A 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 group of actresses who viewers should keep their eyes on:

Devery Jacobs

Kawennahere Devery Jacobs – known professionally as Devery Jacobs – was born and raised in the early 1990’s in Kahnawa:ke Mohawk Territory, a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks located in Quebec, Canada. She was a student at John Abbott College, studying correctional intervention before getting into acting.

She got her start in acting through roles in TV shows like The Dead Zone, Assassin’s Creed: Lineage and Being Human (the Syfy version). But it was in the 2013 Canadian independent film Rhymes for Young Ghouls that landed her a nomination for Best Actress in a leading role at the Canadian Screen Awards.

She then appeared in guest roles in the Canadian shows Mohawk Girls, Cold, This Life, Cardinal, Nurses, The Order and Rutherford Falls.

In 2019 she landed a role on American Gods as Sam Black Crow, a young Cherokee college student who identified as “two-spirited,” a modern pan-Indian umbrella term within the Indigenous communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender or gender nonconformity. Devery herself identifies as queer, as two-spirited doesn’t exist for the Mohawk.

Since 2021 she has played a leading role in the acclaimed series Reservation Dogs about a group of Indigenous teenagers growing up on a reservation in rural Oklahoma. She was nominated this year for a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy, and she also joined the show’s writers room for the show’s second season. She will also direct an episode of the show’s upcoming third season, which is her first time directing for TV, but she is an award-winning filmmaker for her short film Rae.

She will soon be seen the Disney+ series Echo, but details are scarce on what role she will be playing.

Reservation Dogs will return for season 3 on FX on Hulu on August 2 while Echo is set to debut on November 29.

Devery can be followed on Instagram @kdeveryjacobs.

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Laysla De Oliveira

Laysla was born in the early 1990’s in Toronto Canada. She started modeling at the age of 14, but she always knew she wanted to be an actress. She studied drama and dance at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, and once she went to college, she landed an acting agent.

She appeared in several TV movies and direct-to-video films as well as appearances in TV shows like Covert Affairs, Nikita, iZombie, The Gifted and Locke & Key. She also had a role in the fan-assisted film Code 8 which starred acting cousins Robbie and Stephen Amell.

But it will be her upcoming role as Cruz, a Marine Raider, in the Paramount+ espionage thriller Special Ops: Lioness from TV powerhouse Taylor Sheridan that will have heads turning. The ensemble cast of the new drama includes Nicole Kidman, Zoe Saldana, Morgan Freeman and Michael Kelly.

Special Ops: Lioness will debut on July 23.

Laysla can be followed on Instagram @laysladeo.