Salute to Rising Stars

It’s that time again to salute those actresses who are on the move, actresses who deserve a little extra attention for their latest work, those actresses who are rising stars. Landing that crucial role in a TV movie or guest appearance in a successful show or film makes all the difference for aspiring actors.

Let’s take a look at the next two actresses who viewers should keep their eye on:

Rachel Hilson

Rachel is a graduate of both the Baltimore School for the Arts and the New York University. She trained as a dancer for over a decade, which helped with her recurring role in the most recent season of This Is Us, where she portrayed the teen version of Beth, Randall Pearson’s wife.

Prior to that she made guest appearances in shows like Royal Pains, The Good Wife, Elementary, Nurse Jackie, The Affair, Madam Secretary, The Americans and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In 2017, she worked on the independent box office film Kings, which starred Halle Berry and Daniel Craig, that focused on the weeks leading up to the controversial verdict in the Rodney King trial. She followed that performance by a recurring role in the short-lived NBC series Rise, which put her background as a singer and dancer to full use and then she appeared in an episode of the mini-series Fosse/Verdon. She also appeared in an episode of First Wives Club, which aired last year on BET+ (the streaming service of BET).

Up next for her is the Hulu series Love, Victor – set to debut on the streaming service tomorrow, June 17 [a small screen adaptation of the box office film Love, Simon]. She will play Mia, a new high school friend of the lead character.

She is also a writer who wrote a short film about gentrification as well as a play called Seventh Date.

Rachel can be followed on Instagram and on Twitter @rachelnhilson.

Alex McGregor

Alex was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and she got her start in 2008 in the South African series Charlie Jade, and then she appeared in a couple episodes of the short-lived series Crusoe (that starred Strike Back and Law & Order alum Philip Winchester).

Over the next few years she appeared in the South African film franchise Spud (that starred future internet sensation Troye Sivan and veteran comedian John Cleese) before she landed a role in the short-lived series Of Kings and Prophets. She followed that up with a recurring role in the Syfy thriller Blood Drive.

She was then to star in the Berlanti Productions/Warner Brothers series Searchers – that unfortunately didn’t get picked up – before landing the role of Amae in the wacky Syfy series Vagrant Queen, based on the comic book series.

Alex can be followed on Instagram, on Facebook and on Twitter @AlexPiaraMcG.

Here is to Rachel and Alex as rising stars!

Make sure to check out our previous salute to rising stars here.

Please be on the look-out for more salutes to rising stars in the future.