yep. Now, Millie Bobby Brown, of course, the star of The Electric State. Yeah. And the Enola Holmes films. Sure, a new Enola Holmes films coming this year. Yes, number three in that series. How did you feel about how they wrapped up a Noel Holmes? A lot of loose threads. Perhaps they should gather them and string them together for number three.

1:55:18Sean Fennessey:Look forward to finding out what those crazy kids do. Stranger Things concluded. She is... Every generation has stars like this. I don't get it. But she is insanely popular. And it would be foolish of us to not recognize just how followed she is. And I think that's the appropriate word. I think every generation has a movie star just like this, but she is also unique and very of her generation in that she's just fully a Netflix star. Correct. And all of those movies. She's like a contract girl from the 30s where she only makes movies for Columbia. Everything that is coming up is Netflix. So that obviously gives her a huge amount of reach and it's baked in.

1:56:01Her audience from Stranger Things will just watch this slop with all respect to Enola Holmes 2, which I haven't seen. But it is...

1:56:11Sean Fennessey:I find the Enola Holmes films fairly inoffensive. Yeah, they're fine. The Electric State should be destroyed. It should be... We should find all extant copies and destroy it. That's my feeling about that movie. Can I read you the logline of Just Picture It, her upcoming Netflix romantic comedy co-starring Gabriel LeBell? Oh, please do. Gabriel LeBell, another name on our long list. Two college students are surprised when their phones glitch and start showing them pictures from 10 years in the future as a happily married couple with kids. Wow, just picture it. Yeah, there you go. I don't hate it.

1:56:46I don't hate it either.

1:56:47Sean Fennessey:It's very 1980s themed. Yeah, but... You know, like vice versa or back to the future. I will probably watch it. I enjoy Gabriel Abel. I do. I think he's talented. I do too. Number four is Tom Holland. Yeah. Now, on the one hand, you might say, what has he done besides Spider-Man? My response to that is Spider-Man. He's Spider-Man. He is a very good Spider-Man. These movies have all been extraordinary successes. I think his challenge is can he do anything beyond Spider-Man, which is both like a career industry challenge and also he has a very winning presence as Spider-Man. Spider-Man is now 30.

1:57:25He's almost 30. And the further you get from teenage-dom, it is a Beverly Hills 90210 problem.

1:57:35Sean Fennessey:So this new Spider-Man is obviously, he's going to be a little more grown up in the movie. He's also Telemachus in the Odyssey. Yeah. And that's a big part. He's a critical, that's a critical role.

1:57:50It's not titular, but it's critical.

1:57:53Sean Fennessey:Critical, essential to the story. He's also reportedly attached to a movie called American Speed opposite Austin Butler, which is about three renowned race car driver brothers, two of whom were embroiled in the 1980s IMSA scandal where drivers funded their racing careers through criminal means like drug trafficking and money laundering. Now, that's a great idea for a movie. That's Goodfellas meets Days of Thunder. I mean, come on. I'm open to it. I was afraid that it was going to take sort of like an iron claw turn. Oh, where they keep dying? Yeah. Well, if there are three brothers, yeah, that would be sad.

1:58:28Sean Fennessey:I like Tom Holland. I'd like to see him do one thing that isn't Spider-Man that I enjoy, but I like him. Well, The Odyssey coming to theaters in July. Maybe you'll like it. I hope to. Yeah. Number three is Sydney Sweeney. Just when they think she's out, she pulls him back in. Yeah. Just when no one sees Christy, out comes The Housemaid. Everyone sees The Housemaid. Everyone really saw The Housemaid. Yeah. The Housemaid is one of the only movies that came out in 2025 that felt like 1986 or 96 or 2006. Literary adaptation of a junkie movie that is like half knowing, half in on the joke, half completely serious.

1:59:11Sean Fennessey:Designed only to gratify our most base pleasures as movie watchers. And it worked. And it worked and it would not have worked without Sidney Sweeney. That's just a fact. The Housemaid is the one that we were supposed to get really drunk for for our holiday party, right? Yeah. I wish we'd done that. I mean, I had a great time anyway, but it's one of the rare movies where you identify that and then it delivered on the promise of being a really fun movie to watch while getting rowdy at the movie theater. I was just so tired at the end of the year. It didn't work. It didn't work. But maybe for Housemaid's Secret, starring Sidney Sweeney and Kirsten Ness.

