Meet the new generation of British actors reshaping Hollywood

This story is taken from the winter 2025 issue of Dazed. Order a copy of the magazine here.

Charlotte will make her film debut in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights, playing young Catherine Earnshaw, alongside Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and Owen Cooper. She got her break playing Lavender in Matilda the Musical on the West End in 2023.

“Acting is a different world. It’s incredible. I love all the characters and auditions that come up. I love being able to play different characters who have [dissimilar] thought processes. I find the contrast between all the roles really exciting. I love horror stories, drama and action. It all links to my favourite show being Stranger Things. I’m just so intrigued by all the gore. I also love Millie Bobby Brown. I think it’s amazing that she shaved her head at such a young age. I look up to her so much. I’ve always gone to the theatre. The first musical I watched was The Lion King. I also saw Matilda, which was one of my first theatre roles. But my first film was Wuthering Heights. It was such an amazing atmosphere with the cast on the moors in Yorkshire, a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Emerald made the workplace atmosphere so relaxing and funny. I had so much fun with Owen [Cooper] and Vy [Nguyen], on and off set, and obviously Margot and Jacob are such incredible people. I loved the entire cast.”

Bilal is a north London-born actor and playwright of Palestinian and Pakistani descent. He starred in the lauded one-man play For a Palestinian in 2022, and shone as a sweet-natured drag queen in Amrou Al-Kadhi’s Layla, his feature-film debut. Fresh from a turn in Apple TV’s hit spy thriller Slow Horses, he will star in Half Man, a new drama from Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd, next year.

“Watching people be present with each other tells you everything you need to know about being a human. I am always striving to do that as much as I can. When you’re an actor, your toolkit is your human beingness. It allows you to engender a level of empathy you can’t get in any other art. In the time we are living in, it’s even more important to [nurture] that. Since the Greeks, we have gone to the theatre for a specific reason: to feel catharsis; to remember that we all have beating hearts capable of feeling all sorts of emotions. As soon as you shut yourself off from that, you’re not being a human. You’re something else. It’s hard to pick a favourite project of mine, but in 2022 I wrote a play called For a Palestinian, which was about the life of Palestinian poet and translator Wael Zuaiter. We worked with incredible organisations to deliver the show, and it unlocked a lot of things for me.”

Francesca is an actor from Kent. She is best known for her performances in Apple TV’s The Buccaneers and Amazon Prime’s The Girlfriend, alongside Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke. Next year she will star in The War Between the Land and the Sea, a BBC series created by It’s a Sin writer Russell T Davies.

“I’ve always loved performing be that in school plays or imagining worlds with friends – and I have always had my nose in a fantasy book. My favourite is The Hobbit. There is so much about that world that I like. It really moves me seeing ordinary people do extraordinary things. Like Frodo – he’s so unassuming, but he does this extraordinary thing. He is courageous, and it touches me deeply. I love stories that have a touch of the fantastical; being part of a world that isn’t quite like our own is always fun. I’m so drawn to stories that explore courage in all its quiet and loud forms. I think fear and anxiety are a universal part of being human. So nothing inspires me more than witnessing someone feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Those are the stories I’m drawn to most. Acting is a job that encourages expression and creativity, and it is rooted in empathy. To be able to reach people through stories is someaningful to me.”

Ellis is an actor from Liverpool who followed up roles in Red Rose and HBO’s Catherine
the Great with a breakout performance in BBC Three’s What It Feels Like for a Girl. He currently has an autobiographical show in development for Netflix.

“I think actors have a place in culture that is profound and powerful. Every time history has gone pear-shaped, actors are some of the first people who are put in prison, detained and silenced. [American playwright] Lorraine Hansberry said that creating a play should be a dangerous thing. It should say something about society. Actors, theatre-makers and artists can shape public opinion and provoke. Look at what John Boyega did with Black Lives Matter, using his fame to move culture. It doesn’t have to happen with every play. Not everything is important; sometimes it’s just a camp time, sometimes it’s an escape. But sometimes you are incredibly lucky and can push society to be more kind, open and nuanced. I think What It Feels Like for a Girl does that. There’s nothing better than that when you’re an actor. That’s why it’s an important, meaningful pursuit. I think acting can sometimes bridge into deep activism. It doesn’t have to, but I do think that the pursuit of making art is the pursuit of empathy, and it’s no bad thing if people are more empathetic.”

Aidan is a British-Chinese actor from London. He is best known for his roles in the Hulu series Red Eye and Harlots, and Netflix’s Emmy-nominated sci-fi drama 3 Body Problem.

“When you’re on a production – be it for theatre, film or TV – you’re in it, you’re locked in, you’re all family. It can be tender and supportive but it’s also messy and visceral, and there can be clashes. It’s so intimate and intense – and then it ends. It’s hard. I think I’m probably not as good a friend as I was before acting, because I need to disappear for a bit to recover after those intense bursts. Because of its brevity, the time you do have together [on set] is so valuable. You get used to falling in and out of love a lot. You might have been filming and rehearsing for a week, and you already love each other so much and know each other so well. It’s a joy to fall in love, and then it’s so heartbreaking to fall out of love. It’s kind of the tragedy of it, but it’s also a blessing. I felt artistic nourishment from a play I did earlier this year called Scenes From a Repatriation. It was a great company of people, and that’s the thing about theatre – whether you have a good or a bad night, everyone feels it together. You feel like you’re going into war with these people.”

