From actors to models and musicians: These are 25 Aussie stars of the future you need to know
These are the 25 Australian stars making their marks in front of thousands of fans on fashion catwalks, YouTube, silver screens, music stages and on sporting fields for the AFL, NRL and cricket.
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They are the 25 Australian stars you haven’t heard of – yet. Young Aussies making their marks on the sporting fields, catwalks, silver screens and music stages.
Among them is Beck Hume who made her international runway debut for Dior – one of the world’s most lauded fashion houses – aged just 18 in February this year. “I think that was definitely a defining moment for me,” she told News Corp Australia.
Turning his back on a legal career to chase his passion for acting shows the faith Sydney-born, LA-based rising star Alex Cubis has in his future.
After deferring his arts/law degree at Sydney University to film his debut TV role in Netflix series, Mako Mermaids, he returned to study to complete his qualifications and put his education first.
“The way the world is we don’t have to limit ourselves in one lane,” Cubis said.
LIV PARSONS
London has held a special place in the rising career trajectory of Sydney-raised model Liv Parsons. The 18-year-old is being touted as a future star of fashion, having walked exclusively for Burberry’s show at London Fashion Week in February, alongside Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Irina Shayk.
Parsons has also appeared on the runways for Elie Saab in Paris and Moncler in Milan, where she wore a eskimo-esque onesie. She is one of a string of rising Australian models to follow, who are sure to rule the catwalks – or virtual fashion weeks – of 2021 and beyond.
BECK HUME
You know you’re destined for big things when you make your international runway debut, aged 18, for one of the world’s most lauded fashion houses.
Australian model Beck Hume appeared on Dior’s runway in February at Paris Fashion Week, for the French fashion house’s landmark feminist-inspired collection held at Jardin des Tuileries.
“I’m crying because I just debuted for @dior,” Hume wrote on Instagram underneath a photo of her wearing a Maria Grazia Chiuri-designed grey power, suit complete with black neck tie.
Backed by mega agency IMG, the brunette from Adelaide also modelled for Louis Vuitton and Kanye West’s Yeezy line.
CAMERON STEPHENS
Khloe Kardashian played a role in discovering Sydney model Cameron Stephens. The 19-year-old got her break via a joint open call for Kardashian’s Good American fashion label and agency IMG in 2018, which landed her a role in the brand’s “Good Squad” social media campaign. Stephens became one of the first curve models signed to IMG.
In 2019, she walked in five shows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia (including Matteau and Hansen & Gretel), as well as for David Jones, in a rising career that has so far seen her featured in Vogue Australia and Elle. She recently starred in the new campaign for lingerie retailer, Bras N Things.
REECE MCDONALD
Hailing from Waitara, NSW, Reece McDonald’s career has so far taken him to runways in Milan and fronting editorial campaigns for some of Australia’s most popular retailers. The 18-year-old worked internationally earlier this year with a stint in London, before returning to Sydney, and is considered one of IMG’s busiest male models in town.
Since he started modelling professionally about 12 months ago, McDonald has worked with Cotton On, co-starring in the basics’ brand’s summer denim campaign with Charlee Fraser, as well as Ksubi and Incu, and has appeared in the pages of GQ.
AGI AKUR
Touted as the next Adut Akech, Agi Akur was the toast of fashion month in February. The 27-year-old was born in Kakuma, Kenya, before moving to Australia with her family, settling in Adelaide and then Sydney. Akur walked for just about every top designer in London, Paris and Milan, including Victoria Beckham, Max Mara, Chloe and Valentino.
“I’m based everywhere now, either I’m in London, Paris or Milan,” Akur told News Corp in London, speaking after Beckham’s show. She has amassed more than 40,000 followers on Instagram, and Akur – unlike other models – is low-key when it comes to social media.
KURTIS MONAHAN
A fresh face of the Australian modelling scene, Kurtis Monahan was scouted by IMG in 2017 and has since appeared on the pages of some of Australia’s most stylish magazines.
With a blonde, surfer chic look, the 17-year-old hails from Stanwell Park in NSW and has been in shoots for Russh and Grazia magazines, as well as for Peter Alexander, Marcs, Nique and Peugeot.
Last year, he walked the runway at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia. His surfer aesthetic – which includes a keen interest in the sport (according to his Instagram feed @kurt_mono) – has him touted as a talent to watch. When he’s on set or the catwalk, he “blows everyone away”, one fashion industry expert told News Corp. “His looks alone make him the next blonde Aussie supermodel.”
