10 breakout stars to watch for in 2016

Remember when we didn’t know who Alicia Vikander, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were?

That was before Vikander starred in four movies in 2015, including “Ex Machina” and “The Danish Girl,” for which she probably will be nominated for an Oscar. And Ridley and Boyega are the results of a little movie called “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

They were among the breakout movie stars of 2015, but who will be next? Here are 10 people to watch in 2016:

▪  Christopher Abbott – He first made a splash in the Sundance hit “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” then popped up on HBO’s “Girls.” He now seems to be the “it” boy for indies, after getting raves for the 2015 drama “James White” opposite Cynthia Nixon. He has more indies on the way in 2016, but his role in the Tina Fey vehicle “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” could get him more notices.

▪  Emory Cohen – After playing Bradley Cooper’s son in “The Place Beyond the Pines” and suavely romancing Saiorse Ronan in “Brooklyn,” he will next star in the Brad Pitt-starring “War Machine” as well as five other films in 2016.

▪  Cara Delevingne – She made waves in the teen drama “Paper Towns” in 2015 and has five films on the horizon in 2016, including a prime role in the much-anticipated adaptation of the graphic novel “Suicide Squad,” starring Will Smith and Jared Leto.

▪  Gal Gadot – The Israeli actress and model first made a splash in the “Fast & Furious” films, but she is set to score big in 2016 with her turn as “Wonder Woman” and the following “Justice League” films.

▪  Ezra Miller – He’s been toiling around in indies for a few years now (“We Need to Talk About Kevin,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) and even popped up in the Amy Schumer comedy “Trainwreck,” but in 2016 he will star in the “Harry Potter” prequel (of sorts) “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” before starring as “The Flash,” set to come out in 2018.

▪  Maika Monroe – She burst onto the scene as the star of the terrifying “It Follows” in 2015 and follows that up in 2016 with six films, including the Chloe Grace Moretz-starring thriller “The 5th Wave” and “Independence Day: Resurgence,” the long-awaited sequel to 1996’s “Independence Day.”

▪  Bel Powley – She upstaged Kristen Wiig and Alexander Skarsgard in “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” in 2015 and has six more films on the way in 2016, including “A Storm in the Stars,” which chronicles the love affair between poet Percy Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing “Frankenstein.”

▪  Keith Stanfield – The actor-rapper appeared in “Selma” in 2014 and starred as Snoop in 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton.” Up next is the Don Cheadle-directed Miles Davis biopic “Miles Ahead,” the aforementioned “War Machine” and “Snowden” with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

▪  Tessa Thompson – She’s most recognizable as the love interest in “Creed,” more than holding her own against Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone. She’ll follow that up with a couple of interesting-sounding indies in 2016, as well as starring in HBO’s “Westworld.”

▪  Katherine Waterston – She’s the daughter of longtime actor Sam Waterston (TV’s “Law and Order”) and has been acting in films for about 10 years now, including 2015’s “Inherent Vice” and “Steve Jobs,” but has somehow eluded stardom. That could soon change, as she will star in the aforementioned “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” and in the Ridley Scott “Alien” reboot “Alien: Covenant” in 2017.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "10 breakout stars to watch for in 2016."