London-born Alex starred with Ellis Howard in What It Feels Like for a Girl, adapted from the memoir of transgender journalist, presenter and campaigner Paris Lees, and played Jetta in Lena Dunham’s romantic comedy series Too Much.

“I took a huge step back from commercial theatre during Covid, and thought about what I really wanted for myself, being transfeminine and non-binary – all these things that aren’t [that visible] in commercial musical theatre. I spent so long playing the role of a young guy or the gay guy, and I was just like, ‘This isn’t who I am.’ But if you look at the landscape of commercial musical theatre in the West End, what roles are there for me? I have such a deep attachment to working on screen it was the first thing I ever did, and it’s such a joy. So I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to focus on where we are being a bit more celebrated.’ Don’t get me wrong, they’re no utopia of trans celebration, but film and television are definitely more forward-thinking industries in some ways. More stories are being told. There’s more scope for people like me. My biggest thing in life, across the board, is going where people celebrate you. That’s why What It Feels Like for a Girl felt like such a transcendent, once-in-a-lifetime job. I’ve never worked on something that was by the dolls and for the dolls.”

Bukky is an actor from Hackney, east London. At 15, she was discovered at school by director Sarah Gavron, who cast her in the titular role of her coming-of-age film Rocks. She is set to star in the film adaptation of Afrofantasy novel, Children of Blood and Bone, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.

“I really want to tell stories that talk about beauty, discomfort and coming of age. I’m trying my hardest to ensure I am in the intellectual place to tell these stories in the best way. I’m trying to get these subject matters from girls and boys I identify with and tell them in artistic, commercial ways. I want visibility for stories like this, not just to reach the right people, but to be part of the library, part of the experience, part of the filmography. I’m not trying to be a figurehead for anything. As I move through life, I’ve realised I only care about working on my projects and ideas, spending time with my friends, building my life and doing it righteously. I’m really excited about some of the stuff I’m writing and making. I want to be as bold as D’Angelo; I want to do my Voodoo and then come back with my Vanguard – and nothing will stop me from doing that. Acting widens my empathy. There’s a film that I’m doing next year called Jumoke, which deals with issues around prostitution. It really changed my views on sex work and desperation.”

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Alfie made his big-screen breakthrough this year, when he starred alongside Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Years Later. He will reprise his role as Spike in the sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, in January.

“I first fell in love with acting through seeing my dad act and from watching movies. I would watch stuff and be like, ‘I want to be an action hero. I want to be like them.’ The earliest film I remember watching was Superman with Christopher Reeve. Then, we had this game for the Xbox 360 Kinect, where it would put your face on an actor’s body. I would dress up as Superman, pretending to hold up a falling building…I like exploring different themes in film. I like bringing stories to life, but the main thing is the character has got to be right. It has to be a well-written character, someone with personality. I don’t want to play a boring person. 28 Years Later was the first big thing I got, so I was really excited. There’s a bit in the movie where my character, Spike, and Jamie [Taylor-Johnson] run across this tidal causeway. We were in the studio and it was in this big pool, and I kept falling over… I just love my job. If you were to ask any teenager if they would like to be in a movie, I’m sure they’d be like, ‘Of course!’ I just love doing it.”

South London-born Mia’s first feature film and breakout role was in Ariane Labed’s directorial debut, September Says. She is set to star opposite Jenna Ortega and Steve Buscemi in a film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun, directed by Taika Waititi.

“I did youth theatre and found my community. I realised that a lot of people also wanted to do this as a job. But I think that acting is also a form of play. That’s how it starts when you’re young – it’s pure and instinctual. I think that’s important to remember going forward. It’s been interesting to transition from acting as a hobby I did after school to a job. But I try to remind myself that it’s play. I’m most drawn to stories that people might be afraid to dive into – films that, if you explain the premise to someone, they’d be like, ‘I don’t know about that.’ That’s what I am most attracted to. Acting is a meaningful pursuit for me because it’s all about connection. I think that translates outside of acting, and that’s what I look for – connecting in whatever ways, connecting with my scene partner or with an audience. I’m always looking for community, connection and conversation.”

Hair Mayuko Nakae using Bumble and bumble, hair for Alex Thomas-Smith and Bukky Bakray Khanya Henry using Dyson Airwrap, L’Oréal Elnett Strong Hold Hairspray and Sam McKnight Gel, make-up Mee Kee using M.A.C, set design Alice Jacobs at Walter Schupfer Management, movement direction Joe Grey Adams, lighting Oliver Matich, photographic assistants Eve Eberlin, Silvia Anzoletti, Max Lancaster, styling assistants Thulile Mazosiwe, Wonder Lisungi, hair assistant Kazuya Hirota, make-up assistant Natsu Tomonaga, set design assistant Iona Bathurst, production June Thompson, production assistants Phoebe Balinska, Ivy Prestwood Smith, casting Concorde Casting, special thanks Emily Brockmann