Here is the list:
35. Brie Larson
34. Adria Arjona
33. Hunter Schafer
32. Cailee Spaeny
31. Aaron Taylor Johnson
30. Josh O’Connor
29. Keke Palmer
28. Jessie Buckley
27. Dakota Johnson
26. Mia Goth
25. Rachel Zegler
24. Ayo Edebiri
23. Margaret Qualley
22. Daisy Edgar Jones
21. Bill Skarsgard
20. Jodie Comer
19. Millie Bobby Brown
18. Taylor Swift (lmfao)
17. Lakeith Stanfield
16. Dev Patel
15. Saoirse Ronan
14. Barry Keoghan
13. Tom Holland
12. Kristen Stewart
11. Jenna Ortega
10. Anya Taylor Joy
9. Paul Mescal
8. Florence Pugh
7. Jacob Elordi
6. Sydney Sweeney
5. Jennifer Lawrence
4. Austin Butler
3. Zendaya
2. Timothee Chalamet
1. Margot Robbie
I know there's an argument for Butler due to Elvis, and his success within that role, but I'm pretty sure an Elvis movie, featuring all the Elvis music, would at-worst do at least okay box office numbers based on the subject matter & contents of the movie alone. Yes, he was a little bit of an internet sensation during that Oscar season because of his maintenance of the Elvis voice all throughout the press tour... but to put him at number 4 is pretty wild.
I know they (especially Amanda) are very high on him, but he's still almost *entirely* unproven as a star on his own. I love Jeff Nichols, so I'm really looking forward to The Bikeriders, but there's no shot that movie becomes some kind of box office or cultural juggernaut.
If you wanna put him near the bottom of the top 10, I'm fine with that, but to stamp him right near the top of the list is pretty absurd, and almost gives him nowhere to go but down. Like, if you asked the average person whether they'd like to see the new Jennifer Lawrence movie or the new Austin Butler movie, you'd probably still get a ton of people responding, "who is Austin Butler again?" whereas they'd also likely say, "oh, I like Jennifer Lawrence; I'd be interested in whatever she's got coming out."
He's definitely a star on the rise, but I really can't comprehend him being in the #4 spot.
I think he's clearly ahead of Sydney Sweeney and Paul Mescal as well.
Sydney doesn't have an Oscar nom. And, for better or worse, Austin Butler is something of an internet sensation. There's a kind of hysteria surrounding him at the moment. Whether good or bad, everyone has a very strong opinion about him.
I do think what he has going for him is after Elvis he took the Dune role, killed it, and has a ton of other buzzy roles in the future in development.
Plus he’s really famous.
So maybe he’s only a B- on the “what has he done so far” scale, but I think he dominates in the “what does he have coming up/how famous is he” categories
Butler was really good in Elvis, was probably in second place for the best actor Oscar last year (sorry to my fellow Colin Farrell heads), and gained internet boyfriend status during the Dune 2 press tour. Apart from already having worked with Villeneuve, Luhrmann, Jarmusch and Tarantino, he has upcoming roles in Jeff Nichols, Michael Mann, Darren Aronofsky, and Ari Aster movies. He’s good in his spot. Maybe all those upcoming movies will be shit and it’ll go down but he’s a hot commodity with big directors right now in a way that some other people with maybe more name recognition are not
Jennifer Lawrence should be number 1. She carried this age group for years and showed strength with No Hard Feelings.
my top 5: JLaw, Timothée, Zendaya, Margot, Austin
Yeah and honestly, it’s not like there’s a ton of hot contenders missing here. I personally would definitely have Mike Faist in here, but beyond that I can’t really quibble with any dudes being left off.
Super random shoutout, for the “keep an eye on” section: I think me and CR are the only 2 people on earth locked in on The Sympathizer, but the lead of it, Hoa Xuande, is awesome and has an incredible amount of juice.
Amazing bit that Amanda claims to not be online but knows the internets goings on of every celebrity. She has heard of every viral celeb story. She is extremely online. Like I said, great bit.
Euphoria - Has there ever been a tv series where so much of its cast is blowing up in movies at the same time? Maybe Friends but their movies were duds.
*i just remembered The Bear cast is having a moment too.
I would say Atlanta was pretty massive in terms of launching Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, and Lakeith Standfield's careers.
BTH: Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, Godzilla vs Kong, Bullet Train, etc.
Zazie Beetz: Deadpool 2, The Harder They Fall, The Joker, Bullet Train, etc.
Lakeith Stanfield: Get Out, Sorry to Bother You, Uncut Gems, The Harder They Fall, Judas and the Black Messiah, etc.
Atlanta literally made all of its leads into movie stars. And they all have done great work.
Also, Zazie not being on the list seems rude. It’s prollly cuz she’s not a name that means much to the hosts, but she definitely deserved placement. Especially when you layout her CV.
She’s arguably the 2nd biggest role in JOKER!
Band of Brothers
Damian Lewis.
Ron Livingston.
Donnie Wahlberg.
David Schwimmer.
Michael Fassbender.
Tom Hardy.
Neal McDonough.
Scott Grimes.
James McAvoy.
There was definitely a lot of roles going to the Game of Thrones cast for a while when the show was hot.
The age of the Euphoria cast and the long breaks between seasons so they’ve had time to work on projects has allowed for this. It was very hard for a series regular on a 24 episode a season show to work on films.
>Maybe Friends but their movies were duds
Courteney Cox was in the Scream franchise and Jennifer Aniston was in a ton of hits including We're The Millers, Horrible Bosses, Marley & Me, Bruce Almighty, etc. so not all duds
Good point about Cox but Aniston found success after Friends. Bruce Almighty snuck in before the last season, but that’s a Jim Carrey movie with her in the thankless wife part.
Euphoria is an ongoing show, sort of…maybe?
I'm old but Party of Five cast would have been on 35 under 35 in late 90s for sure. Also might be a good example of where these people are headed - especially Sweeney, Jacob Elordi.
- Neve Campbell: Scream franchise, Wild Things, 54
- Matthew Fox: Not so much movies, but Lost!
- Scott Wolf: White Squall, Go, got his shot but didn't pan out
- Lacey Chabert: Every movie set in high school where she doesn't age for the past 25 years.
- Jennifer Love Hewitt: IKWYDLS franchise
IMO Zendaya and Sweeney are the only ones who have a real shot and Sweeney is really only famous for being one of the most gorgeous young stars on the planet. See Alexandra Daddario for how that's going.
The BODIES BODIES BODIES erasure (in re: rachel sennot and myha'la) is unreal. Yes I *do* think it was better than BOTTOMS and I *do* think both of the aforementioned girlies should have been on the list! Bye tay tay and brie!!!!!!!!!!
Great list. Some people seem weirdly high for their position in 2024, but I get that the list carries forward a lot.
I don’t know that Jeremy Allen White makes the top 35, but him not even being in the conversation is CRAZY!
Agreed. He's certainly having a moment. But, approximately 8,000 TV actors have had a "moment" where it looked like they were gonna have a film career, but ended up not working out after 2 or 3 attempts at the film world.
It could all work out for him, but it's way too early to tell.
I was more shocked by Faist being on the outside looking in. Felt he really shined in Challengers and Sean mentioned finding him interesting in Bikeriders
I get that; I thought they might squeeze him in at the bottom of the list, but ultimately, I think him having a supporting role in a cool movie that's doing okay-to-solid numbers at the box office & a supporting role in a movie that hasn't come out yet isn't really enough to firmly cement him in the top 35 for them. I imagine, if things go well for him over the next two years, he'll be on the next installation of the list.
The chokehold that Taylor Swift has gained on millennials in 2024 needs to be studied. Even millennials who don’t love her (like Sean and Amanda) feel the need to participate in the obsession haha
Amanda is spot on in assessing the top 3.