JACK GRAY
Twenty-year-old Queensland singer/songwriter Jack Gray is forging a path in cred pop – he writes, performs and produces most of his own work. With more than 10 million streams of his songs already, Gray has been based in LA until iso, quickly coming back to the Sunshine Coast. He’s regularly been posting music from his bedroom studio online, forming a triple j-friendly ‘supergroup’ with Jeffe as well as just releasing his own new song I Got 3. Inspired by Bon Iver, Rex Orange County and The 1975, he defies labelling and genre and while he only released his debut EP last year, has already stockpiled enough songs for his first full-length album. “I grew up listening to everything,” Gray says, “so I feel like that sets the table for me as a songwriter.”
THE KID LAROI
In just 18 months, 16-year-old rapper Charlton Howard has catapulted from Triple J Unearthed High finalist to Australia’s first global rap pop star known as The Kid Laroi.
Raised on his mother’s musical loves of the Fugees, Erykah Badu and Tupac, the prodigiously talented songwriter kick off his recording career when he uploaded his debut EP 14 With A Dream to Soundcloud, the online nursery for up and coming rappers.
He was signed to Grade A Productions, the label home of American superstar Juice Wrld, who became his mentor.
The American rapper took the inner Sydney-raised, now LA-based teen on tours through the US and his final shows in Australia before his sudden death last December.
With more than 200 million streams and counting for his singles Diva, Addison Rae and Let Her Go, he has another hit on his hands with GO, the track featuring a verse from his late mate Juice Wrld.
BAKER BOY
The fabulous Baker Boy is one of the most exhilarating and game-changing pop artists commanding Australia’s alternative music airwaves and festival stages.
Twenty-three-year-old Danzal Baker, who was raised in Arnhem Land and is now based in Melbourne, has released a stream of hit singles including Marryuna, Black Magic and Meditjin since kicking off his recording career only three years ago and struck gold sales with the infectious Cool As Hell.
Baker sings and raps in both English and Yolngu Matha, dances like Fred Astaire meets New Jack Swing and also incorporates didgeridoo in some of his tracks.
He is nominated for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Film Clip of the Year at the National Indigenous Music Awards to be announced on August 8.
ALEX THE ASTRONAUT
Her legion of fans will be rewarded for their devotion over the past four years when Alex The Astronaut finally releases her debut album The Theory of Absolutely Nothing on August 21.
The Sydney singer songwriter’s acutely observed sonic stories delivered in her unique conversational voice have drawn comparisons with national treasure Paul Kelly and inspired loud crowd singalongs at every gig she plays.
Alexandra Lynn, who was studying maths and physics in the US on a soccer scholarship before officially launching her music career, came to national attention with her moving single Not Worth Hiding, a musical letter to her 16 year old self which became the unofficial anthem of the Yes campaign for marriage equality in Australia.
THE CHATS
The Sunshine Coast-bred rabble-rousing punk rockers The Chats became a viral sensation courtesy of the quintessentially Australian debut single Smoko in 2017 which has clocked more than 10 million streams.
Their status as future rock champions was confirmed when Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme and a couple of Arctic Monkeys checked out their sold-out show in Los Angeles last year, posing for classic backstage photos with beers in hand.
These fearless, unapologetic larrikins have proven scintillating car-crash viewing any time a television show has been inclined to attempt to interview them, as Karl Stefanovic discovered when the trio were booked to perform their hit Pub Feed on Today in February.
Their debut album High Risk Behaviour smashed into the top 5 in Australia on release in March.
EVES KARYDAS
Formerly known by the intriguing nom de plume Eves The Behaviour, indie pop star Hannah Karydas updated her moniker a few years ago as she prepared to release her debut album summerskin.
She enjoyed a big hit with the single Further Than the Planes Fly, which has amassed more than 16 million streams to date.
But it is her first new song in a couple of years, the recent single Complicated, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest crossover pop hits of the year.
Racing up the airplay charts thanks to finding its way onto commercial radio playlists, the song fits the formula for an Australian chart-topper with its well-placed F bomb in the chorus.
OLIVIA DEJONGE
The 22-year-old actor won will star as Priscilla Presley alongside Tom Hanks and Austin Butler in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis.
“Olivia is capable of manifesting the complex depth and presence that has made Priscilla Presley an icon in her own right,” Luhrmann said.
DeJonge started exploring her craft as from the age of 11 in short films and cut her teeth with meaty roles in Hollywood horror film The Visit in 2015, then ABC drama Hiding and the American-produced period series Will in 2017.
