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Tag: AP Breakthrough Entertainers

  • AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Chase Sui Wonders’ Harvard astrophysics detour led her to Hollywood

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    NEW YORK (AP) — You don’t need to major in astrophysics at Harvard to become an actor — but it doesn’t necessarily hurt, either.

    “I thought that’s what you go there to do. It’s like why are you paying all this money to go to this fancy school if you’re not going to study a hard science to try to save the world? … But I was quickly humbled,” chuckled Chase Sui Wonders, who began failing classes within her first few weeks. Her college application essay had been about making movies, so she decided she “might as well just pivot back to what I know best.”

    That calculated redirection paid off for the magna cum laude graduate who’s now a standout cast member of the Emmy-winning comedy “The Studio,” a cynical and satirical take on the film industry.

    Chase Sui Wonders always thought she was “kind of funny,” but it was confirmed when she booked “The Studio” after just one audition. It’s been an eventful year for the AP Breakthrough Entertainer who plays the ambitious assistant-turned-creative executive Quinn Hackett on the Emmy-winning comedy. (Dec. 10)

    Wonders, who also starred in the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot earlier this year, is one of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2025.

    “The attention’s definitely weird, but can feel good,” said the 29-year-old, flashing her warm smile throughout the interview. “The most energizing thing about the whole thing is when you get recognition, the phone starts ringing more, and these other avenues are opening up that I always kind of dreamed about.”

    “The Studio” amassed an astounding 23 Emmy nominations in its debut season, taking home a record-breaking 13 wins. But Wonders may not have seemed like an obvious choice for comedy with her past roles, including the 2022 film “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and her breakout role, the teen-themed series “Genera+ion,” which was canceled by HBO Max after one season. But all it took was one virtual video audition to land the role of Quinn Hackett, the hyper-ambitious, cutthroat assistant-turned-creative executive under studio head Matt Remick, played by the show’s co-creator and co-executive producer Seth Rogen.

    “I had always … felt like, ‘I think I’m kind of funny,’” she laughed, acknowledging feeling she had to prove herself working alongside comedic heavyweights like Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz. “That pressure felt really daunting and scary. But I think, hopefully, I rose to the occasion.”

    This image released by Apple TV shows Chase Sui Wonders in a scene from "The Studio." (Apple TV via AP)

    This image released by Apple TV shows Chase Sui Wonders in a scene from “The Studio.” (Apple TV via AP)

    Despite mere degrees of separation from Hollywood as the niece of fashion designer Anna Sui, an acting career seemed unattainable growing up in Bloomfield Township, a Detroit suburb. Born to a father of Chinese descent and a white mother, Wonders and her siblings were primarily raised by their mom after their parents divorced.

    GET TO KNOW CHASE SUI WONDERS

    AGE: 29

    HOMETOWN: Detroit suburbs

    FIRST ROLE: Technically, 2009’s “A Trivial Exclusion,” a feature-length film made with her family. Otherwise, let’s go with the 2019 horror film “Daniel Isn’t Real.”

    YOU MIGHT KNOW HER FROM: “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” “Genera+ion” and her character’s climactic love of quesaritos in “The Studio”

    2025 IN REVIEW: The “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot and “The Studio”

    WHAT’S NEXT: The films “I Want Your Sex” and “October,” as well as a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot series

    HER HARVARD MAJOR: Film studies and production. In the end, she did graduate magna cum laude.

    Want to know more about Chase and our other Breakthrough Entertainers of 2025? Read our survey.

    An extremely shy child and self-described tomboy, she developed a love for sports — she won high school state championships in both ice hockey and golf — and spent much of her childhood making videos with her siblings. Thanks to her mother encouraging her to take performance arts classes, she was able to break out of her shell. But coming from an achievement-driven family, all signs pointed to a career in business.

    A corporate track nearly began after struggling to break into the industry, and she even considered taking a job in Beijing to begin her adult life in the business world. But with only a week to decide on the job offer, she decided to give Hollywood one more shot. Three months later, she booked “Genera+ion.”

    Chase Sui Wonders poses for a portrait in New York on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

    Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP

    “There have been different moments in my life where I’ve been seriously humbled,” said Wonders, who has aspirations of directing. “It just has taught me just not to take it all too seriously. … I do feel absurdly lucky that I get to be on set with all my friends and telling a bunch of jokes and being a weirdo on screen.”

    Next up for Wonders is the Gregg Araki-directed “I Want Your Sex,” starring Olivia Wilde, and she’ll star in A24’s horror thriller “October.” She’ll also appear in the upcoming “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao directing the pilot. And of course, a second season for “The Studio” is in the works.

    Gary Gerard Hamilton’s previous Breakthrough Entertainer profiles include Megan Thee Stallion, Sadie Sink, Simu Liu, Tobe Nwigwe and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. His own media breakthrough came in third grade, after recording a PSA about endangered animals for a Houston TV station.