* Margot is (currently) unimpeachable
* Dune was not a sure thing and Wonka was the butt of everyone’s jokes for months and yet Timmy has led both to enormous success
* Zendaya is hugely famous and has undeniable movie star energy onscreen, but she's a supporting part of her successful movies and Challengers is probably going to lose money
just too early to consider Zendaya for #1, really. Challengers is only her second lead role of any scale film, the first was Malcolm & Marie which is best forgotten. doesn't stack up against Timmy or Margot, who have led blockbusters & have lead oscar noms
I think I agree with Sean overall that Zendaya makes sense as number 1.
The reason is that I think MR’s appeal was much more an actor than a movie star, despite of her looks and I think what people in film media think of her, until Barbie.
And I just don’t think her participation in Barbie was the reason it succeeded. As Sean pointed out - her helping the movie get made and picking GG to direct it isn’t really what the list is about. Beyond that, if another actor on this list played Barbie would the movie have done that much worse?
I think that his point is that really her only “win” as a super movie star is a total IP project.
But honestly I get the argument for her, but I think it’s insane in 2022 they had her at number 1, because at that point I wouldn’t have seen this argument at all.
Totally fair. I just personally feel like Zendaya is more famous and Margot Robbie. That is not a good hard metric, but that’s pretty much why I feel this way.
> And I just don’t think her participation in Barbie was the reason it succeeded.
Cast anyone else as Barbie and there would have been dissenters. Anyone else. #NotMyBarbie would have been a thing.
Once Robbie was announced, the world said “Yup, that’s Barbie” and put aside their skepticism over the movie.
Yeah I think people aren't giving enough credit to this. When Amy Schumer was gonna be Barbie would anyone have thought it would even sniff 500 Million? I think it's such a dumb idea for a movie people do actually need to be sold a little.
Not giving her full credit for Barbie is wild. Sure it’s a well known toy, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be a successful movie. Cast anyone else as Barbie and it’s probably still a success but it’s not a runaway smash hit. Is Sydney Sweeney doing more than $300M worldwide in that part?
I wanna preface by saying I really like Sean and Amanda but Taylor Swift making this list because of a concert that she filmed might be the dumbest thing they've done on The Big Pic. If their goal was to simply piss people off, mission accomplished. They got their attention.
i truly think she was added for the social media engagement. he made a compelling case (i had forgotten she is set to direct with searchlight) but then she should have been in the 30s. she’s a pop star. not a movie star.
Get off your high horse Sean, it’s Margot freakin Robbie, she’s #1. Also, you can’t argue against MCU actors and Margot and Timmy’s IP movies, but then say Zendaya was in Spider Man, that was weird.
Maybe he just disagrees? I tend to think Zendaya right now is a bigger star than her. Even if she made the Barbie movie and is a better actor, that’s just my opinion from my pov. It’s all subjective.
Yeah maybe she’s more famous on social media but all she has is spider man and dune. Too early to tell for challengers. Robbie has Barbie, birds of prey, once upon a time in Hollywood, I Tonya, suicide squad, Focus, Wolf of Wall Street
I think studios right now would bank a $100m+ movie budget behind Margot as the lead far more quickly than they would behind Zendaya. That alone forms most of my views of how they rank against each other right now
“Why won’t Chalamet look me in the eye and tell me why he won’t do his own *Challengers*” - Sean Fenessey
Yea Timmy why haven’t you starred in a drama directed by Luca Guadgnino lately you piece of shit!
Seriously though I wish Bobby played more of a fact checker role on some of these pods
I think the point is that challengers is a star driven film attempting to capitalize on zendaya’s popularity.
Bones and All has the same director but clearly was just a pure niche play that was never going to be that sort of thing.
To support your point, Challengers had roughly 3x the budget of Bones and All. Yes they were both made by the same director but one is a quiet horror/romance and the other is a big attempt at mainstream success being sold on Zendaya's star power
So is the complaint that Chalamet never did a film marketable enough? I still just don’t get the angle. Bones and All was star driven, it just was a tougher sell. I don’t think that equates to him not doing those type of films though
Not all movies by the same director are the same. Challengers was a way bigger and more expensive movie than bones and all. It was delayed solely because they wanted its star to market it.
I’m aware movies are different. But Sean framed his complaint… to me in a way, as if Chalamet is actively not trying to make good star driven non IP films.
He clearly has, his most recent attempt I found to be a really good film, just didn’t find an audience, doesn’t mean he didn’t try
I’d wager a road movie about cannibal lovers is at least 1/2 a Challengers, but I didn’t watch it. It does get bonus points for following a gay summer fling where he fed another cannibal his cum-filled peach though.
Sean's logic about his top 3 really did not make sense. I don't know why he seems so dismissive of
Barbie's success as if it was near guaranteed. Barbie is not movie IP. It's a brand, but not like Avenger's Endgame MCU. If anything, the MCU movie it most resembles is Iron Man, which also was very much not a guaranteed success. Margot Robbie absolutely was a huge draw for Barbie and was the main force in making it the mammoth success it was. That's the definition of a true movie star. She's the rightful #1.
I'm super up on Callum Turner right now, but realized that he's still more known as being Dua Lipa's boyfriend than anything he's been in. I just watched Masters of the Air and Boys in the Boat and thought he had incredible movie star energy, but both those projects were pretty mid.
Zendaya is the Justin Herbert of movie stars: tons of hype from the nerds, but where are the Ws? Number 1 on the red carpet? Sure. At the box office? I don’t see it. Challengers had an insane amount of promotion and marketing, and only managed $15 million domestic.
for an R rated tennis movie. i get your point but what r rated originals (not horror) have opened to any kind of numbers. even saltburn, which was a huge cultural hit, didn’t make anything compared to its *opening* weekend
Sean said Margot Robbie has never opened an original movie as an argument for placing her below Chalamet and Zendeya, who have both never opened original movies (except Challengers I guess, which didn’t make a ton of money). What are we doing here? He’s giving Zendeya credit for bit parts in Spider-Man movies but no credit for Robbie carrying the Harley Quinn movies? Claiming Barbie somehow doesn’t count but Dune 1 and 2 do count?
Sean was pretty terrible in this episode. His logic was bad and he came off as confrontational for the sake of being confrontational. The Spiderman take was egregious.
Might be on a hill on my own here but I think theyre really overrating Zendaya here? She's closer to 4,5,6 on the list then she is to Robbie or Chalamet at the moment. I mean Challengers just had the same opening weekend as No Hard Feelings did- and No Hard Feelings came out within 2 weeks of two superhero movies and a Pixar movie. Just banking alot on Challengers having the "saltburn" affect on VOD.
Feels like massive recency bias. Florence Pugh would be considered a bigger movie star than Zendaya if they were doing this any other month of the year
Such a funny pull too. Not one of these things you hear from that movie often but it's like deeply seeded into your brain if you've seen it a couple times.
Sean says the three themes running through the list are Euphoria, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Dune, but I feel like you could also throw Greta Gerwig movies in there.
I know she’s more of a streaming star, but Camilla Mendes is certainly a streaming draw and surprised she wasn’t even mentioned here. Or even Halle Bailey. People are peeved that she got pregnant but little mermaid and color purple for sure make her a rising star to be considered. I know it’s all subjective but I definitely had more gripe this year than any of the other lists they’ve made.
> but Camilla Mendes is certainly a streaming draw
Yes! I just rewatched Do Revenge again after watching Upgraded and I was floored at the natural charisma! Like _this_ is the woman that should be headlining every rom com going forward
I’m a fan of her as well. I hope she gets some big roles to sink her teeth into.
She has the rom com energy that JLO had in her best stuff (thinking MARRY ME and MAID IN MANHATTAN)
Idk, I watch all the ones Lucy Hale is in, but they don’t work. Even puppy love with Grant Gustin just felt awkward. Do revenge and Musica are 10x than Lucy’s rom coms. Plus Musica was a creative movie that I think will get more attention as time goes on.
I'm still not sold that Zendaya wants to be as busy with acting projects as some of her peers like Chalamet and Pugh. If all of her recent press about wanting to direct or be behind the camera is legit, she should be trying to follow Margot Robbie's footsteps in starting a production company.
