Get to know The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024
Get to know The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024
This combination of photos shows AP’s 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha’la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos shows AP’s 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha’la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos shows AP’s 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha’la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos shows AP’s 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha’la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos shows AP’s 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha’la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos shows AP’s 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha’la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
Adria Arjona
AGE: 32
HOMETOWN: Mexico City — though she was born in Puerto Rico and later moved to Miami
FIRST ROLE: Brief roles in “Unforgettable” and “Person of Interest” before “True Detective”
YOU MIGHT KNOW HER FROM: “Andor.” Or her turn as an unhappy but alluring wife in “Hit Man” — or a happier wife-to-be in the “Father of the Bride” reboot
2024 IN REVIEW: It’s been a busy year, with four film releases: “Hit Man,” “Blink Twice,” “Los Frikis,” “The Absence of Eden”
WHAT’S NEXT: Flexing her acting and producing muscles as a lead and executive producer on Neon’s “Splitsville” and A24’s “Onslaught” — plus her return to “Andor” for the Emmy-nominated series’ second season
FUN FACT: “I always thought I was going to be too shy to actually do it, but once I did it, something, something switched. In my head, something clicked and then I became obsessed,” she says about her love of film and the filmmaking process
Nicholas Alexander Chavez
AGE: 25
HOMETOWN: Denver
FIRST ROLE: “General Hospital”
YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM FROM: His recent turns in the Ryan Murphyverse
2024 IN REVIEW: “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Grotesquerie”
WHAT’S NEXT: The “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot
WHAT HE’LL REMEMBER ABOUT 2024: “I think I’ll remember how excited I was. I think I’ll remember the feeling like life is so beautiful and wonderful and how incredible that I get to live in a world where my dream comes true.”
GloRilla
AGE: 25
HOMETOWN: Memphis, Tennessee
FIRST RELEASE: “Most Likely Up Next,” a mixtape released in 2019
YOU MIGHT KNOW HER FROM: The songs “Wanna Be” and “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
2024 IN REVIEW: Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer Tour, releasing her debut album “Glorious,” visiting the White House and performing at Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign rally in Milwaukee
WHAT’S NEXT: Pursuing acting roles, headlining the college football concert series in January and the Grammys, where she’s nominated
WHERE HER PERSONALITY COMES FROM: Her mother: “I come from nothing almost. My mom is well mannered. My mom taught us right, like, internally, have a great spirit. My personality and spirit come from my momma”
Fred Hechinger
AGE: 25
HOMETOWN: New York
FIRST ROLE: “Eighth Grade”
YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM FROM: His scene-stealing role as Sydney Sweeney’s younger brother in “The White Lotus”
2024 IN REVIEW: Roles in “Gladiator II,” “Thelma,” “Kraven the Hunter,” “Nickel Boys”
WHAT’S NEXT: “Kraven the Hunter” and “Nickel Boys,” both opening this month
FUN FACT: Growing up, he thought the circus looked like fun — “and now I kind of feel like I work in the circus”
Maleah Joi Moon
AGE: 22
HOMETOWN: Franklin Township, New Jersey
FIRST ROLE: Dorothy in a school production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Otherwise, “Hell’s Kitchen”
YOU MIGHT KNOW HER FROM: Her Tony triumph over industry veterans for best actress in a musical
2024 IN REVIEW: “Hell’s Kitchen” Tony leads to appearances at the Met Gala, on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Today,” and in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
WHAT’S NEXT: She’d love to do film, TV — and more theater, of course
WHAT SHE’S LISTENING TO: Cleo Soul, old R&B and ’90s hits and, of course, Alicia Keys
Myha’la
AGE: 28
HOMETOWN: San Jose, California
FIRST ROLES: Onstage, the second national tour for “Book of Mormon.” Onscreen, 2019’s “Premature”
YOU MIGHT KNOW HER FROM: HBO’s “Industry,” “Leave the World Behind”
2024 IN REVIEW: The third season of “Industry,” a voice role in “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur”
WHAT’S NEXT: Roles in “Swiped” and “They Will Kill You”
FUN FACT: Originally billed as Myha’la Herrold, she recently went mononymous — “I always wanted to go by my first name, the paperwork just took longer than I thought!”
Aaron Pierre
AGE: 30
HOMETOWN: London
FIRST ROLE: “Prime Suspect 1973,” a 2017 British detective series that featured Pierre in two episodes
YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM FROM: Playing an introverted rapper named Mid-Sized Sedan in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old”
2024 IN REVIEW: Two face-offs with Kelvin Harrison Jr.: “Genius: MLK/X” and “Mufasa: The Lion King,” plus “Rebel Ridge”
WHAT’S NEXT: Playing an artist who hobnobs with the elite on Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” then investigating intergalactic crime on HBO’s superhero series “Lanterns.”
IF YOU SEE HIM IN THE STREET: Don’t be shy about approaching him about his past projects: “That’s one of the most rewarding feelings you can ever have as a creative person”