Rueben's Ramblings

Much like the Faces of 2021, there are always entertainers of note to be on the look-out for in the new year or those who made great waves throughout the current year who will, undoubtedly, be big stars in the new year.

The new faces of 2022 appear below in no particular order:

Amber Ruffin – The comedian is the host of The Amber Ruffin Show – the only Black woman with a late-night show currently on the air. The late-night show airs on Peacock (the NBC streaming service) breaks away from the typical structure, focusing on topical sketches instead of guests. Additionally, she and her sister Lacey Lamar co-authored the book ‘You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism,’ which landed on the New York Times best-seller list.

Louis Partridge – Louis made waves playing Tewkesbury in the Netflix movie Enola Holmes alongside Stranger Things alum Millie Bobby Brown; and he will reprise that role in the sequel that is in post-production right now. He will play Peter Pan in the upcoming box office movie The Lost Girls; Sid Vicious in the upcoming mini-series called Pistol; and he will play Tristan in the upcoming fantasy romance film called Ferryman, adapted from the best-selling young adult trilogy by Claire McFall.

Leslie Grace – Leslie made her film debut in the Lin-Manuel Miranda box office adaptation of his Broadway play In the Heights that came out in theatres this summer; and she landed the title role, following a competitive search, of Barbara Gordon in the upcoming box office film Batgirl. She is also a three-time Latin Grammy nominee, having started her singer-songwriting career when she was 16.

Emilia Jones – The 19-year-old London born actress was part of the cast of the Nickelodeon mystery series House of Anubis back in 2011 and even appeared in an episode of Doctor Who in 2013, but it was her star-making role as the only hearing person in her deaf family in the Apple TV+ movie CODA – which also stars Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant – that turned heads. In fact, she spent 9 months learning American Sign Language, took singing lessons and learned how to operate a professional fishing trawler for the part. She is also the middle child in the Netflix series Locke & Key and will star in Cat Person, the psychological thriller box office movie.

Alex Tarrant – Alex has appeared in the New Zealand original series Filthy Rich (FOX made an American version that lasted for less than one full season in 2020); the Cook Islands-based mystery series Tatau; and the New Zealand-based medical primetime soap opera Shortland Street. He also appeared in the New Zealand-based family drama 800 Words (that aired here in the states on UPtv). He is now the new guy on the latest franchise series NCIS: Hawai’i and he is part of the ensemble cast of the upcoming Amazon series The Lord of the Rings that will be set thousand of years before the events in the J.R.R. Tolkien novels.

Xolo Maridueña – He has played Miguel Diaz for three seasons in Cobra Kai, the small screen adaptation of the original Karate Kid movies that started out on YouTube before moving over to Netflix, becoming a hit series in its own right. The 4th season of the show will debut on December 31. He completed high school and two years of credits at a city college while working on the show too. Also, a chance meeting at Sundance with director Angel Manuel Soto, led Xolo to landing the lead in Blue Beetle, DC’s first Latino superhero movie.

Danielle Deadwyler – Danielle has appeared in episodes of Greenleaf, Watchmen and P-Valley, but it was her role in the ensemble cast of the Netflix film The Harder They Fall – that featured Regina King, Idris Elba, LaKeith Steinfield, Damon Wayans, Jr., Zazie Beetz, Jonathan Majors and Edi Gathegi – that turned heads. She will next be seen in the close-to-home HBO Max series Station Eleven (about survivors of a devastating flu) and she will play Emmet Till’s mother in the upcoming film Till.

Jaden Michael – Jaden is only 18, but he has appeared in multiple roles in critically acclaimed series and films alongside a lengthy list of A-List actors like Michelle Williams, Viola Davis and Ellen Burnstryn (just to name a few). But it was when director/producer Ava DuVernay selected him to play a young Colin Kaepernick in the Netflix series Colin in Black & White that launched him into the stratosphere. He will also appear in the lead role in the Amazon pilot of Shelter based on the Harlan Coben book.

Moses Ingram – This newcomer actress earned an Emmy nomination for her role in the much-buzzed about Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit; starred as Lady Macduff in The Tragedy of Macbeth alongside Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand and will next be seen in the box office movie Ambulance that stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza Gonzalez. In addition to all of that, she is part of the cast of the upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Saniyya Sidney – The 15-year-old has an impressive resume appearing in the box office movies Hidden Figures, starring as one of the daughters of Taraji P. Henson’s Katherine Johnson; and Fences with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. She was part of the cast of the short-lived FOX drama The Passage before starring as the young Venus Williams in the box office movie King Richard and she will next be seen as Sasha Obama in the Showtime series The First Lady.

Alexis Lauder – Alexis has appeared in a handful of episodes of The Originals and HBO’s Watchmen; and she had a small role in Black Panther and was part of the cast of the box office film Harriet. This year she appeared in the Amazon sci-fi flick The Tomorrow War that starred Christ Pratt, and she starred opposite Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler in the box office movie Copshop. Next she will be seen in the Amazon series The Terminal List, once again starring alongside Chris Pratt.

Simone Ashley – Simone is a British up-and-comer who has guest starred in episodes of Broadchurch, C.B. Strike and Casualty as well as a bit part in the box office film Detective Pikachu before appearing in a recurring role in the Netflix series Sex Education. Her next role will put her on the map, as she will play a very pivotal role in the second season of the Netflix period piece drama Bridgerton.

Fabien Frankel – He made his film debut in the holiday movie Last Christmas that starred Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. He was going to appear as Theo Sipowicz in the NYPD Blue reboot that didn’t actually happen, but then he went on to star in four episodes of the 8-episode mini-series The Serpent. He will next be seen in the highly-anticipated Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon that is set to debut on HBO Max.

Max Harwood – Among his theatre work is Rent, Point Of View, The Christmas and Spring Awakening, but it was his debut film role in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which is a film adaptation of the musical about a teenager from Sheffield, England who wants to be a drag queen that turned heads. He will next be seen in the modern fairytale box office film The Loneliest Boy in the World and the movie Magpie that will star Downton Abbey (the movie and its sequel) Tuppence Middleton.

Are there any actors or actresses who you think are the faces to watch in 2021? Please share.

TOMORROW: Closing Out 2021