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:

[Photo Credit: CBC and Entertainment One]

Star Slade

The 20-year old actress hails from Lindsay, Ontario, Canada and has been acting for the past 5 years. In fact, she got her start on stage at the Lindsay Little Theatre, her local playhouse that has been producing live theatre for over 50 years. Star was already an accomplished ballet dancer with an interest in art and writing, when her best friend (and fellow actress) Anwen O’Driscoll told her that her mom had written a play for the Lindsay Little Theatre. Star auditioned and got cast. It was then that Star “understood how much I love(d) acting.”

In 2017, Star landed a role in the 18th Century-set Jason Momoa drama Frontier, appearing in 3 episode of that Netflix period piece. She followed that up with the 4-episode 2018 web series Colour of Scar Tissue where she played one of three sisters uprooted from their lives in rural Manitoba and forced to move to Winnipeg’s North End. You can watch those episodes here.

Also during this time, Star and Anwen appeared alongside each other in the educational children’s web series Emerald Code and then appear in the 2019 independent film Castle in the Ground that debuted in the fall of 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival where it received a nomination for Best Canadian Feature Film.

But it has been her turn as Luna Spence on the Canadian series Burden of Truth that has put her on the map. She plays the younger half-sister of lead character Joanna Handley (now Joanna Chang) played by Smallville and Beauty and the Beast alum Kristin Kreuk. The series runs on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and is rebroadcast here in the US on The CW. It should also be noted that Star’s best friend Anwen also appears in the series as Luna’s best friend Taylor Matheson.

She has also recently appeared in an episode of the Canadian legal drama Diggstown.

Ironically, Star has a dog named Luna (just like her Burden of Truth character), but that was the dog’s name before Star even adopted her. She shared in an interview that “ever since I was a little kid, I wanted a big dog named Luna, so when I saw her and learned her name…I knew she was my dog.”

You can follow Star on Instagram here.

[Photo Credit: Parade]

Anjelika Washington

The 22-year old actress from Bakersfield, California has been acting professionally for the past 6 years, but was introduced to acting when she was just 8 years of age. She started taking acting seriously when she was a junior in high school when she joined an acting class.

She worked on various shorts for a couple of years before making guest roles in shows like Shameless, Marvel’s Runaways and Young Sheldon as well as appearing in the Netflix film Step Sisters. She also executive produced and starred in a 2017 short called Dear Vivian.

Last year, she appeared in the Netflix teen romantic comedy film Tall Girl, playing Fareeda, the best friend of the lead character Jodi and followed that up with a role in this year’s Lena Waithe created series Girls Room that aired on IGTV (Instagram TV).

But it’s been her turn as Beth Chapel (aka Dr. Mid-Nite) in the DC Universe and The CW superhero series DC’s Stargirl that debuted in the middle of May on both platforms (and was recently renewed for a second season exclusively on The CW).

She also recently filmed a comedy-drama movie called Moxie, directed by Amy Poehler – based on the novel by Jennifer Mathieu – that will star Clark Gregg (of the Marvel franchise fame) and Marcia Gay Harden; and will be seen in the independent film Max and Me.

Anjelika considers herself a foodie, she loves cats, loves to travel and loves volunteering; she especially loves working with kids.

[Source: TV Overmind]

You can follow Anjelika on Instagram here; on Twitter @AnjelikaW and on Facebook here.

Here is to Star and Anjelika as rising stars!

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

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