Film and television thrive on renewal. New faces emerge, others establish themselves, and some go from being bets to becoming indispensable names in major productions. Between 2025 and 2026, four actresses stand out as central figures in this movement: Golshifteh Farahani, Emma Mackey, Ayo Edebiri, and Sophie Thatcher. Coming from different backgrounds, but all united by their willingness to take on intriguing projects.
Golshifteh Farahani: The Exiled Actress
Golshifteh Farahani is not a newcomer, but her name has gained prominence. The main reason is Hood Witch (Roqya, 2023), a film by Saïd Belktibia shown in prestigious circuits in France and other European countries. Farahani plays Nour, a single mother juggling smuggling and a healer app. The production is marked by narrow corridors, cameras close to faces, and cold lighting. There is no spectacularized violence, but sharp cuts that leave the feeling of a permanently cornered life.
There is a proximity to documentary aesthetics in Hood Witch. The camera close to faces in short sequence shots, reminiscent of Les Misérables (2019), by Ladj Ly, shot in Parisian working-class neighborhoods. The choice to portray closed spaces, narrow corridors, and poorly lit stairways brings the film closer to the noir tradition, where architecture imprisons, similar to the oppression used by Jean-Pierre Melville, where the city’s geometry becomes an extension of the threat.
Belktibia turns stairways and corridors into enemies as cruel as human figures. What could sound programmatic becomes a visceral experience because Farahani never lets us forget that, before the metaphor, there is a woman trying to pay bills, protect her daughter, survive.
Farahani had already worked with big names. In Paterson (2016), by Jim Jarmusch, she played Adam Driver’s partner in a delicate role. Before that, in Body of Lies (2008), she shared the screen with Leonardo DiCaprio under Ridley Scott’s direction, an experience that projected her internationally but distanced her from Iran, where she faced censorship and restrictions. This involuntary exile, after accepting international roles, changed the course of her career. Today, more than a victim of a system, she asserts herself as an interpreter who negotiates with cultures, languages, and production styles.
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Emma Mackey: Moving from Teen Phenomenon to Literary Drama
Emma Mackey could have been forever associated with Maeve from Sex Education (2019–2023). The character had charisma, and her looks drew comparisons to Margot Robbie, but the risk was obvious: getting stuck in teen roles.
The choice to play Emily Brontë in Emily (2022) changed the trajectory. Suddenly, Mackey showed she could carry a period drama, with measured gestures and an expression that conveyed pain and rebellion. This shift was no accident. Her work was praised and earned her awards at the British Independent Film Awards.
Now, with Hot Milk (2025), an adaptation of Deborah Levy’s book directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz — screenwriter of Ida (2013) — she throws herself into even more demanding territory. In the role of Sofia, a young woman accompanying her mother seeking medical treatment in Spain, Mackey faces themes like dependency, desire, and emancipation. The narrative calls for pauses, sidelong glances, unspoken insecurities. And she delivers.
She also appeared in Death on the Nile (2022), by Kenneth Branagh, displaying naturalness even in a production marked by a star-studded cast.
Her Franco-British origin makes it even easier: she moves well on European sets, masters languages, circulates between festivals and studio productions. This places her in a strategic position for the coming years: that of an actress who moves from the teen label to take on deeper, more realistic dramas.
Ayo Edebiri: The Precision of Humor and Drama
Ayo Edebiri is the contemporary example of multi-talented prowess. Before fame, she did stand-up and wrote scripts for animations like Big Mouth. This training in rhythm and comedic timing explains much of her current talent.
Success came with The Bear (2022–present), where she plays Sydney Adamu, a chef trying to maintain control while everything crumbles around her. It’s one of the most talked-about performances of recent years because it balances dry humor with vulnerability. The steady gaze in the face of chaos became her signature.
Her performance earned her a Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG Awards. Not satisfied, she directed the episode Napkins from the third season, nominated by the Directors Guild of America.
But limiting Edebiri to this role would be a mistake. She writes scripts, voices animations, directs episodes. In Inside Out 2 (2024), she lends her voice to the character Envy; in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), she gives rhythm to Glory.
Among the upcoming releases are Opus, an A24 thriller, and a project by Luca Guadagnino starring Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield. It’s a natural leap: from the intimate series to films that require dramatic sustain on a larger scale.
She doesn’t seem intimidated. Her advantage lies precisely in the variety of experiences. When she enters a thriller set or children’s films, she’ll bring along her screenwriter talent, director discipline, and comedian timing.
Fun fact: although she grew up in Boston, she is the daughter of Nigerian and Barbadian immigrants. This cultural heritage contributes to her range, whether in improv comedy or more intimate dramas.
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Sophie Thatcher: Youth Anchored in Horror and Science Fiction
Sophie Thatcher was born in Chicago and started in independent productions. Her first standout was Prospect (2018), a sci-fi film where she co-starred with Pedro Pascal. The low-budget feature was praised for its atmosphere and the strength of the lead duo.
Greater recognition came with Yellowjackets (2021–), which introduced Sophie Thatcher to a broader audience. As young Natalie, she translated the limits of survival dilemmas of a group in collapse, when you yourself are collapsing inside. The performance was praised for the realism of portraying a teenager who is vulnerable in ways that, while normal for a teenager, occur in an extreme situation.
Soon other invitations followed. She appeared in The Book of Boba Fett (2022), proving she could handle big-budget franchises. In The Boogeyman, (2023), a Stephen King adaptation, she sustained the horror atmosphere. Later, she starred in The Heretic (2024), from A24, and joins Companion(2025), a sci-fi thriller.
What stands out about Thatcher is her ability: managing to move between independent productions and popular sagas with talent beyond her years. She adjusts her style to each context, whether in psychological horror scenes or confrontations with digital creatures in special effects studios.
The future seems clear: Thatcher will be sought after by studios looking for young actresses to lead new franchises. The challenge will be balancing this movement with auteur projects, maintaining critical credibility.
Four Paths, One Scenario: Renewal
Between 2025 and 2026, following Farahani, Mackey, Edebiri, and Thatcher means tracking where film and television might be headed. They are thermometers of the future, and ignoring them would mean overlooking changes that have already begun.
Farahani shows how European cinema can be nourished by performances that sustain loaded silences. Mackey reveals the importance of transitioning from teen to dramatic without losing authenticity. Edebiri proves that multiple skills, from comedy to screenwriting, can combine into consistent performances. Thatcher embodies the hybrid profile, capable of leading both a psychological horror film and a sci-fi saga.
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