HOLLYWOOD, CA. — As the new year begins, a wave of upcoming movie releases showcases the hard work and rising stardom of Hollywood’s younger actors. With a blend of familiar and new faces in the industry, Hollywood is spotlighting its next generation. Among the teenage actors bound for unfailing success are Teen Vogue 2025 cover stars McKenna Grace, Mason Thames and Leah Java Jeffries.

McKenna Grace (19)

An American actress and singer who began her professional acting career at  5 years old. Starring in over 35 films, Grace is known for her versatility, “Hollywood’s go-to” for younger versions of characters, and is one of the most successful young actors of her generation.

Before turning 18, Grace had earned over 80 credits and received an Emmy nomination in 2021, starring as Esther Keye in Hulu’s The Housemaid’s Tale. Grace’s biggest roles include Ghostbusters: Afterlife as Phoebe Spengler, The Young as Faith Newman and Gifted as Mary Adler.

”I’m 14 years into being in the industry, and I still work just as hard as the day I got to LA,” Grace tells Teen Vogue interviewer.

With starring in 5 movies in 2025, including “Regretting You” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” Grace’s 2026 is looking even busier as she is set to appear in seven films such as “Scream 7” as Hannah, “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” as Maysilee Donner and the “Nowhere Game” as Carin.

Mason Thames (18)

An American actor who began acting at 11 and made his on-screen debut in the Apple TV+ series “For All Mankind” in 2019. Thames found a love for acting after appearing in the horror-thriller film “The Black Phone.”

At age 13, Thames began shooting the film, starring as Finny Blake alongside Ethan Hawke as “The Grabber.” The movie was released in 2022, and it was so highly rated that fans anticipated a sequel, which the producers made.

 “In this industry, you do have to grow up so fast. Things are moving a lot faster than they should. But at the same time, I’m so grateful for it,” Thames told a Seventeen magazine reporter.

The second Black Phone Movie was released last October, starring Thames, Ethan Hawke, Madeline McGraw, Ariana Rivas and Jeremy Javis. As Thames is increasingly rising in the Hollywood industry, starring in roles such as Hiccup Haddock in How To Train Your Dragon, Noah Reed in Monster Summer, Benji Nielsen in Incoming, and Miller Adams in Regretting You.

Leah Java Jeffries (16)

Leah Java Jeffries is an American actress best known for her role as Annabeth Chase in “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” starring alongside Walker Scobell. Before Jeffries began her acting career at just four years old, she was a children’s model for Carol’s Daughter. Jeffries’ first role was in “Empire” as Lola Lyon, after which she appeared in other films and shows.

 In 2022, she was cast as one of the main characters in Disney+’s Emmy-winning series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” for which Jeffries received back-to-back NAACP Image Awards for her performance of Annabeth Chase. Based on the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books, Chase is a young white girl with blonde hair and gray eyes. Jeffries received negative backlash for being cast for the role.

“I feel like if I’m getting hated on, that’s kind of good. Not everyone’s going to like you. It’s just going to be like that. Now, I’ll still love everyone, but not everyone is going to like me, and that’s okay,” Jeffries tells Teen Vogue interviewer.

Jeffries is focused on filming the third season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” and expanding her characters in the future.

Walker Scobell (17)

An American actor who rose to fame in Hollywood after playing the younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character in The Adam Project. After his breakout in 2022, Scobell began filming “Secret Headquarters” as Charlie Kincaid. Scobell’s most popular and biggest role is the main character, Percy Jackson, in the Disney+ series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”

The fantasy novel by Rick Riordan has seven books in total, with the first season of the show filming in June 2022 and releasing in Dec. 2023. As Scobell has been growing with the show for almost 4 years now, he also took a role in the movie “Looking through Water,” playing Kyle last year.

“Even if you are the best at something, you can always be better. The moment that you start to think you know everything is when you stop learning. I don’t know that much at all. I can learn from everybody,” Scobell tells “Behind the Blinds” interviewer when reflecting on Scobell’s personality versus his role as Percy Jackson.

Scobell and the cast of Percy Jackson are finishing filming the third season in British Columbia, Canada, where they are set to wrap in March.

Owen Cooper (16)

The youngest male to win a Primetime Emmy Award is an English actor known for his role in the mini-series “Adolescence.” Prior to the Netflix show, Cooper had no acting experience, as acting was a hobby for him, until he grew to fame for his performance as Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy accused of murder.

Last year, when Adolescence was released, Cooper also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Miller.

 “I think tonight proves if you listen, and you focus and you step outside of your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life,” Cooper says to the crowd at the 2025 Emmy’s Award Show after receiving an Emmy. “Anything can be possible. I was nothing three years ago, I’m here now.”

After wrapping Adolescence in October 2024, Cooper took on a small role in the BBC Three series called “The Film Club.” This year, Cooper is starring in the romance film “Wuthering Heights,” playing the younger version of Jacob Elordi’s character, Heathcliff.

Ariana Greenblatt (18)

American actress known for her breakout role on Disney Channel’s “Stuck in the Middle” as Daphne Diaz and for her appearances in bigger Hollywood films. The sitcom “Stuck in the Middle,” starring other public figures such as Jenna Ortega, Malachi Barton, Issac Presley, and Joshua Bassett, aired from 2016 to 2018.

Since then, Greenblatt has risen to success and fame and has begun her transition into bigger Hollywood films, starring in “Barbie,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “In the Heights,” “Borderlands,” “65” and many more.

 “I think a lot of the time, teenagers, especially teenage girls, are shown in such a false light on screen, or written by an older man,” Greenblatt tells Flaunt magazine, reflecting on “Barbie”, “you will never know what it’s like to be a teenage girl unless you were or are one. I would love to be the person to correctly represent teenage girls.”

As for Greenblatt’s 2026, she is confirmed to star in the upcoming film “Somedays,” alongside Billy Bob Thornton.