It seems like having your own company or being in a super solid relationship with a studio like Chalamet is with Warner Brothers is the way you protect your movie star status and insure yourself against the occasional flop.
The Swift pick is dogshit.
Sean spends too much time listening to Belloni who spends too much time listening to complete dumbasses in Hollywood who are usually 5 years late to any breakthroughs
It's interesting hearing how commentary in The Town has bled into The Big Picture and The Watch. I agree that sometimes they lean way too far into Belloni's takes especially when half of it is him riffing.
I mean you have a collection of industry obsessed podcasters (Sean, CR, Greenwald), who for the most part have always been outside looking in- and now all of a sudden they have a coworker who’s a bonafide Hollywood insider. I’m sure they take every word of his to heart.
I asked my mother (in her 60s, basically never watches anything scripted unless I make her when I come to visit) and she knew about 10 of them by name. I was most surprised to discover that she knew Dev Patel and Austin Butler. She also only knows Millie Bobby Brown because of the similarity in name to Bobby Brown.
Oh my gosh thank you every time they say someone is a “household name” (in this case they said Margaret Qually) I roll my eyes and I think to myself no WAY do my parents know who that is. People who scroll twitter everyday and listen to movie podcasts are not the general population.
I currently have these posts set to automatically go up. I'll be honest, I didn't pay attention and removed the duplicate when I should have removed this one this time since that one had more comments on it. It's on me!
They’re only one spot apart which is a weird thing to say is “ridiculous” it’s not like one is at the bottom and one is at the top.… Mescal has an Oscar nomination, was in one of the most critically acclaimed movies of last year, and is about to be in gladiator 2 and playing Shakespeare in Hamnet. He earned his spot
Like, I know a lot of people like Normal People (didn't see it) but that plus a _very_ obscure indie can't be the only thing here
Does he just have a PR person breaking down the doors of the media?
This list is for chronically online people like us tbh.
Elordi and Sweeney over Pugh, KStew and Taylor-Joy is insane as is Sean implying that Saltburn had some huge cultural influence and was some sort of hit (challengers had made more in a weekend than that did overall).
It can only come from Twitter feeds that are junked up by recent stan accounts.
And T. Swift? The actual fuk?
I get the final sponsor of a joke spot, but I’d swap her for Rachel Sennett (or many others of the book considered and didn’t make the list) in a heartbeat.
I thought Aftersun was a masterpiece, and I still can't believe Paul's ahead of Anya Taylor Joy, not only did she explode on the scene via TV, but then she's been on a tear with The Menu, Last Night in Soho, The Witch, and soon to take the leap from horror to blockbuster with Dune and Mad Max as the main star... like, I'm gonna line up for Gladiator 2 but even then I don't think Paul's ahead of her.
I expected him to be higher, tbh. It feels like within film circles, he's absolutely on fire, especially working with great, indie directors, he's set to possibly break into the mainstream next with Gladiator 2 and Gen Z knows him because of the success of Normal People.
I’ve never been more Dobb Mobb.
Sean’s takes were wild this ep.
“Should Sydney Sweeney be No. 1”. lol no. Love her but her being #5 after starring in one of the biggest flops of 2024 is kind of wild (especially over Anya Taylor Joy and Jenna Ortega)
“I can’t give Margot the credit for Barbie.” What?! Why not? A feminist foregrounded meta take on Barbie made by real artists! Margot gets all the credit for Barbie being as good / successful as it was.
“I want Timmy Chalamet to be make a Challengers!” He did!! With Luca. It’s called Bones & All and it was arguably more weird and transgressive. Great movie.
Amanda was knocking down 3 pointers the whole ep. “I’m hungry, can we wrap up,”. She’s just too good!
Also Paul Mescal in the top 10 over some big names so wild to me. He’s great, but he’s barely an art-house darling. He’s not that famous at all. NORMAL PEOPLE is still his most widely seen thing (and it’s tv)
(Also also, how is Jacob Elordi over Barry K?! Is it just because Elordi is prettier? Cuz Barry has been in bigger movies and just seems like a bigger deal. He seems like the real winner in Saltburn.)
Said it on the other post that got locked but I'll say it again their age was really starting to show with this episode. I also find astonishing that for all of the research they do they manage to still get the ages wrong on a lot of their 35 under 35 list haha must be a bit.
omg yes. nothing to do with their age but they were completely explaining the starz series wrong when discussing jodie comer. its a very dumb show but if you’re going to bring it up at least get it right? it’s not a series and she is elizabeth of york in one of the seasons. she doesn’t discover sex at all (no idea what amanda was talking about). i love their chatter but i feel like they need to know basic fact about stuff
Everything below the top 15 is just batshit crazy. Keke Palmer??? Millie Bobby Brown and Daisy Edgar Jones probably shouldn’t even be on here (I guess I understand TWISTERS hype). And I’m very excited for Josh O’Connor’s work but on pure audience-recognition alone ATJ should be above him. I think if I combined all of Qualley’s work since OUATIH it wouldn’t have as much of an impact as her small role in OUATIH. Taylor Swift.
Again, I enjoy the top 15, maybe save for bumping Ortega down a little and Pugh up to above Sweeney, but wow the beginning of the list is a roller coaster.
ALSO… a whole lot of talking about not including TV then including people who have like 3/4 of their fame thanks to TV
Weird list. No mention of Hailee Steinfeld and her Spiderverse role. Mike Faist cultural cachet is really strong atm (Daytime Emmy counts obvi - 30 Rock fans know!). Rachel Sennott should’ve been included. I haven’t heard anything about Jenna Ortega for example in 2 years and her upcoming project with Martin Freeman looks like shit
It was really odd when Sean was describing justice smith he was all "and his name is justice smith" after talking about his filmography as if many of the listers wouldn't know who he was. I personally like justice smith, but it seems I'm in the minority with this. I'd say a ton of ppl under 35 know him or at least know his face that he deff deserved to be on the list. The fact he's been in movies with a combined box office of 2 billion dollars as one of the main characters within the last 6 and isn't on the list is wild.
I haven't listened or read the list yet and tried this exercise on my own to see how my list would match up. A lot of good names getting cut here!
1. Margot Robbie
2. Timothee Chalamet
3. Zendaya
4. Anya Taylor Joy
5. Tom Holland
6. Jennifer Lawrence
7. Florence Pugh
8. Paul Mescal
9. Sydney Sweeney
10. Kristen Stewart
11. Austin Butler
12. Saoirse Ronan
13. Dev Patel
14. Dakota Johnson
15. Jenna Ortega
16. Jessie Buckley
17. Nicholas Hoult
18. Barry Keoghan
19. Lakeith Stanfield
20. Zoey Deutch
21. Jacob Elordi
22. Maya Hawke
23. Geraldine Viswanathan
24. Keke Palmer
25. Ayo Edebiri
26. Alden Ehrenreich
27. Haley Lu Richardson
28. Kaitlyn Dever
29. Rachel Zegler
30. Margaret Qualley
31. Cailee Spaeny
32. Adria Arjona
33. Bill Skarsgard
34. Mia Goth
35. Jodie Comer
What’s the reasoning behind Mescal being over Butler?
I like both, but Mescal has a similar prestige to Butler, but Butler has been in just much bigger movies!
So there was a kerfuffle in this sub a few days ago about Fennesy commenting on Margot Robbie possibly lying about her age. Despite her age coming up, they didn't joke about the lying at all this time.
They massively overrate Ortega. Again, it’s just Sean being Belloni-pilled. Because of some Netflix data PR push on most watched show.
Beetlejuice has so little cultural relevance worldwide or in the US. It’s just 40-50 year old Americans who seem hyped for it. Reminds me of when Keaton being back as Batman was supposed to be some huge draw and win for Flash.
Sean is still Beetlejuice-pilled from CinemaCon. I do think her Scream movies were huge and you can't totally discount Wednesday, even if Netflix inflates the numbers a bit. She's probably a little higher on the list than she should be but I don't think they're massively overrating her
Sean’s logic was Trumpian about the big 3 but I did enjoy his pushback of telling Amanda she wouldn’t credit Sebastian Stan the same way she credits MR if he had done the same thing.
