Highlights: Having starred in box office hits like Crazy Rich Asians and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Remy Hii has cemented himself as Australia’s next leading man. This year, he joined the Christmas heartthrob club through his role in The Princess Switch 3: Romancing The Star — which is a positive sign that Hollywood are diversifying what their definition of a romantic lead looks like (see Jimmy O. Yang in Love Hard!), and it’s about bloody time. That’s not all though — Remy was also part of the cast of Arcane, which delves into the lore of popular video game League Of Legends and is Netflix’s best-rated original series ever. Plus, in collaboration with the Asian Australian Alliance, he helped lead the #StopAsianHateAustralia campaign to encourage Australians to speak up and report incidences of racism.

Highlights: At just 20 years old, Angourie Rice has well and truly made her mark in Hollywood. Earlier this year, she delivered a standout performance in Mare of Easttown — alongside Kate Winslet, no less — and is set to reprise the role of Betty Brant in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’ll be exciting to see Angourie develop further as an actor, especially when she’s already holding her own against some huge names in the industry.

Highlights: Whether it’s through his acting roles or music, Keiynan Lonsdale continues to be at the forefront of Hollywood and queer representation. This year, he released two new singles — “Rhythm & Music” and “Gods Of The Disco” — and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for his debut album Rainbow Boy. Talk about accomplishments! He also performed at a Pride festival called OutLoud and appeared in an Australian drama called Eden.

Highlights: Eric Bana is like a fine wine — he just keeps getting better with age, and that includes his biggest role of the year, playing Aaron Falk in The Dry (which had one of the highest grossing Australian film opening weekends ever!). The film was also screened at the San Fransisco International Film Festival and was named a must-see. Besides that, Eric lent his voice to an adorable Aussie-themed Netflix movie called Back To The Outback.

Highlights: Nicole Kidman’s career renaissance goes from strength to strength each and every year — and I’m the biggest fan of it. Like, hell yes — age should mean nothing to a woman’s acting career, especially when men shrivel up like a prune and still land roles. Anyway, back to Nicole — 2021 saw her star in (and also executive produce!) the miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers, which was based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, as well as Being The Ricardos (slated for a December 21 release date on Amazon Prime Video), where she plays the iconic Lucille Ball. Nicole’s also been busy filming Roar, an upcoming anthology series that she’s both starring in and producing.

Highlights: 2021 has been a huge year for Felix Mallard, who is now considered to be one of Australia’s rising stars. He already had two huge wins under his belt, appearing in Netflix’s Locke & Key and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. But it was the role of Marcus Baker in Ginny & Georgia, which was watched by 52 million viewers within 28 days and has been renewed for a second season, that really set his career on an upwards trajectory. Now boasting a casual three million followers on Instagram, the world is truly Felix’s oyster.

Highlights: Playing everyone’s favourite Australian thief, Jai Courtney reprised the role of Captain Boomerang in the smash-hit film The Suicide Squad. He also appeared in another action flick called Jolt, and was busy filming Jigsaw, a heist drama, and Black Site, an action-thriller.

Highlights: Adam Demos became one of the biggest talking points on the internet in 2021 — and for a very interesting reason. See, he starred in Netflix’s Sex/Life, a show about a horny stay-at-home mum who keeps fantasising about her ex, Brad (played by Adam). There’s more to the plot, but the steamy show went viral for a full-frontal shower scene featuring Adam and his, uh, giant schlong. Anyway, it’s kind of iconic (watch Episode 3 at 19:58 if you want to review for research reasons) and hopefully the buzz around it will lead to more projects for Adam.

Highlights: Coming from humble beginnings on Home And Away, like many other Australian actors, Samara Weaving is fast-becoming a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. This year, she appeared alongside fellow Aussie, Nicole Kidman, in Nine Perfect Strangers and in the big action blockbuster Snake Eyes. Plus, she’s attached to a bunch of other exciting projects, like Babylon, The Valet and Chevalier.

Highlights: You might remember Natasha Liu Bordizzo from the popular YA Netflix series called The Society — which, in my opinion, never deserved to be cancelled (also ending on such a huge cliffhanger and never getting an answer to that was cruel, Netflix!). Moving on from that, Natasha has continued to step up her game, appearing in an erotic thriller called The Voyeurs (think modern day Rear Window vibes) and a wholesome animated flick by the name of Wish Dragon. Her next project will be Day Shift, a Netflix comedy with some huge names attached, like Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Meagan Good and Snoop Dogg.

Highlights: First off, a huge hell yes to South Asian representation, which we don’t have enough of in the Australian entertainment industry. Pallavi Sharda isn’t just making waves in Hollywood though — she’s a classical Indian dancer (Bharatha Natyam) and has appeared in Bollywood films, which are all incredible achievements. In 2021, she expanded her acting resume by appearing in Tom & Jerry: The Movie and The One, a sci-fi Netflix series. With her Instagram bio reading “debunking ‘diversity’ one role at a time”, here’s hoping that we’ll see more Pallavi on the big screen.

Highlights: You can’t talk about the horror movie genre without thinking of critically acclaimed director James Wan, who has been involved in blockbuster hits like Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring series — as well as Furious 7 and Aquaman throughout his career. 2021 was another big year for James, with four of his projects being released — The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (story and director), Malignant (director and producer), I Know What You Did Last Summer (executive producer) and Mortal Kombat (producer). He was also busy directing the Aquaman sequel, which is slated to be released in late 2022. Phew, talk about a busy year!