    Red carpets and magazine covers couldn’t be a more antithetical life for the girl who assumed she’d climb the executive ranks at one of the major car companies headquartered in Detroit. Instead, she’s climbing the Hollywood ladder — and she wouldn’t tell her younger self to speed up the process.

    “It’s so fun how life surprises you,” said Wonders. “I wouldn’t tell her anything. I would tell her it’s all going to make sense in the rearview mirror — but no spoilers.”

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    For more on AP’s 2025 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, visit https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers.

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  • AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Tenoch Huerta, a global hero

    AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Tenoch Huerta, a global hero

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    By BERENICE BAUTISTA

    December 16, 2022 GMT

    MEXICO CITY (AP) — The opening credits of “Wakanda Forever” fittingly say “introducing Tenoch Huerta.”

    What an introduction it’s been.

    Huerta’s role as Namor in the “Black Panther” sequel has wowed audiences, catapulting him onto the global stage and sparking conversations about race and identity, both in his native Mexico and abroad. It’s also led to Huerta being named one of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2022, joining the ranks of Sadie Sink, Daryl McCormack and his fellow Marvel standout, Iman Vellani.

    Like many of the Breakthrough Entertainer honorees, Huerta isn’t a newcomer. He’s appeared in numerous films such as “The Forever Purge” and series like “Mozart in the Jungle” and “Narcos: Mexico.” But “Wakanda Forever” has given him a new level of global exposure, which he’s using to advance several causes like inclusivity and social justice.

    Huerta grew up in Ecatepec, a suburban area of Mexico City, infamous for its high levels of delinquency and often referred with prejudice by the people in the capital.

    “It’s not easy to come from there,” said Huerta in a recent interview in Mexico City during the promotion of “Wakanda Forever.” The area is close to the capital, but “you can spend a couple of hours to reach the nearest subway station, there’s violence.”

    Huerta, 41, acknowledged that the fact that he didn’t see “brown skin people” like him on screen or theater, and definitively not in advertisements, made him believe that acting wasn’t a serious possibility. “You can’t dream of something that you can see,” he said.

    He spent many years playing American Football, and it wasn’t until his father prodded him that he considered acting. “When I was 16 my father insisted to me to become an actor, he pushed me to take workshops,” said Huerta. “The workshop was for two or three weeks, and I spent nine months. I liked it a lot but, (it) never was my life plan, it was just a hobby.”

    He kept going to casting calls and was selected to play a gardener who entertains white rich youngsters in Gael García Bernal’s debut feature “Deficit” (2007). That took him to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time, a journey he repeated in 2011 with Everardo Gout’s “Days of Grace,” for which he won the Ariel, the Mexican equivalent to the Oscars, as best actor.

    “Until that moment I assumed, I understood I was an actor, but it takes a long time and a nomination to the Ariel, many awards around the world and in Mexico, and finally in that moment I thought, ‘Ok I’m an actor.’ It was a process,” said Huerta.

    Huerta said he was a fan of Marvel movies and was really pleased when he received a videocall from the director Ryan Coogler who was explaining the plot of “Wakanda Forever.” The story included a shaman and a potion that people drank before jumping into the ocean.

    “The communication was frozen for about five minutes so when he is back, he says ‘So what do you think?’” recalled Huerta. “I never understood clearly what was about this offer and then I told my agents, and they found out that he (Coogler) was offering me Namor. I assumed it was the shaman, but they said, ‘No its Namor.’”

    His character is the leader of Tlalokan, the subaquatic world where Namor lives. It is a vibrant world inspired by pre-Hispanic architecture and culture, created with help from Mayan experts.

    “They grew up in Mayan communities, they are Mayan speakers and they have degrees and all the credentials to work in this movie,” said Huerta. “I just can say that Marvel and Disney they’re making a really great job of inclusion and representation and finally people like us, we’re able to see ourselves in this movie, so proud, so beautiful and so powerful, that’s a gift.”

    Huerta said the second-best part, after the reassurance of collaborating with experts in the film, was to do all the training and battles, learning to hold his breath for minutes underwater and use wires to simulate the flights of Namor.

    “In real life … my knees hurt, my back and everything. I’m a simple human, and I’m getting old by the way,” said Huerta smiling. “But in the movie it’s such a great experience.”

    In Mexico Huerta has become a symbol of the fight for racial justice, winning acclaim but also facing criticism from people who consider him problematic because as a person with dark skin, Huerta denounces prejudice against those who look like him.

    Huerta recently published “Orgullo prieto” (which loosely translates as Dark Skinned Pride) a book in which he recalls his own experiences facing racism and classism in his country.

    “For me this book is a way to say we need to learn, we need to change and then try to have a better society. I specially wrote this book for the kids for the young people,” said the father of two girls. “I try to create, as much as I can, a better place to live for them.”

    Seeing himself as a breakthrough artist brings Huerta hope.