1:59:45Sean Fennessey:Oh, it's called The Housemaid's Secret. According to our wonderful research and production assistant, Lucas Cavanaugh. Amanda Seyfried's not going to be in The House Made Secret. I just want to let everyone know I misspoke. It's just Sidney Sweeney and Kirsten Dunst. Yeah. Okay. You think they'll have the same chemistry? I believe in Kirsten Dunst. She's got a lot of stuff lined up here. Did you ever end up seeing Echo Valley? The Julianne Moore film that also was Apple TV with Sidney Sweeney where Sidney Sweeney played her drug addict daughter? No, I didn't. Okay. Sorry. Number two is India. You just skipped past Custom of the Country.

2:00:22Sean Fennessey:What's Custom of the Country? This is an Edith Warden adaptation. Oh, yeah, sure. Sophia Coppola was working on it for a long time. Sidney Sweeney is making that? You have said that's in exactly the right way. So I also have some concerns. There was an adaptation of this, was there not? No, it was that Sophia was working on it for a very long time for Apple TV, and then they scrapped it. Has there never been an adaptation of this? I don't know. Sydney Sweeney to star. As Undine Sprague, yeah. Josie Rourke directing. This seems challenging. I would agree. Okay. Well, you know what? Keep taking chances.

2:00:56Sean Fennessey:Keep getting those shots up. It is a book-to-movie of source. Sure is. Okay, number two is Zendaya. Yes. Which means Timothee Chalamet is number one. So was there any part of you that wanted Zendaya to be number one? No, and I, there was a moment where I was like, should we be switching Zendaya and Sidney Sweeney? And I didn't want to do it and then I remembered in just, because I'm rooting for Zendaya and I really like the drama and I, and I really like that Zendaya does stuff like the drama in between being in Spider-Man and Dune. But she is also, she's in Spider-Man and in Dune. So she has the box office to back it.

2:01:32Sean Fennessey:She does. So I'm good with Zendaya at number two. I still think that to me has like, has the full range. I fully agree. Zendaya, her slate coming up is Dune 3, Odyssey, Spider-Man, Brand New Day, Shrek 5. That, that's the infinity stones. That's like that. She has the iron gauntlet that she's going to be seen in every movie that everyone goes to see for the next 18 months. So just in terms of sheer recognizability and star power, name recognition, that is the mountaintop and I'm hopeful for more of the dramas and challengers from her in the future. But got to take your hat off. Like she's kind of operating the chessboard very masterfully right now.

2:02:16She's still doing the Ronnie Spector movie, right?

2:02:18Sean Fennessey:I believe so. Okay. I believe so. I think that... I don't know what stage that's in. Yeah, I don't think it started filming yet. I know she was asked about it and she gave one of those like... Was it Barry Jenkins? Is that who's doing it? As of 2025. Yeah. but I don't know if it's happened anyway I hope it happens I hope it happens too and I think that's very clever casting number one is Chalamet yeah he crossed 30 years old he's held you down five Decembers dam and you know he's gonna do another one with Dune Part 3 yeah Wonka 2 I hope doesn't happen I hope they kill it with fire James Mangold crime motorcycle movie would like to see it open Marty Supreme is you know an instant classic the finishing touch yeah one might say after the previous dominances that he has had and the most amazing thing is that he's only 30 so is there is there a case to me that he should take a break after Dune Part 3 and just not be around do you mean a break from making movies or from being in the public eye well they're they're interwoven right I mean you can't I mean he has proven to be such an expert marketer that if he makes a movie, he needs to sell it.

2:03:35Sean Fennessey:Otherwise, why is he getting paid to make the movie? Like, that's part of the deal now with him. Right. Now, Cruise, for a long time, was the same way. Cruise could sell the shit out of a movie because he would go all over the place, but he would also seem, you know, untouchable at the same time. I'm just curious if, like, he should maybe literally just take 18 months off so he's not seen. I don't. Well, then it goes away, you know. Does it? And as his partner of three years, thank you for our foundation, Kylie Jenner would say to him, just when they're tired of you is when you got to hit the gas.

