YA Series Now Mint Movie Stars Faster Than Franchises, Hollywood Issue Says
Young-adult TV series now launch Hollywood leads faster than franchises or festival hits, according to the industry's annual Next Gen issue. Insiders advise rising stars to move quickly into theatrical films, which they say prove staying power and earning potential, even in smaller roles.
The route to become and stay a movie star has changed in 2026, with young-adult TV series now producing leads faster than franchises or festival hits, according to Hollywood's annual Next Gen issue on rising talent. Industry insiders told the issue the next step for those new stars is the big screen.
Hollywood is cutting content budgets, and mergers are hitting legacy studios hard. Even so, the issue calls 2026 a good time to be an upwardly mobile young actor. It dubs the split between struggling studios and rising talent entertainment's own K-curve.
From franchises to fan bases
The path looked different a decade ago. In the late 2010s, intellectual property made stars: Spider-Man launched Tom Holland and Zendaya in 2017.
Auteur directors offered another route. Timothée Chalamet's status was cemented through the festival and awards circuit after Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name.
Prestige television was a third. Anya Taylor-Joy topped studio wish lists after Netflix's The Queen's Gambit, while Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones rose on Hulu's Normal People.
Now a newer class arrives fully formed from young-adult series. Shows such as The Summer I Turned Pretty, Sterling Point and Off Campus built fervent fan bases and, seemingly overnight, industry appeal for their leads. Lola Tung and Stephen Kalyn are both in the Next Gen class of 2026.
Heated Rivalry shows how fast it can go. The hockey show debuted only a year ago, and leads Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams now appear everywhere from the Golden Globes to the Winter Olympics to a Monopoly board.
Gen Z returns to cinemas
Audiences are also shifting. Over the past year, Gen Z became the most active moviegoing age group, which cuts against the old idea that kids should stream and leave cinemas to adults.
In the spring, Inde Navarrette, the breakout from Obsession, showed stardom can still happen the old-fashioned way, one popcorn bucket at a time.
What comes after fame
Once fame arrives, the question is what's next. Insiders who work with and cast young talent advise setting sights on theatrical film.
Even to skeptics in the industry, theatrical releases best prove staying power and earning potential. A lead role in a streaming feature can raise an actor's quote, but the issue says it is better to take a smaller role farther down the call sheet.
The Next Gen list is compiled from the editors' instincts and surveys of executives, creatives and producers about the talent who excite them. Past picks include Sydney Sweeney before her Euphoria fame, Glen Powell years before his Top Gun rise, and David Jonsson, who took the stage at Comic-Con this summer to take on the Black Panther mantle.
