One of the benefits of a fall season full of adult dramas and prestige titles is the opportunity to watch actors sink their chops into juicy showcase roles.
The four actors below are each poised for big-screen breakthroughs in the next two months that could carry them all the way into awards season.
Danielle Deadwyler, ‘Till’
Danielle Deadwyler at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on March 15, 2022 in New York City.
(Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
After a steady rise in a variety of TV projects, Deadwyler delivered a stunning one-two punch last year with supporting roles in the HBO Max limited series “Station Eleven” and the star-studded Netflix western “The Harder They Fall.” Now she’s carrying the emotional historical drama “Till” as Mamie Till-Mobley, a mother who becomes a civil rights crusader and icon after the brutal death of her son, Emmett.
Harry Styles, ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and ‘My Policeman’
Harry Styles on stage during Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2022 at War Memorial Park on May 29, 2022 in Coventry, England.
(Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Already one of the biggest pop stars in the world today, Styles — who appeared in Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” — steps into his most significant film roles yet. In Olivia Wilde’s thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” he’s the seemingly perfect husband to Florence Pugh’s unsettled housewife, and in the Amazon drama “My Policeman,” he’s a gay man hiding his sexuality in the oppressive U.K. of the 1950s.
Paul Mescal, ‘Aftersun’ and ‘God’s Creatures’
Paul Mescal attends The Fashion Awards 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 29, 2021 in London, England.
(Karwai Tang/WireImage)
The “Normal People” Emmy nominee had two films premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year and both are due this fall from A24. The thriller “God’s Creatures” stars Emily Watson as the matriarch of a family in a small fishing town, but it’s “Aftersun,” where Mescal plays a young father bonding with his daughter on a bittersweet summer vacation, that earned the actor more “Normal People”-level raves.
Dolly De Leon, ‘Triangle of Sadness’
Director Ruben Ostlund and actor Dolly De Leon pose with the Palme d’Or Award for the movie “Triangle of Sadness” during the winner photocall during the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 28, 2022 in Cannes, France.
(Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The veteran Filipino actor hit the Cannes Film Festival like a hurricane with her scene-stealing role in Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning social satire. Many felt she walked away with the whole movie, and her commanding turn in the film’s third act could make De Leon a force come Oscar time.