A Salute to Rising Stars

Ash Santos

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 group of actresses who viewers should keep their eyes on:

Ash Santos

Ashley Santos, known professionally as Ash Santos, is a 30-something actress, who was born in The Bronx, New York where she discovered her love of sports. She was also interested in acting, and after she relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah she started her acting career.

One of her first big roles on TV was in the 2015 holiday movie I’m Not Ready for Christmas, which aired on the Hallmark Channel. The following year she appeared in two more Hallmark Channel movies, the first was My Summer Prince, and the second was Broadcasting Christmas.

Ash didn’t stop there with her roles in holiday movies, as she appeared in the 2017 Lifetime holiday movie Wrapped Up in Christmas; and that same year she was back on the Hallmark Channel in the holiday movie Sharing Christmas.

That same year she landed a small role in the short-lived drama Relationship Status that aired on the mobile video streaming service go90, which launched in 2015 but discontinued in 2018. That same year she landed a role in the long-running American Horror Story anthology series, this one focused on a nuclear apocalypse.

Over the next few years, she had a guest starring role in FBI: Most Wanted; appeared in the 2020 Mark Wahlberg movie Joe Bell; appeared in the 2021 Michael Shannon movie Heart of Champions and she had a role in the 2022 Hulu mini-series Mike, which focused on controversial heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

In the last few years she has had roles in the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown; in the 2024 Netflix holiday movie Our Little Secret, which starred Lindsay Lohan, and the short-lived Netflix medical drama Pulse.

Ash Santos as Andrea Cruz in Marshals

But, it is her current role in the CBS Yellowstone spin-off series Marshals, playing Andrea Cruz, that has put her on the map with TV viewers. Ironically, when she landed her role, she felt it was “nothing short of meant to be” as she lives in Utah and “it was a huge coincidence that we were already going to be shooting in Park City.”

Additionally, the character she plays in Marshals is a natural fit for her, as Andrea is from The Bronx (where Ash was born and raised) and her character’s father, just like her very own, was also in law enforcement.

The next new episode of Marshals will air on CBS on Sunday, March 22.

As mentioned, Ash lives in Utah with her two children.

Ash can be followed on Instagram here.

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Yerin Ha (Photo Credit: Vanity Fair)

Yerin Ha

Yerin is a twentysomething actress who was born in Sydney, Australia to South Korean parents who met while studying at drama school; and her maternal grandmother is the Korean actress and politician Son Sook.

Based on her parents’ recommendations, Yerin decided to train in South Korea, successfully auditioning for Kaywon High School of Arts in Seoul. She later returned to Australia to get her acting degree, majoring in Musical Theatre, from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

In 2019, she appeared in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Lord of the Flies alongside actresses Mia Wasikowska and Eliza Scanlen and that same year she had a role in the short-lived ABC drama Reef Break, which starred Poppy Montgomery.

That same year it was announced that she was cast in the Steven Spielberg-produced TV adaptation of the video game Halo, which didn’t premiere on Paramount+ until 2022. In the meantime, she was part of the main cast of the Australian series Troppo, which starred Thomas Jane.

Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek in Bridgerton

During those productions, she starred in the mini-series Bad Behavior, based on the Rebecca Starford novel, which aired on Stan, the Australian subscription-based streaming service. In 2024, she appeared in the Dune prequel series Dune: Prophecy on HBO.

And then her big international break came along, as she was cast as Sophie Baek, the love interest of Benedict Bridgerton (played by series regular Luke Thompson), in the fourth season of the Netflix hit series Bridgerton. Before the season premiere of Bridgerton earlier this year, though, Yerin had a main role in the Netflix Australian mini-series The Survivors, which was based on the Jane Harper novel.

Yerin can currently be seen in the fourth season of Bridgerton now airing on Netflix.

Yerin can be followed on Instagram here.