Highlights: If you haven’t heard of Desmond Chiam, he’s certainly one to watch. In 2021, he made an epic splash in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (hello more Asian representation in the MCU!) playing Dovich, a super soldier and member of The Flag Smashers. He’s also set to star in the Amazon Prime Video series With Love, which has huge rom-com holiday vibes and drops on December 17 (it also features Desmond shirtless, which isn’t the main selling point, but it’s one of them!).

Highlights: In 2021, queen Margot Robbie gave us another incredible performance of Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad — and I feel the need to mention that she performed some of her own stunts, including THAT jailbreak sequence. She also reprised the role of Flopsy in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and was an executive producer of the Netflix series Maid, which was watched by a cool 67 million households. Plus, she’s set to appear in Babylon next year, alongside fellow Aussie Samara Weaving.

Highlights: Two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver has been delivering standout performances since she took up acting in the 1960s — and she’s still killing it to this day. 2021 saw her join the cast of Yellowstone for Season 4, which premiered to 14 million viewers (!), as well as Back To The Outback, which also stars Eric Bana and Guy Pierce. What a legend!

Highlights: One of the reasons I continue to watch The Handmaid’s Tale (despite its gloomy and intense storylines) is because of Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Serena Waterford. Every season she delivers performance after performance — and Season 4 (released in 2021) was no exception, resulting in an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She also starred in the sci-fi action flick The Tomorrow War.

Highlights: Released in July, The White Lotus dominated headlines, with critics and audiences alike proclaiming it as one of the best series of 2021. Much of the praise went towards the show’s cast, which included Murray Bartlett’s breakout performance as hotel manager Armond. It’s a huge turning point in the Australian actor’s career, whose next project is playing Frank in the much-anticipated adaptation of The Last Of Us.

Highlights: Jacob Elordi first hit Hollywood in The Kissing Booth, cementing his status as a teen heartthrob. This year, he starred in the final instalment of the rom-com series — but look out for him in 2022 where he’ll be flexing his acting skills in Season 2 of Euphoria and Deep Water.

Highlights: Cody Fern has had an insanely busy couple of years, bouncing from one successful role to another. In 2021, he returned to the American Horror Story franchise, appearing in Double Feature and American Horror Stories, a spin-off series where he got to use his own Aussie accent playing Stan Vogel. Plus, he even starred alongside Keiynan Lonsdale in Eden.

Highlights: You might remember Madeleine Madden from her impassioned speech in 2010 when, as a teenager, she addressed the nation and called on Australians to help end inequality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the rest of the country. Reflecting on this campaign in a recent interview with The Guardian, Madeleine said: “It’s been instilled in me since I was young that I have to use my platform to change the world…being born as an Aboriginal woman, my life is politicised, so that’s something I’ve dealt with every day of my life.”

This drive for change has shaped Madeleine’s career, with the Australian actor making her Hollywood debut in Dora And The Lost City Of Gold, before following this up in 2021 with a lead role in Amazon’s The Wheel Of Time. The series has been noted for its diverse casting (we love to see it!) and is based on the novel series of the same name that has sold 90 million copies worldwide.

Highlights: From humble beginnings on Mako: Island Of Secrets to appearing alongside a cast that boasts Will Smith, Joel Edgerton and Noomi Rapace in Bright, Lucy Fry is fast establishing herself as one to watch. In 2021, she starred opposite Debby Ryan in Night Teeth, a vampire flick that was part of Netflix’s Halloween line-up.

Highlights: There’s no doubt that Joel Edgerton is one of Australia’s best actors — and he just continues to outdo himself each and every year. In 2021, he starred in The Green Knight opposite Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander, as well as the historical drama The Underground Railroad (which was directed by Barry Jenkins and counts Brad Pitt as one of its executive producers!). You can catch him (or well, his voice) in Disney’s Obi-Wan Kenobi next, which is slated for a 2022 release.

Highlights: 2021 was a busy year for Guy Pearce! He appeared in The Seventh Day, Without Remorse, Zone 414 and Back To The Outback, but you’ll probably remember him best for his character in Mare Of Easttown, who became an accidental red herring. Everyone, including myself, was convinced that Guy’s character had to be behind the murders — there was no way they would cast such a well-known actor in a minor role. As it turned out, Guy’s role was basically eye candy — as his appearance was a favour to his mate Kate Winslet. Still, he was great in the series and helped Mare to emotionally grow.

Highlights: This year, Phoenix Raei appeared in his first US production — the hugely popular Netflix series Clickbait. Playing the role of Detective Roshan Amiri, Phoenix delivered a breakout performance and was one of the more interesting characters of the series that I genuinely wanted to know more about. What’s next for Phoenix? Alongside Jai Courtney and Pallavi Sharda, he’ll be starring in Black Site, an upcoming thriller movie. We truly love to see diverse Australian actors making their mark in Hollywood!

Highlights: Aussie native Ben Lawson charmed the pants off Netflix viewers while playing journalist Johnny Ryan in Firefly Lane. A slight portion of this has to be attributed to Ben’s Australian accent — which became part of Johnny’s character after he nailed the audition. What’s even better is that after being cast, Ben was determined to include an essential item from Australia — lo and behold Johnny wearing a Maroons jersey in an episode!