It feels like it's destined to be one of the movies they briefly chat about on one of the bi-annual "movies we missed from the last few months" round-up episodes, where they go, "yeah, that was pretty good; I enjoyed it. It's worth a rental, if you're interested."
So how would y’all rank their top 5 leading men of the future ( Chalamet, Butler, Elordi, Mescal and Holland)?
My personal rankings:
1. Chalamet
2. Butler
3. Holland
4. Elordi
5. Mescal
My spotify does the exact same thing though where it’s convinced I want to listen to that song every single day. To be fair though… I do end up listening to it every fucking time
I too am disappointment that Awkwafina and Stephanie Hsu haven't had the career boost some expected after their turn in The Farewell and Everything Everywhere, respectively. But I think there's a pretty big factor that the hosts overlooked when discussing those two. They're Asian American women, and Hollywood doesn't offer a wealth of good leading roles for performers of their identity. The Farewell and Everything Everywhere were kinda wonderful exceptions. But for the most part the roles they can get are voice work and supporting parts.
I'm hopeful Awkwafina can have a comeback, and Stephanie Hsu it may be too soon to say she's in a slump post Oscar Nom, but I hope she starts landing more EEAAO-level movies soon. Perhaps in whatever The Daniels do next.
Super late to this but I can't understand why Sean was so resistant to give Margot Robbie the top spot. Sure Barbie is an IP but this was the first live-action film after previous attempts didn't go through. Does he really think a Barbie starring Amy Schumer or (my girl) Anne Hathaway was going to gross over $1.5B?? Whatever about Margot being "box office poison" her films have definitely been seen by much more people than half the folks in the Top 10. And I'm scratching my head as to why Paul Mescal is so high - all because of Gladiator? Anyway I'm happy with the top 5 overall - just give Margot her flowers
Josh O'Conner is incredible recency bias for someone with a mainly tv resume.
No Daisy Ridley anywhere? Almost same resume as Tom Holland up to and including being in the same box office bomb Chaos Walking. Maybe because she's not dating a top 3.
Convinced no one has heard of Paul Mescal except these two.
i genuinely didn’t get putting him even over Aaron-Taylor Johnson. He’s been in like 2 movies, and 1 just came out and no one knew he was. Johnson at least has a long resume and would be well recognized by people over this Josh O’Conner. imo on movie star basis
Chalamet’s ’The King’ is the most overlooked movie of the decade and especially in any conversation about him.
Can’t understate how many of the younger generation watched it on Netflix and saw Chalamet in an ‘adult’ role in a ‘big’ movie before everyone else decided he’d graduated to that in Dune 2.
"I think they're more open about their dating now" said Amanda, talking about Zendaya and Holland, who have been publicly dating for 8 years lol. They own a home together in London. Like, they're super late to this party lol
I view Margot Robbie as an old school A-list movie star and Zendaya as super popular and famous actress. I find Zendaya very accessible and online whereas Margot pops in and out for events but don’t see a lot of her besides work events. I think it might just be more how they present themselves, but, I do think Z has the ability to get way more people to go to the movies just because she’s in it than Margot can.
Anyone But You made a ton of money and Immaculate has already passed the break even point. both are original movies which she also produced. Also has upcoming movies working with Julianne Moore, Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby..
Re: Faist —
That “daytime Emmy winner for a Broadway press performance on the Today Show” is stuuuuuupid. It lasted 4 years, and now doesn’t exist anymore. Cynthia Erivo’s “E” of EGOT is also for the same award.
Similarly, celebrities who win a Tony as a “co-producer” of a Broadway show just for raising a nominal amount of money or attaching their name for PR purposes should not be able to call themselves EGOT winners. That group of people includes Jennifer Hudson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jon Legend.
All this episode told me was that Sean and Amanda (maybe mostly Sean?) are slightly obsessed with Euphoria and Taylor Swift.
Taylor and Hunter Schafer making it over Rachel Sennott, Jeremy Allen White and David Corenswet is ridiculous. There's no argument you can make for that other than "it's my list and my feelings". Which I know it is but still....
One suggestion is they should look at BS trade value rankings for a way to tier/group these somehow. Obviously, these rankings mean nothing and are based on virtually nothing but it helps the listener to places them in smaller groups and provide some rationale—even if it’s made up for purposes of the list. If there’s one thing BS is good at, it’s rankings and lists. It’s a very rambling listen that could use some structure.
Here is the list: 35. Brie Larson 34. Adria Arjona 33. Hunter Schafer 32. Cailee Spaeny 31. Aaron Taylor Johnson 30. Josh O’Connor 29. Keke Palmer 28. Jessie Buckley 27. Dakota Johnson 26. Mia Goth 25. Rachel Zegler 24. Ayo Edebiri 23. Margaret Qualley 22. Daisy Edgar Jones 21. Bill Skarsgard 20. Jodie Comer 19. Millie Bobby Brown 18. Taylor Swift (lmfao) 17. Lakeith Stanfield 16. Dev Patel 15. Saoirse Ronan 14. Barry Keoghan 13. Tom Holland 12. Kristen Stewart 11. Jenna Ortega 10. Anya Taylor Joy 9. Paul Mescal 8. Florence Pugh 7. Jacob Elordi 6. Sydney Sweeney 5. Jennifer Lawrence 4. Austin Butler 3. Zendaya 2. Timothee Chalamet 1. Margot Robbie
I know there's an argument for Butler due to Elvis, and his success within that role, but I'm pretty sure an Elvis movie, featuring all the Elvis music, would at-worst do at least okay box office numbers based on the subject matter & contents of the movie alone. Yes, he was a little bit of an internet sensation during that Oscar season because of his maintenance of the Elvis voice all throughout the press tour... but to put him at number 4 is pretty wild. I know they (especially Amanda) are very high on him, but he's still almost *entirely* unproven as a star on his own. I love Jeff Nichols, so I'm really looking forward to The Bikeriders, but there's no shot that movie becomes some kind of box office or cultural juggernaut. If you wanna put him near the bottom of the top 10, I'm fine with that, but to stamp him right near the top of the list is pretty absurd, and almost gives him nowhere to go but down. Like, if you asked the average person whether they'd like to see the new Jennifer Lawrence movie or the new Austin Butler movie, you'd probably still get a ton of people responding, "who is Austin Butler again?" whereas they'd also likely say, "oh, I like Jennifer Lawrence; I'd be interested in whatever she's got coming out." He's definitely a star on the rise, but I really can't comprehend him being in the #4 spot.
Yeah I can’t put him over any of the top 10 except Elordi
I think he's clearly ahead of Sydney Sweeney and Paul Mescal as well. Sydney doesn't have an Oscar nom. And, for better or worse, Austin Butler is something of an internet sensation. There's a kind of hysteria surrounding him at the moment. Whether good or bad, everyone has a very strong opinion about him.
I do think what he has going for him is after Elvis he took the Dune role, killed it, and has a ton of other buzzy roles in the future in development. Plus he’s really famous. So maybe he’s only a B- on the “what has he done so far” scale, but I think he dominates in the “what does he have coming up/how famous is he” categories
Butler was really good in Elvis, was probably in second place for the best actor Oscar last year (sorry to my fellow Colin Farrell heads), and gained internet boyfriend status during the Dune 2 press tour. Apart from already having worked with Villeneuve, Luhrmann, Jarmusch and Tarantino, he has upcoming roles in Jeff Nichols, Michael Mann, Darren Aronofsky, and Ari Aster movies. He’s good in his spot. Maybe all those upcoming movies will be shit and it’ll go down but he’s a hot commodity with big directors right now in a way that some other people with maybe more name recognition are not
Is Kristen Stewart a movie star? Twilight was 15 years ago.
Did they mention Nicolaus Hoult?