She also stars in the Netflix mystery drama The Society about a small town’s teens who have to figure out how to survive after they return home from an abandoned high school field trip to find all the adults have disappeared and they have no connection to the outside world.
While filming of Elvis on the Gold Coast is in hiatus due to COVID-19, DeJonge fans are patiently waiting for Netflix to confirm the release date for The Society’s second season.
DACRE MONTGOMERY
In an ensemble cast of sterling aspirants in Netflix’s compelling Stranger Things, West Australian-raised actor Dacre Montgomery brought the villainous Billy Hargrove to life with the insouciance and bad boy charisma reminiscent of the 80s Brat Packers.
Voted as the student most likely to become a Hollywood star at his Perth high school, the 25-year-old starred in the film reboot of Power Rangers in 2017 and made an impression alongside a heavyweight cast including Russell Crowe and Nicholas Hoult in the True History of the Kelly Gang.
Montgomery has also appeared in a couple of Australian music videos, including the clip for Angus and Julia Stone’s hit Chateau.
Fans are chomping to see him in the upcoming rom-com The Broken Hearts Gallery alongside fellow Australian actor Geraldine Viswanathan and executive produced by pop superstar Selena Gomez.
ALEX CUBIS
Turning his back on a legal career to chase his passion for acting shows the faith Sydney-born, LA-based rising star Alex Cubis has in his future.
After deferring his arts and law degree at Sydney University to film his debut TV role in Netflix series, Mako Mermaids, he returned to complete his qualifications.
For the 28-year-old, the decision was never an either or scenario, inspired by another Aussie superstar, Rebel Wilson, who graduated with a law degree before heading for Hollywood.
“The way the world is we don’t have to limit ourselves in one lane,” Cubis told News Corp Australia. “Acting is my passion and that’s where my attention is, but I’ve found having other work interests creates a healthy balance.”
His supporting role in Netflix dramedy, Dear White People, is enjoying renewed popularity on the back of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Local audiences will see Cubis next in Seven’s upcoming drama, Between Two Worlds.
ELIZA SCANLAN
The 21-year-old Sydney actor got her first major break being cast in Home and Away in 2016 (playing Tabitha Ford) while she was still at high school. Scanlan used her piano lessons as a kid when she was cast as Beth in the remake of Little Women. Audiences had already seen her alongside Amy Adams in the widely-acclaimed Sharp Objects – Scanlan grew up idolising Adams after seeing her in Enchanted. As well as dabbling in theatre back in Australia and shaving her head for the lead in new local indie film Babyteeth, Scanlan’s next big roles are in The Devil All the Time alongside Robert Pattinson (exploring WWII PTSD in Ohio in the 1960s) and she’s been cast in the top-secret new M.Night Shyamalan project.
DANIELLE MACDONALD
The Sydney actor moved to LA when she was 18, keen to break into Hollywood. It took a few years, but Macdonald stole the show with the lead role in 2017’s Patti Cake$, playing a redneck rapper. She received a standing ovation at Sundance when the film premiered. Macdonald kept getting prime roles including Netflix movie Dumplin’, playing the Dolly Parton-obsessed plus size daughter of an ex beauty queen, as well as Sandra Bullock streaming hit Bird Box and another Netflix success, the Toni Collette drama Unbelievable. McDonald will be seen alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges in French Exit, plays pioneering Australian music journo Lillian Roxon in the Helen Reddy biopic I Am Woman and has the lead in the film adaptation of hit book White Girl Problems.
ZOE TERAKES
Nineteen-year-old Sydneysider Terakes, who identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns they and their, has one of the key roles in the new series of Wentworth. Terakes made a major impression in ABC hit Janet King and was doing award-winning theatre work on stage while finishing their high school exams. In Wentworth their character Reb Keane is trans and struggling with being in a women’s prison – Terakes regularly uses their social media to support the LGBTQ community. “It’s important to me that people who identify somewhat with the stories are telling these stories,” Terakes said of the power of their role in Wentworth. “It makes it more authentic, it makes it more important for the community representing. You feel indebted to your people.” Terakes also has roles in Foxtel series The End, short film The Craft and feature Ellie & Abbie.
JACOB ELORDI
Twenty-three-year-old actor Jacob Elordi was born in Brisbane, went to the same Melbourne high school as Vance Joy and Chet Faker, and had his first major role in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, before starring alongside Kylie Minogue and Asher Keddie in Swinging Safari. His big breakthrough came in teen hit The Kissing Booth but Elordi is modelling his career on his hero Heath Ledger. The first step in that was dark, edgy HBO hit Euphoria, which also saw him become a Calvin Klein model. Elordi came home to Brisbane when the pandemic shut down filming of Euphoria season two, and has a role in the new Paul Hogan movie The Very Excellent Mr Dundee as well as Ben Affleck’s erotic thriller Deep Water.