2:04:08Right.

2:04:08Sean Fennessey:Perhaps you're right. That's quoting the moment for those of you that aren't on my level or on Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner's level. I know. And also, he's not that type of guy. And that's not why he works. That's not like what makes him a star for him to just be like, well, now I'm going to sit back and reflect. No, he's always like touching the fire. Do you think he's in Avengers Doomsday? I sure hope not. No white drugs and no superheroes. That's right. That's right. From one Leo to another.

2:04:41Yeah, I guess he's also attached to Richard Powers' 2024 book, Playground.

2:04:48Sean Fennessey:Are you familiar with that book? I became familiar with it when this was announced, that this is what he's doing. It's about a tech billionaire suffering from dementia. I haven't read this book I don't know it sounds intriguing winner of the Pulitzer Prize yeah Timmy probably should have been the winner last time over Margot Robbie it's 50 % what you've done he hadn't opened Marty Supreme yet we were hopeful yeah he hadn't done it yet Margot and but listen Barbie I that was a real thing Wuthering Heights was a real thing yeah we didn't like it but it was a real thing. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair.

2:05:32Sean Fennessey:What about a big, bold, beautiful journey? Well, that was also Colin Farrell's fault, you know? Okay. Damn. Shots fired. You win some, you lose some. Any closing thoughts on this list? Shall I run it down one last time? Yeah. Okay. You have to scroll all the way back to the top. 35, Iowa Debris. 34, Austin Abrams. 33, McKenna Grace. 32, Miles Keaton. 31, Ava Victor. 30, Chase Infinity. 29, Barbie Ferreira. 28 Dominic Sessa 27 Emily Bader 26 Bad Bunny 25 Aaron Pierre 24 Mia Goff 23 Dylan O 'Brien 22 Daisy Edgar Jones 21 Barry Keoghan 20 Micah Monroe 19 Saoirse Ronan 18 David Cornswett 17 Haley Steinfeld 16 Paul Meskel 15 Kiki Palmer 14 Mikey Madison 13 Ariana Grande 12 Margaret Qualley 11 Jenna Ortega 10 Austin Butler 9 El Fanning 8 Florence Pugh 7 Anya Taylor-Joy 6 Jacob Elordi 5 Millie Bobby Brown 4 Tom Holland 3 Sidney Sweeney 2 Zendaya and number 1 Timothy Chalamet.

2:06:39Sean Fennessey:We've done it again. And just to be clear, this is our definitive list of the best working actors from a qualitative standpoint. We are accredited and so we can of course assess skill and make these decisions definitively and we have. These are the heirs and heiresses to Marlon Brando. That's how we have evaluated this process. We've studied all the acting techniques. We have practiced the method as podcasters. We only do this at each other when we're off mic as well, just to stay in character. This is a character. And yep, these are the best actors. Good job. Closing thoughts. I feel good. This didn't feel as complicated as it has.

2:07:23A lot of names went off. Yeah.

2:07:25Sean Fennessey:so there was a lot of open spots and so I would say 35 to 25 took some chances yeah why not that's what it's all about that's what we do here um do you think you're gonna take any chances with the Meryl Streep Hall of Fame maybe I'm excited to talk about it and I think that this is an unusual one where I like I have a very very we both have a very like deep bench of like these movies we've spent a lot of time watching them thinking about them but they're probably very different because her filmography is so large and also so varied in a way like towards Amanda movies as well that we'll see. There might be disagreement.

2:08:05Sean Fennessey:You're expecting Bloodsport. No, not necessarily. But I do, I just think we'll get to talk about more movies and like types of movies we don't usually talk about. That is very true. There's a bunch of movies that don't come up very often on her list. It's amazing we've never done her. So that'll be a lot of fun. We'll do that on Friday. thanks to Jack Sanders for his work on this episode thanks to Lucas Cavanaugh as well we're building the Meryl Streep Hall of Fame later this week see you then