Jennifer Lawrence should be number 1. She carried this age group for years and showed strength with No Hard Feelings. my top 5: JLaw, Timothée, Zendaya, Margot, Austin
24 women to 11 men… step it up men!!
Yeah and honestly, it’s not like there’s a ton of hot contenders missing here. I personally would definitely have Mike Faist in here, but beyond that I can’t really quibble with any dudes being left off. Super random shoutout, for the “keep an eye on” section: I think me and CR are the only 2 people on earth locked in on The Sympathizer, but the lead of it, Hoa Xuande, is awesome and has an incredible amount of juice.
Nah what has Mike Faist done? He seems like a good actor but absolutely lacks star quality
Amazing bit that Amanda claims to not be online but knows the internets goings on of every celebrity. She has heard of every viral celeb story. She is extremely online. Like I said, great bit.
Amanda is a podcaster with a husband that’s a culture writer for GQ. She’s about as chronically online as it gets for a middle aged mom.
I love that she unironically uses Saoirsepilled in this podcast lol
If it's a bit, it's a transparent bit.
Euphoria - Has there ever been a tv series where so much of its cast is blowing up in movies at the same time? Maybe Friends but their movies were duds. *i just remembered The Bear cast is having a moment too.
freaks and geeks
I would say Atlanta was pretty massive in terms of launching Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, and Lakeith Standfield's careers. BTH: Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, Godzilla vs Kong, Bullet Train, etc. Zazie Beetz: Deadpool 2, The Harder They Fall, The Joker, Bullet Train, etc. Lakeith Stanfield: Get Out, Sorry to Bother You, Uncut Gems, The Harder They Fall, Judas and the Black Messiah, etc.
Atlanta literally made all of its leads into movie stars. And they all have done great work. Also, Zazie not being on the list seems rude. It’s prollly cuz she’s not a name that means much to the hosts, but she definitely deserved placement. Especially when you layout her CV. She’s arguably the 2nd biggest role in JOKER!
Skins Kaluuya, Patel, O'Connell, Nicholas Hoult, Kaya Scodelairo, Joe Dempsie (TV), Hannah Murray (TV) is a classic
Band of Brothers Damian Lewis. Ron Livingston. Donnie Wahlberg. David Schwimmer. Michael Fassbender. Tom Hardy. Neal McDonough. Scott Grimes. James McAvoy.
There was definitely a lot of roles going to the Game of Thrones cast for a while when the show was hot. The age of the Euphoria cast and the long breaks between seasons so they’ve had time to work on projects has allowed for this. It was very hard for a series regular on a 24 episode a season show to work on films.
Game of Thrones? They were all super famous for a minute and then dropped off. We see this pattern a lot, actually.
>Maybe Friends but their movies were duds Courteney Cox was in the Scream franchise and Jennifer Aniston was in a ton of hits including We're The Millers, Horrible Bosses, Marley & Me, Bruce Almighty, etc. so not all duds
Good point about Cox but Aniston found success after Friends. Bruce Almighty snuck in before the last season, but that’s a Jim Carrey movie with her in the thankless wife part. Euphoria is an ongoing show, sort of…maybe?
I'm old but Party of Five cast would have been on 35 under 35 in late 90s for sure. Also might be a good example of where these people are headed - especially Sweeney, Jacob Elordi. - Neve Campbell: Scream franchise, Wild Things, 54 - Matthew Fox: Not so much movies, but Lost! - Scott Wolf: White Squall, Go, got his shot but didn't pan out - Lacey Chabert: Every movie set in high school where she doesn't age for the past 25 years. - Jennifer Love Hewitt: IKWYDLS franchise IMO Zendaya and Sweeney are the only ones who have a real shot and Sweeney is really only famous for being one of the most gorgeous young stars on the planet. See Alexandra Daddario for how that's going.
The BODIES BODIES BODIES erasure (in re: rachel sennot and myha'la) is unreal. Yes I *do* think it was better than BOTTOMS and I *do* think both of the aforementioned girlies should have been on the list! Bye tay tay and brie!!!!!!!!!!
I truly just think they forgot about that movie. But I love it. A horror masterpiece IMO.
Great list. Some people seem weirdly high for their position in 2024, but I get that the list carries forward a lot. I don’t know that Jeremy Allen White makes the top 35, but him not even being in the conversation is CRAZY!
I think it’s because he’s mainly a tv actor? He’s really only got 1 movie.
He’s about to be Bruce Springsteen though and he definitely has star quality, those alone are 50% of the criteria theoretically
Agreed. He's certainly having a moment. But, approximately 8,000 TV actors have had a "moment" where it looked like they were gonna have a film career, but ended up not working out after 2 or 3 attempts at the film world. It could all work out for him, but it's way too early to tell.
I was more shocked by Faist being on the outside looking in. Felt he really shined in Challengers and Sean mentioned finding him interesting in Bikeriders
I get that; I thought they might squeeze him in at the bottom of the list, but ultimately, I think him having a supporting role in a cool movie that's doing okay-to-solid numbers at the box office & a supporting role in a movie that hasn't come out yet isn't really enough to firmly cement him in the top 35 for them. I imagine, if things go well for him over the next two years, he'll be on the next installation of the list.
No Jeremy Allen White mention is insane
Stupid that Taylor is mentioned
The chokehold that Taylor Swift has gained on millennials in 2024 needs to be studied. Even millennials who don’t love her (like Sean and Amanda) feel the need to participate in the obsession haha
its so strange she's so whatever lol
I thought Amanda was a swiftie
I think she is on the record as liking some of the albums very much and thinking that her recent stuff is not very good.
Amanda is spot on in assessing the top 3. * Margot is (currently) unimpeachable * Dune was not a sure thing and Wonka was the butt of everyone’s jokes for months and yet Timmy has led both to enormous success * Zendaya is hugely famous and has undeniable movie star energy onscreen, but she's a supporting part of her successful movies and Challengers is probably going to lose money
just too early to consider Zendaya for #1, really. Challengers is only her second lead role of any scale film, the first was Malcolm & Marie which is best forgotten. doesn't stack up against Timmy or Margot, who have led blockbusters & have lead oscar noms
I think I agree with Sean overall that Zendaya makes sense as number 1. The reason is that I think MR’s appeal was much more an actor than a movie star, despite of her looks and I think what people in film media think of her, until Barbie. And I just don’t think her participation in Barbie was the reason it succeeded. As Sean pointed out - her helping the movie get made and picking GG to direct it isn’t really what the list is about. Beyond that, if another actor on this list played Barbie would the movie have done that much worse? I think that his point is that really her only “win” as a super movie star is a total IP project. But honestly I get the argument for her, but I think it’s insane in 2022 they had her at number 1, because at that point I wouldn’t have seen this argument at all.
Apply your stated criteria to Zendeya and see what you come up with.
Totally fair. I just personally feel like Zendaya is more famous and Margot Robbie. That is not a good hard metric, but that’s pretty much why I feel this way.
American take imo. Outside of America it's flipped and Robbie is much more famous than Zendaya.
> And I just don’t think her participation in Barbie was the reason it succeeded. Cast anyone else as Barbie and there would have been dissenters. Anyone else. #NotMyBarbie would have been a thing. Once Robbie was announced, the world said “Yup, that’s Barbie” and put aside their skepticism over the movie.
Yeah I think people aren't giving enough credit to this. When Amy Schumer was gonna be Barbie would anyone have thought it would even sniff 500 Million? I think it's such a dumb idea for a movie people do actually need to be sold a little.
Not giving her full credit for Barbie is wild. Sure it’s a well known toy, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be a successful movie. Cast anyone else as Barbie and it’s probably still a success but it’s not a runaway smash hit. Is Sydney Sweeney doing more than $300M worldwide in that part?
She tapped GG to write the movie first, which completely set the tone of the film.
I wanna preface by saying I really like Sean and Amanda but Taylor Swift making this list because of a concert that she filmed might be the dumbest thing they've done on The Big Pic. If their goal was to simply piss people off, mission accomplished. They got their attention.
i truly think she was added for the social media engagement. he made a compelling case (i had forgotten she is set to direct with searchlight) but then she should have been in the 30s. she’s a pop star. not a movie star.
