From actors to athletes: 10 rising Australian stars to set to make their mark in 2025
These ten young Aussie celebrities are looking set to stun the nation as they make their mark in 2025. Here are the names and faces you need to know before the year gets underway.
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In 2024 we saw an explosion of new faces — actors, singers, models, hosts and sports stars. Prepare for more new names and some familiar faces to make their mark in 2025.
Here’s who you should keep your eye on in the new year.
Elle Ray
The Melbourne social media star is only growing her following after a big year in which she was nominated for the prestigious TikTok content creator of the year award.
A journalism student Ray, 21, said: “I am obsessed with my job, I am very grateful for all the opportunities it has presented me with. It has helped build my career as a journalist and presenter and has created an amazing professional network for me.”
Her highlights included covering the Brownlow red carpet and interviewing Margot Robbie.
Gout Gout
Remember the name, however you pronounce it — because it’s the hottest thing in sprinting since the great Usain Bolt.
The 16-year-old made worldwide headlines in December, breaking a 56-year-old Peter Norman record when he ran 20.04 in the 200m final at the All Schools Championship in Brisbane.
The phenomenal athlete whose family hails from South Sudan also runs a handy 10.04 in the 100m. Even Bolt was impressed saying: “He looks like young me”.
Alyla Browne
She’s only 15 but this Sydney teenager has already worked alongside Chris Hemsworth, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves.
She is in Sonic The Hedgehog 3, in which she stars alongside Carey, Reeves and Idris Elba, and was nominated for an AACTA award as Best Supporting Actress in Film for George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in which she played a young Taylor-Joy.
Beau Woodbridge
Forging a career in his own right, the son of tennis legend Todd Woodbridge is making his mark in the theatre world.
The 21 year-old was cast as the lead in the Broadway blockbuster, Dear Evan Hansen, which is currently in its Melbourne season, after spending time in London honing his craft.
His theatre credits already include Love Never Dies, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The King And I.
Dom Dolla
The hottest DJ in Australia — and in the US — after selling out his March shows at Madison Square Garden.
The Melbourne raised writer and musician is making his mark with hit after hit.
He said it was a big tick off his bucket list to perform in New York.
“It’s the goal for any artist to play Madison Square Garden,’’ Dolla said. “I had my mum and sister there (at shows in Melbourne).”
Andrea Solonge
The Sydney actor took out the win from a record number of entries at a ceremony in West Hollywood.
Solonge starred in Prosper alongside Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney and is in the Taika Waititi series Time Bandits.
“It is an incomparable feeling, it is a true dream,” Solonge told Confidential. “Since I became an actor, every year I would write my goals and right at the top was the Heath Ledger Scholarship.”
Mel Tracina
Known for fun segments on The Cheap Seats, the odd occasion as a guest panellist on Have You Been Paying Attention and a radio show on Nova, there is a good chance you already recognise Tracina but her profile is about to grow in the same way Robert Irwin’s did in 2024.
She’s been named the host of the new Big Brother Australia series coming to Channel 10 in 2025.
Felix Mallard
Following in the footsteps of fellow Aussie greats, Mallard has seen his career skyrocket since his days on Ramsay Street on Neighbours.
He won GQ Australia’s Actor Of the Year in 2024 and has cemented his rising status off the back of starring in Ginny and Georgia and a starring role in Happy Together, playing a popstar loosely based on Harry Styles.
With good looks and talent, the boy from Melbourne’s western suburbs is destined for big things.
Felix Cameron
Macedon Ranges teenager Felix Cameron won two TV Week Logie Awards, the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent and the Best Lead Actor in a Drama, for his role as Eli Bell in Australian Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe.
His emotional speech endeared him to the industry with his star set to rise.
He signed on with Artist International Group (AIG), which is an agency that represents many Hollywood actors including Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Cruz Hewitt
The talented teenager, a spitting image of his dad Lleyton, is set to take the tennis world by storm.
He was given a wildcard to the junior boys Australian Open in 2024 and lost his first-round match, and is being considered for a wildcard for the qualifying tournament.
Lleyton won his first tournament in Adelaide at age 16 — it’s a tough act to follow but Hewitt’s already displayed an abundance of talent.
Have we missed someone? Let us know in the comments.
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