“Survive until 2025” has been the slogan of an industry grappling with AI and the financial hangover resulting from the disruption of SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023. But members of the 2025 list of 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment are the energy behind a new wave of storytelling on screens big and small.
By Maggie McGrath, Lisette Voytko-Meilleurand Brittney McKenna
KAthryne Newton didn’t start acting with the intention of becoming America’s next Scream Queen. Her first major acting career came at age 15, for a role in Paranormal Activity 4. She found herself returning to the genre in the years that followed, landing starring roles in Weird (2020), Abigail (2023) and Lisa Frankenstein (2024).
“I think horror touches people beyond what a romantic comedy or an action movie or a fantasy movie does, because horror is real,” Newton, 27, said. Forbes. “You don’t have to be beautiful and you don’t have to be in love to be afraid. And everyone knows what it’s like to be in the dark and afraid.
Jamel Toppin for Forbes
Newton — whose work brought in about $2 million in revenue last year — is speaking out in an industry that has its share of fear. Concerns about generative AI, the cost of producing works in the United States, and the financial and creative consequences of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA actors’ and writers’ strike have led many in the industry to repeat: “survive until 25.” But if Newton and his 30 Under 30 class of ’25 Hollywood & Entertainment prove anything, it’s that young people can be an advantage in finding new ways to create and tell stories.
“Make your own plans,” says Newton. “Apparently you don’t need a million dollars.” You just need an iPhone…I don’t think you should wait for anyone.
Director Wesley Wang, 20 years old, embodies this philosophy. During his senior year of high school, Wang wrote and directed the short film nothing, except everything and posted it on YouTube. The film went viral, quickly surpassing seven million views, and in October 2023, he received an email from Requiem for a dream director Darren Aronofsky.
“I watched your film,” Aronofsky wrote, in all caps. “Can you drop out of Harvard?” In April of this year, following a bidding war, Sony’s Tristar Pictures acquired the rights to turn Wang’s film into a big-screen feature (Aronofsky will produce).
Alongside Newton and Wang on the Hollywood & Entertainment 2025 list are people working in film, television, comedy and theater, both in front of audiences and as masterminds behind the scenes. Some wear several hats: Marcello Hernández, 27 years old, is a first-generation Latino comedian who writes, produces, and performs stand-up comedy and is currently a cast member of Saturday evening live. (More recently, Hernández has been particularly adept at delighting fans by appearing, as “Domingo”, during a Sabrina Carpenter concert.)
Other hyphens on the list include actor, writer, and activist Nicole Maines, 27 years old. She is the first actress to play a transgender superhero on television and later wrote her character’s comic book debut for DC Comics in 2021. Thomas Laub, also 27 years oldis a three-time Tony Award-winning producer and founder of his own production company, Runyonland Productions. Ryan Destin, 29 years old, is a film and television actress who will star in the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios film The Fire Inside, and she is also an independent music artist.
The members of 2025 Hollywood & Entertainment are clear-eyed about what it means to be a young talent in Tinsel Town: “In an industry that values big names and big credits, it can seem impossible to start as a young actor. » Maines notes this, but also how this constitutes an advantage. “My generation (Generation Z) is made up of talented, hard-working individuals who often take non-traditional paths to achieve their goals,” says Justin McGriff, vice president of Straight to Cards, 28 years old“showing that just because something has always been done one way doesn’t mean we can’t find a better way to do it.”
Help the Forbes The team that identified Hollywood’s best young talents consisted of four expert judges: Courtenay Valentihead of Amazon’s theatrical and streaming films; actor and producer Rob McElhenney; Celeste Yimwriter and comedian, who most recently served as supervising writer for Saturday night live; And Lexi Underwood, an actor, filmmaker and 2024 alumnus Forbes Hollywood’s 30 Under 30 List.
This year’s list was edited by Brittney McKenna, Maggie McGrath and Lisette Voytko-Best, with additional reporting by Alexandra York. For a link to our complete Hollywood and entertainment list, Click hereand for full coverage 30 Under 30, Click here.