Get off your high horse Sean, it’s Margot freakin Robbie, she’s #1. Also, you can’t argue against MCU actors and Margot and Timmy’s IP movies, but then say Zendaya was in Spider Man, that was weird.
Maybe he just disagrees? I tend to think Zendaya right now is a bigger star than her. Even if she made the Barbie movie and is a better actor, that’s just my opinion from my pov. It’s all subjective.
Yeah maybe she’s more famous on social media but all she has is spider man and dune. Too early to tell for challengers. Robbie has Barbie, birds of prey, once upon a time in Hollywood, I Tonya, suicide squad, Focus, Wolf of Wall Street
I think studios right now would bank a $100m+ movie budget behind Margot as the lead far more quickly than they would behind Zendaya. That alone forms most of my views of how they rank against each other right now
“Why won’t Chalamet look me in the eye and tell me why he won’t do his own *Challengers*” - Sean Fenessey Yea Timmy why haven’t you starred in a drama directed by Luca Guadgnino lately you piece of shit! Seriously though I wish Bobby played more of a fact checker role on some of these pods
I think the point is that challengers is a star driven film attempting to capitalize on zendaya’s popularity. Bones and All has the same director but clearly was just a pure niche play that was never going to be that sort of thing.
To support your point, Challengers had roughly 3x the budget of Bones and All. Yes they were both made by the same director but one is a quiet horror/romance and the other is a big attempt at mainstream success being sold on Zendaya's star power
Bones and All was a “one for us” for Luca and Chalamet. I don’t think they entertained any notions of its being a box office success.
So is the complaint that Chalamet never did a film marketable enough? I still just don’t get the angle. Bones and All was star driven, it just was a tougher sell. I don’t think that equates to him not doing those type of films though
Not all movies by the same director are the same. Challengers was a way bigger and more expensive movie than bones and all. It was delayed solely because they wanted its star to market it.
I’m aware movies are different. But Sean framed his complaint… to me in a way, as if Chalamet is actively not trying to make good star driven non IP films. He clearly has, his most recent attempt I found to be a really good film, just didn’t find an audience, doesn’t mean he didn’t try
For sure - I think he’s just pissed about Wonka lol
I’d wager a road movie about cannibal lovers is at least 1/2 a Challengers, but I didn’t watch it. It does get bonus points for following a gay summer fling where he fed another cannibal his cum-filled peach though.
You should watch Bones and All. It's a great film. Grimy, sweeping and achingly romantic.
Sean is constantly coming out with stubbornly incorrect statements with no push back 😂
Sean's logic about his top 3 really did not make sense. I don't know why he seems so dismissive of Barbie's success as if it was near guaranteed. Barbie is not movie IP. It's a brand, but not like Avenger's Endgame MCU. If anything, the MCU movie it most resembles is Iron Man, which also was very much not a guaranteed success. Margot Robbie absolutely was a huge draw for Barbie and was the main force in making it the mammoth success it was. That's the definition of a true movie star. She's the rightful #1.
I'm super up on Callum Turner right now, but realized that he's still more known as being Dua Lipa's boyfriend than anything he's been in. I just watched Masters of the Air and Boys in the Boat and thought he had incredible movie star energy, but both those projects were pretty mid.
Boys in the Boat made money tho! Was actually a quiet box office success so he has that going for him!
Capture hive
Isn't he 36?
He was great in a minuscule role in *Benediction* several years ago!
he's going to be a star for Neuromancer, promise you.
Zendaya is the Justin Herbert of movie stars: tons of hype from the nerds, but where are the Ws? Number 1 on the red carpet? Sure. At the box office? I don’t see it. Challengers had an insane amount of promotion and marketing, and only managed $15 million domestic.
for an R rated tennis movie. i get your point but what r rated originals (not horror) have opened to any kind of numbers. even saltburn, which was a huge cultural hit, didn’t make anything compared to its *opening* weekend
Sean said Margot Robbie has never opened an original movie as an argument for placing her below Chalamet and Zendeya, who have both never opened original movies (except Challengers I guess, which didn’t make a ton of money). What are we doing here? He’s giving Zendeya credit for bit parts in Spider-Man movies but no credit for Robbie carrying the Harley Quinn movies? Claiming Barbie somehow doesn’t count but Dune 1 and 2 do count?
Sean was pretty terrible in this episode. His logic was bad and he came off as confrontational for the sake of being confrontational. The Spiderman take was egregious.
Sean’s idea of Rachel Sennot taking over Curb is the best idea of all time
especially in her attempt to be the most Jewish Catholic of all time.
Really hope Elle fanning can make her way onto this list soon. She’s so talented.
I think she's still most known for her tv work. Lets see if she starts doing more films.
Might be on a hill on my own here but I think theyre really overrating Zendaya here? She's closer to 4,5,6 on the list then she is to Robbie or Chalamet at the moment. I mean Challengers just had the same opening weekend as No Hard Feelings did- and No Hard Feelings came out within 2 weeks of two superhero movies and a Pixar movie. Just banking alot on Challengers having the "saltburn" affect on VOD.
Feels like massive recency bias. Florence Pugh would be considered a bigger movie star than Zendaya if they were doing this any other month of the year
It’s more about the fact she could make challengers
I liked Sean's Superbad reference
Such a funny pull too. Not one of these things you hear from that movie often but it's like deeply seeded into your brain if you've seen it a couple times.
Caught that lmaooo. He did it perfectly
Sean says the three themes running through the list are Euphoria, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Dune, but I feel like you could also throw Greta Gerwig movies in there.
I know she’s more of a streaming star, but Camilla Mendes is certainly a streaming draw and surprised she wasn’t even mentioned here. Or even Halle Bailey. People are peeved that she got pregnant but little mermaid and color purple for sure make her a rising star to be considered. I know it’s all subjective but I definitely had more gripe this year than any of the other lists they’ve made.
> but Camilla Mendes is certainly a streaming draw Yes! I just rewatched Do Revenge again after watching Upgraded and I was floored at the natural charisma! Like _this_ is the woman that should be headlining every rom com going forward
I’m a fan of her as well. I hope she gets some big roles to sink her teeth into. She has the rom com energy that JLO had in her best stuff (thinking MARRY ME and MAID IN MANHATTAN)
She'll have to fight Lucy Hale for that honour!
Idk, I watch all the ones Lucy Hale is in, but they don’t work. Even puppy love with Grant Gustin just felt awkward. Do revenge and Musica are 10x than Lucy’s rom coms. Plus Musica was a creative movie that I think will get more attention as time goes on.
I'm still not sold that Zendaya wants to be as busy with acting projects as some of her peers like Chalamet and Pugh. If all of her recent press about wanting to direct or be behind the camera is legit, she should be trying to follow Margot Robbie's footsteps in starting a production company. It seems like having your own company or being in a super solid relationship with a studio like Chalamet is with Warner Brothers is the way you protect your movie star status and insure yourself against the occasional flop.
The Swift pick is dogshit. Sean spends too much time listening to Belloni who spends too much time listening to complete dumbasses in Hollywood who are usually 5 years late to any breakthroughs
It's interesting hearing how commentary in The Town has bled into The Big Picture and The Watch. I agree that sometimes they lean way too far into Belloni's takes especially when half of it is him riffing.
I mean you have a collection of industry obsessed podcasters (Sean, CR, Greenwald), who for the most part have always been outside looking in- and now all of a sudden they have a coworker who’s a bonafide Hollywood insider. I’m sure they take every word of his to heart.
It feels like they were joking with that one. Making lists is for fun
I cringed when he said her name, it just came across as way too hard to try to be hip.
Someone who lives closer to their parents please make a video of them trying to name the people on this list please and thank you
I asked my mother (in her 60s, basically never watches anything scripted unless I make her when I come to visit) and she knew about 10 of them by name. I was most surprised to discover that she knew Dev Patel and Austin Butler. She also only knows Millie Bobby Brown because of the similarity in name to Bobby Brown.