    “I don’t know how my life is gonna be changed from this point on, but I hope this movie affects the people, affects the kids and if the kids are able to look at themselves on the mirror and feel proud,” he said. “If they are able to look at them and feel proud of themselves, for me, that’s perfect.”

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    For more on AP’s 2022 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, please visit: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers

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  • AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Danielle Deadwyler goes all in

    AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Danielle Deadwyler goes all in

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    By JAKE COYLE

    December 16, 2022 GMT

    NEW YORK (AP) — Just the idea of playing Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, was enough to make Danielle Deadwyler pause to consider the toll such a role might take.

    “You go: What’s going to happen to me?” Deadwyler says. “What are the steps that you need to take to make sure you can do this to the best of your ability and come out on the other side where you still got all your ABCs and your chemical dynamics together?”

    Playing Till-Mobley meant immersing herself in one of the ugliest chapters of American history, when the 14-year-old Till was lynched in 1955 Mississippi. Just the scene Deadwyler would audition with — when Mamie first sees her son’s brutalized corpse — was wrenching. On Deadwyler’s shoulders would lie the responsibility of history, of honoring Till-Mobley and of reflecting a grief known to generations of Black mothers. Deadwyler gathered her resolve.

    “I wanted to be the person to bear the weight,” Deadwyler says.

    In Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till,” Deadwyler gives one of the most powerful and intensely expressive performances of the year, charting Till-Mobley’s profound metamorphosis into civil-rights leader. Deadwyler, herself, is undergoing a transformation. In her first lead role in a film, the 40-year-old Deadwyler has come through the other side of playing Mamie with her equilibrium intact but some changes to those internal “dynamics.” For her, there will be before, and after, “Till.”

    “Life is just different,” says Deadwyler. “It’s learning a new selfhood. Art is self-revelation.”

    Deadwyler has been making her mark for several years in series like “Station Eleven” and “Atlanta,” and in the Western “The Harder They Fall.” But her performance as Mamie — a portrait of private grief and public awakening — has catapulted her fame. It’s made Deadwyler a top contender for best actress at the Academy Awards, and an easy choice to be among The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2022.

    Deadwyler, who until recently was filming the Jaume Collet-Serra thiller “Carry On” in Atlanta, has been too busy to soak it up much. When she won for best lead performance last month at the Gotham Awards, Chukwu accepted the prize for her. But with a string of nominations, there are other award shows looming for Deadwyler.

    “Whatever happens, happens,” Deadwyler says. “I’ll show up and try to look cute.”

    Chukwu had spent months searching for an actor to play Mamie before Deadwyler’s self-taped audition blew her away.

    “I feel like a lot of us have been sleeping on her incredible talent,” says Chukwu. “I hope that this film can help a hell of a lot more people see the brilliance that’s always existed.”

    Deadwyler, who grew up in Atlanta, immediately recognized in Till-Mobley’s story things to identify with, as a mother and as, she says, “a child of the civil rights legacy.” She was raised in the Cascade United Methodist Church and was a student volunteer with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr. “I’ve known this story my whole life,” she says.

    But getting into the interior of Till-Mobley was a learning process, even if some aspects of the character were painfully familiar. The film begins with Till-Mobley’s apparent trepidation at sending her son — a sunny, confident young man — into the ’50s South.

    “I have a son who’s soon to be 13 years old. I’ve had to have the same conversations that Mamie has had to have, not wanting to take away the lightness or the light of who they are,” says Deadwyler. “So many Black mothers are having that conversation. Black parents in general are reckoning with how to empower our children and admonish them, keep them buoyant and free and yet deeply aware.”

    While shooting “Till,” Chukwu found that so much of the drama could be told in Deadwyler’ eyes and face. So she would strip down scenes. When Till-Mobley memorably takes the stand in her son’s Mississippi trial, the camera stays rooted to Deadwyler.

    “After one take, my cinematographer and I looked at each other and we were like, ‘Damn. We might not need everything else because Danielle is so captivating in communicating all the beats, all of the emotional tension,’” says Chukwu. “It can be its own act of resistance in who you decide to put the camera in front of and who you decide not to put the camera in front of.”

    After shooting “Till,” Deadwyler needed a month of rest, therapy and acupuncture to rehabilitate. “I had to rebuild,” she says. “Make new choices.”

    But she’s found that discussing the film, heavy as its issues are, has also been healing. One of Till-Mobley’s most important decisions was to allow Till’s maimed body to be photographed in an open casket, images that captured the barbarism of American racial injustice and stoked the civil-rights movement. “They had to see what I had seen,” Till-Mobley wrote in her 2003 memoir. “The whole nation had to bear witness.”

    “It’s a joy to talk about it because then I get a release. That’s what Mamie said. She said talking about Emmett, talking about her experience was healing for her,” says Deadwyler. “So she did it as much as she could. She did it until the day she died. She wanted to be not the only person talking about it.”

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    Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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    For more on AP’s 2022 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, please visit: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers

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