LAZARBEAM
Never heard of him? You don’t spend long enough online. Twenty-six-year-old Sydneysider Lannan Eacott is known as LazarBeam online. With 15 million subscribers he is the third most subscribed to Australian on You Tube, behind only a kids and toy channel. After five years on You Tube, he’s had five billion views of his videos (two billion last year alone) – his channel started with clips of him playing and commenting on video games such as Fortnight and Minecraft, but has morphed into using memes, Tik Tok and a comedic style that keeps his audience engaged. He even has his own merchandise available online (hoodies, shoes, phone cases) and now his sister Tannar has a You Tube channel with over a million subscribers – the pair regularly film content together.
RILEY THILTHORPE
Thilthorpe is South Australia’s top draft prospect in 2020 and has also emerged as a serious contender for the number one pick. At 200cm he is described as an emerging key forward who can move like the wind, making him a very valuable commodity. He had his injury battles in 2019 when he hurt both shoulders and missed the under-18 national championships but this year he came out of the COVID-19 shutdown to already play league football with West Adelaide in the SANFL and show AFL recruiters what he’s capable of. Thilthorpe may well stay home with Adelaide staring at a top-three pick in 2020.
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JAMARRA UGLE-HAGAN
The 18-year-old billed as the next Buddy Franklin, Ugle-Hagan is set to join the Western Bulldogs in the 2020 national draft. The freakish talent is arguably the standout player in this year’s draft however he is destined to land at Whitten Oval through the club’s Next Generation Academy as an Indigenous prospect. The Hampden boy and Scotch College student is a mercurial key forward with a high leap and looks certain to put bums on seats for years to come given he boasts a junior highlights reel others could only dream of. While the second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria has scuppered junior football in 2020, Ugle-Hagan produced such a dominant bottom-age season he still looks certain to be one of the first players selected on draft night. In 2019 the Bulldogs simply refused to trade their future first-round selection as they orchestrated deals for bookends Josh Bruce and Alex Keath and that is because they knew they would need it for Ugle-Hagan. Expect the left-footer to saddle up next to Bruce and Aaron Naughton in coach Luke Beveridge’s forward line for years to come.
JOSEPH SUAALII
Currently the most talked about teenager in Australian sport due to a tug of war for his services between the NRL and Rugby Australia. It seems, for now, the extremely talented Suaalii, who turned 17 on August 1, is going to reject rugby’s advances to stick solid with the Rabbitohs. It has been mooted that the NRL rules might be changed so he can debut before his 18th birthday. The King’s School student trained with the Rabbitohs squad in the off-season which prompted South Sydney legend Sam Burgess to describe him as “special”. “I’ve never ever seen a kid do that and never mind an outside back,” Burgess said
PHOEBE LITCHFIELD
The 17-year-old Orange schoolgirl has been heralded as the next superstar of Australian cricket. Became the youngest woman (at 16) to score a WBBL half century – a matchwinning one at that last season for the Sydney Thunder. Videos of her incredible stroke play in the nets went viral, and her stunning debut season was capped off by being picked to star alongside Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara in cricket’s Bushfire Bash. Litchfield was born in the year Ponting led Australia to a World Cup win in 2003, but did not look out of place batting with the Australian maestro and another left-hander with a mesmerising technique, in Lara. Still restricted to training in school holidays as she finishes her education, Litchfield is poised to take the booming world of women’s cricket by storm.
REECE WALSH
Another young gun to roll off the Broncos’ production line. The Queensland under-18s sensation and Xavier Coates were the dynamic duo in the Tweed Heads side which won last year’s under-18s national final against Illawarra. An exciting fullback, Walsh captained the Queensland under-16s side in 2018 and last year his outstanding form was rewarded with selection in the Australian Schoolboys side which faced New Zealand. Walsh has superb footwork, a lethal fend, a smart passing game and can kick off his left foot. The backline whiz attended Keebra Park High, the famous league school which has produced a host of stars including Benji Marshall, David Fifita and Payne Haas. Walsh is currently contracted to the Broncos and is being groomed to play NRL in the coming years.
Additional reporting: Reece Homfray, Sam Landsberger, Michael Carayannis. Ben Horne, Peter Badel
Originally published as From actors to models and musicians: These are 25 Aussie stars of the future you need to know