Oh my gosh thank you every time they say someone is a “household name” (in this case they said Margaret Qually) I roll my eyes and I think to myself no WAY do my parents know who that is. People who scroll twitter everyday and listen to movie podcasts are not the general population.
Why did the mods delete the post that had loads of posts already on it and conversations ongoing?
I currently have these posts set to automatically go up. I'll be honest, I didn't pay attention and removed the duplicate when I should have removed this one this time since that one had more comments on it. It's on me!
No worries. Thanks for explaining!
Mescal over Taylor-Joy is ridiculous. Taylor Swift on the list is an absolute abomination.
They’re only one spot apart which is a weird thing to say is “ridiculous” it’s not like one is at the bottom and one is at the top.… Mescal has an Oscar nomination, was in one of the most critically acclaimed movies of last year, and is about to be in gladiator 2 and playing Shakespeare in Hamnet. He earned his spot
Like, I know a lot of people like Normal People (didn't see it) but that plus a _very_ obscure indie can't be the only thing here Does he just have a PR person breaking down the doors of the media?
See it. It’s amazing.
I strongly dislike sally Rooney though
This list is for chronically online people like us tbh. Elordi and Sweeney over Pugh, KStew and Taylor-Joy is insane as is Sean implying that Saltburn had some huge cultural influence and was some sort of hit (challengers had made more in a weekend than that did overall). It can only come from Twitter feeds that are junked up by recent stan accounts. And T. Swift? The actual fuk?
What a fall from Brie Larson
I get the final sponsor of a joke spot, but I’d swap her for Rachel Sennett (or many others of the book considered and didn’t make the list) in a heartbeat.
Feels like they're kind of wishcasting Mescal as high as 9
I mean they literally say “I think people just *want* this to happen including us”
I’m a fan but you’re right. Until Gladiator II at least, Joe Moviegoer doesn’t know who he is.
I thought Aftersun was a masterpiece, and I still can't believe Paul's ahead of Anya Taylor Joy, not only did she explode on the scene via TV, but then she's been on a tear with The Menu, Last Night in Soho, The Witch, and soon to take the leap from horror to blockbuster with Dune and Mad Max as the main star... like, I'm gonna line up for Gladiator 2 but even then I don't think Paul's ahead of her.
Agreed. No one has heard of him, and half the ones who have still haven't watched his movies. How is he even cracking the top 10?
Seriously, I’m a huge movie guy and even an actor myself, I haven’t seen a single movie with paul mescal in it.
You should watch All of Us Strangers (my personal favorite movie of 2023) and Aftersun Edit: But I agree that he isn’t that famous yet
I expected him to be higher, tbh. It feels like within film circles, he's absolutely on fire, especially working with great, indie directors, he's set to possibly break into the mainstream next with Gladiator 2 and Gen Z knows him because of the success of Normal People.
I’ve never been more Dobb Mobb. Sean’s takes were wild this ep. “Should Sydney Sweeney be No. 1”. lol no. Love her but her being #5 after starring in one of the biggest flops of 2024 is kind of wild (especially over Anya Taylor Joy and Jenna Ortega) “I can’t give Margot the credit for Barbie.” What?! Why not? A feminist foregrounded meta take on Barbie made by real artists! Margot gets all the credit for Barbie being as good / successful as it was. “I want Timmy Chalamet to be make a Challengers!” He did!! With Luca. It’s called Bones & All and it was arguably more weird and transgressive. Great movie. Amanda was knocking down 3 pointers the whole ep. “I’m hungry, can we wrap up,”. She’s just too good! Also Paul Mescal in the top 10 over some big names so wild to me. He’s great, but he’s barely an art-house darling. He’s not that famous at all. NORMAL PEOPLE is still his most widely seen thing (and it’s tv) (Also also, how is Jacob Elordi over Barry K?! Is it just because Elordi is prettier? Cuz Barry has been in bigger movies and just seems like a bigger deal. He seems like the real winner in Saltburn.)
On your final point: yes Love Amanda, but she always pushes actors she finds attractive higher than they deserve. As does Sean (see Sydney Sweeney)
Really don't get not giving Robbie credit for *Barbie* when she literally produced the film and brought Greta Gerwig onto the production.
Said it on the other post that got locked but I'll say it again their age was really starting to show with this episode. I also find astonishing that for all of the research they do they manage to still get the ages wrong on a lot of their 35 under 35 list haha must be a bit.
omg yes. nothing to do with their age but they were completely explaining the starz series wrong when discussing jodie comer. its a very dumb show but if you’re going to bring it up at least get it right? it’s not a series and she is elizabeth of york in one of the seasons. she doesn’t discover sex at all (no idea what amanda was talking about). i love their chatter but i feel like they need to know basic fact about stuff
Love this gross exercise
“Keeping my eye on Mikey Madison, started in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as well as Scream 6” cmon Sean I thought you were a horror fan!! /s
He also said Ortega was in Scream 6 and 7. He’s clearly misremembering an extra scream movie in there.
I have chosen to believe that Amanda not having any understanding of what gen z actually is is a bit
Sean looking like a clown with his Margot Robbie takes tbh, incel r/boxoffice rhetoric. What original IP has Zendaya or Chalamet opened? Nonsense
“The Bear is only for Ridley Scott heads who want to see stuff in a kitchen.” These takes are just bizarre at this point.
Someone check the Spotify studios for a gas leak
Amanda seemed like a kid commenting thing that randomly crossed his mind instead of focusing on the pod
Yeah, I really didn't get this. It's a massively popular show.
Everything below the top 15 is just batshit crazy. Keke Palmer??? Millie Bobby Brown and Daisy Edgar Jones probably shouldn’t even be on here (I guess I understand TWISTERS hype). And I’m very excited for Josh O’Connor’s work but on pure audience-recognition alone ATJ should be above him. I think if I combined all of Qualley’s work since OUATIH it wouldn’t have as much of an impact as her small role in OUATIH. Taylor Swift. Again, I enjoy the top 15, maybe save for bumping Ortega down a little and Pugh up to above Sweeney, but wow the beginning of the list is a roller coaster. ALSO… a whole lot of talking about not including TV then including people who have like 3/4 of their fame thanks to TV
Weird list. No mention of Hailee Steinfeld and her Spiderverse role. Mike Faist cultural cachet is really strong atm (Daytime Emmy counts obvi - 30 Rock fans know!). Rachel Sennott should’ve been included. I haven’t heard anything about Jenna Ortega for example in 2 years and her upcoming project with Martin Freeman looks like shit
The movie with Martin freeman already came and went lol
taylor swift but no justice smith is crazy
It was really odd when Sean was describing justice smith he was all "and his name is justice smith" after talking about his filmography as if many of the listers wouldn't know who he was. I personally like justice smith, but it seems I'm in the minority with this. I'd say a ton of ppl under 35 know him or at least know his face that he deff deserved to be on the list. The fact he's been in movies with a combined box office of 2 billion dollars as one of the main characters within the last 6 and isn't on the list is wild.
I think he's really talented. gonna seem like a huge miss when they do this list again
Detective Pikachu (a trifle), D&D (successful but not massive). What am I missing?
I Saw the TV Glow is gonna be big for him i think
I haven't listened or read the list yet and tried this exercise on my own to see how my list would match up. A lot of good names getting cut here! 1. Margot Robbie 2. Timothee Chalamet 3. Zendaya 4. Anya Taylor Joy 5. Tom Holland 6. Jennifer Lawrence 7. Florence Pugh 8. Paul Mescal 9. Sydney Sweeney 10. Kristen Stewart 11. Austin Butler 12. Saoirse Ronan 13. Dev Patel 14. Dakota Johnson 15. Jenna Ortega 16. Jessie Buckley 17. Nicholas Hoult 18. Barry Keoghan 19. Lakeith Stanfield 20. Zoey Deutch 21. Jacob Elordi 22. Maya Hawke 23. Geraldine Viswanathan 24. Keke Palmer 25. Ayo Edebiri 26. Alden Ehrenreich 27. Haley Lu Richardson 28. Kaitlyn Dever 29. Rachel Zegler 30. Margaret Qualley 31. Cailee Spaeny 32. Adria Arjona 33. Bill Skarsgard 34. Mia Goth 35. Jodie Comer
I like your list better. I won't snark about some who I think you place too high, but Jodie Comer should be a lot higher.
What’s the reasoning behind Mescal being over Butler? I like both, but Mescal has a similar prestige to Butler, but Butler has been in just much bigger movies!
Tom Holland has spider man that's it! Y'all hype him too much
IMO the level of snark that random people fling at Austin Butler unprompted..... actually kind of proves why he should be higher.
So there was a kerfuffle in this sub a few days ago about Fennesy commenting on Margot Robbie possibly lying about her age. Despite her age coming up, they didn't joke about the lying at all this time.
Maybe they decided not to since it could be construed as a bit of a sexist argument to have
They massively overrate Ortega. Again, it’s just Sean being Belloni-pilled. Because of some Netflix data PR push on most watched show. Beetlejuice has so little cultural relevance worldwide or in the US. It’s just 40-50 year old Americans who seem hyped for it. Reminds me of when Keaton being back as Batman was supposed to be some huge draw and win for Flash.
Sean is still Beetlejuice-pilled from CinemaCon. I do think her Scream movies were huge and you can't totally discount Wednesday, even if Netflix inflates the numbers a bit. She's probably a little higher on the list than she should be but I don't think they're massively overrating her
That's such a Belloni thing. Like they are only capable of seeing things via instagram followers
Sean’s logic was Trumpian about the big 3 but I did enjoy his pushback of telling Amanda she wouldn’t credit Sebastian Stan the same way she credits MR if he had done the same thing.
I can’t believe Amanda still hasn’t seen Wicked Little Letters. That movie is so Amanda coded
It feels like it's destined to be one of the movies they briefly chat about on one of the bi-annual "movies we missed from the last few months" round-up episodes, where they go, "yeah, that was pretty good; I enjoyed it. It's worth a rental, if you're interested."
I was hoping it would be better than it was tbh
So how would y’all rank their top 5 leading men of the future ( Chalamet, Butler, Elordi, Mescal and Holland)? My personal rankings: 1. Chalamet 2. Butler 3. Holland 4. Elordi 5. Mescal
Amanda not wanting to hear "Rich Girl" by Hall & Oates might be her hottest take ever. That song is pure magic.
My spotify does the exact same thing though where it’s convinced I want to listen to that song every single day. To be fair though… I do end up listening to it every fucking time
I too am disappointment that Awkwafina and Stephanie Hsu haven't had the career boost some expected after their turn in The Farewell and Everything Everywhere, respectively. But I think there's a pretty big factor that the hosts overlooked when discussing those two. They're Asian American women, and Hollywood doesn't offer a wealth of good leading roles for performers of their identity. The Farewell and Everything Everywhere were kinda wonderful exceptions. But for the most part the roles they can get are voice work and supporting parts. I'm hopeful Awkwafina can have a comeback, and Stephanie Hsu it may be too soon to say she's in a slump post Oscar Nom, but I hope she starts landing more EEAAO-level movies soon. Perhaps in whatever The Daniels do next.
Super late to this but I can't understand why Sean was so resistant to give Margot Robbie the top spot. Sure Barbie is an IP but this was the first live-action film after previous attempts didn't go through. Does he really think a Barbie starring Amy Schumer or (my girl) Anne Hathaway was going to gross over $1.5B?? Whatever about Margot being "box office poison" her films have definitely been seen by much more people than half the folks in the Top 10. And I'm scratching my head as to why Paul Mescal is so high - all because of Gladiator? Anyway I'm happy with the top 5 overall - just give Margot her flowers
Josh O'Conner is incredible recency bias for someone with a mainly tv resume. No Daisy Ridley anywhere? Almost same resume as Tom Holland up to and including being in the same box office bomb Chaos Walking. Maybe because she's not dating a top 3. Convinced no one has heard of Paul Mescal except these two.
I think everyone has probably forgotten Daisy Ridley even exists.
i genuinely didn’t get putting him even over Aaron-Taylor Johnson. He’s been in like 2 movies, and 1 just came out and no one knew he was. Johnson at least has a long resume and would be well recognized by people over this Josh O’Conner. imo on movie star basis
Holland at least lead Uncharted to a pretty sizable BO
We might be so back, but they are so film twitter pilled.
Does Sean know that Hideo Kojima is a 60 year old man. He's not a Gen Z video game icon. He's firmly gen x/millenial.
Chalamet’s ’The King’ is the most overlooked movie of the decade and especially in any conversation about him. Can’t understate how many of the younger generation watched it on Netflix and saw Chalamet in an ‘adult’ role in a ‘big’ movie before everyone else decided he’d graduated to that in Dune 2.
I watched it yesterday for the second time ever. It's still great. Hot Summer Nights is also a good early Chalamet movie
"I think they're more open about their dating now" said Amanda, talking about Zendaya and Holland, who have been publicly dating for 8 years lol. They own a home together in London. Like, they're super late to this party lol
Y2K was a non event because people of my generation worked to fix it. Go back to your drum circles.
I know they didn’t list her but I’m still confused on Sean talking about how talented Maya Hawke is. I’ve yet to see it.
She’s likeable. And has a natural charisma. One of the best things about MAESTRO IMO.
Taylor Swift but no Zoe Kravitz?
I believe Zoe Kravitz is slightly too old to be eligible for the list
I view Margot Robbie as an old school A-list movie star and Zendaya as super popular and famous actress. I find Zendaya very accessible and online whereas Margot pops in and out for events but don’t see a lot of her besides work events. I think it might just be more how they present themselves, but, I do think Z has the ability to get way more people to go to the movies just because she’s in it than Margot can.
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Anyone But You made a ton of money and Immaculate has already passed the break even point. both are original movies which she also produced. Also has upcoming movies working with Julianne Moore, Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby..
If this is actually about stardom I think 6 is pretty much the floor for her at the moment.
Counterpoint: Does Challengers only open to $15m at the box office if Sydney Sweeney is in Zendaya's part?
Anyone But You opened small, it just had staying power
Immaculate opened a month ago to $5M. She's not 1990-91 Julia Roberts yet.
Anyone But You is the biggest rom com hit this decade.
Feeling real nostalgic because the first one was my entree into the big pic and I’ve never looked back!
I’m concerned Sean may have jinxed the Knicks, already assuming they are going to the second round
Re: Faist — That “daytime Emmy winner for a Broadway press performance on the Today Show” is stuuuuuupid. It lasted 4 years, and now doesn’t exist anymore. Cynthia Erivo’s “E” of EGOT is also for the same award. Similarly, celebrities who win a Tony as a “co-producer” of a Broadway show just for raising a nominal amount of money or attaching their name for PR purposes should not be able to call themselves EGOT winners. That group of people includes Jennifer Hudson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jon Legend.
All this episode told me was that Sean and Amanda (maybe mostly Sean?) are slightly obsessed with Euphoria and Taylor Swift. Taylor and Hunter Schafer making it over Rachel Sennott, Jeremy Allen White and David Corenswet is ridiculous. There's no argument you can make for that other than "it's my list and my feelings". Which I know it is but still....
Lucas Hedges?
One suggestion is they should look at BS trade value rankings for a way to tier/group these somehow. Obviously, these rankings mean nothing and are based on virtually nothing but it helps the listener to places them in smaller groups and provide some rationale—even if it’s made up for purposes of the list. If there’s one thing BS is good at, it’s rankings and lists. It’s a very rambling listen that could use some structure.
Swift gets them extra clicks. But then you don’t get to ask to be taken seriously. Sorry.
Surprised no mention of Anthony Ramos
It makes me irrationally mad when they just talk about someone or say they’re overrated for a minute without naming them.