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:

Shabana Azeez

Shabana is a 29-year-old actress who was born in Australia to Indo-Fijian parents, who was educated at an all-girls Catholic school in Adelaide in South Australia. She then went on to earn a double degree at the University of Adelaide.

Initially her parents didn’t support her acting aspirations, telling her to “audition for one drama school, and if (she) didn’t get in, (she was to) never speak of it again.”

Sadly, she wasn’t accepted into drama school so she got a degree in arts and media, but she continued with her goal of becoming an actress by appearing in a number of Australian productions from 2019 through 2023 such as the comedy series The Letdown, the drama The Hunting, the mini-series Love, Guns & Level Ups, the TV comedy Why Are You Like This, the mockumentary TV sitcom Metro Sexual, the thriller movie Fate of the Night, the dramedy In Limbo, the thriller film Birdeater and the TV comedy Utopia.

In 2023, she appeared in the Netflix movie Run Rabbit Run that starred Succession alum Sarah Snook then in 2024 she appeared in the Australian TV shows Westerners and Triple Oh!. She had a small role in the international series Nautilus that aired on AMC here in the States and in 2025 she appeared in the Netflix mini-series Apple Cide Vinegar that starred The Last of Us Kaitlyn Dever and The Walking Dead and The 100 alum Alycia Debnam-Carey. That same year, thanks to her boss at a filmmaking non-profit who got her an audition, Shabana landed the role of Princess Saira in the acclaimed animated film Lesbian Space Princess.

Her biggest role yet then came in the form of Medical Student Victoria Javadi in the Noah Wyle-led, award-winning medical drama The Pitt over on HBO Max. In fact, after a self-tape and 9-minute Zoom meeting, she landed the role and inspired the production team to make Javadi a South Asian character.

She then, of course, moved to Los Angeles because of this role; and in her spare time she takes improv and stage combat classes in her new home.

The next new episode of The Pitt will air online on HBO Max this Thursday, April 9 with the season finale set to air next Thursday, April 16.

Shabana can be followed on Instagram here.

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Ella Bruccoleri

Ella is a twentysomething actress, born to an Italian family, who grew up in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in England. She attended L’Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq, a school of physical theatre, in Paris and then graduated from the Oxford School of Drama.

A mere year later, she landed her first big role in the anthology series Genius: MLK/X, playing a small part in one episode and followed that up with small roles in shows like The Last Kingdom and All Creatures Great & Small. She also had a recurring role in the long-running PBS period piece drama Call the Midwife from 2018 to 2022.

In 2023, she appeared in the PBS dramas Hotel Portofino and Alice & Jack and the Acorn TV mystery series The Chelsea Detective. Over the next few years, she appeared in several episodes of season three of Bridgerton, the British detective dramedy Ludwig, the PBS period piece drama Bookish, the Netflix movie Joy, the Emma Thompson-led drama Down Cemetery Road as well as Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials and The Lady, both of which starred breakout actress Mia McKenna-Bruce.

Her film roles include The Strangers franchise in which she appeared in Chapter 1 in 2024, Chapter 2 in 2025 and Chapter 3, which came out this past February as well as the more family friendly 2024 movie Paddington in Peru and this year’s romantic fantasy film Wicker, which stars Oscar-winner Olivia Colman.

In addition to all of this, Ella has an exciting stage career, currently starring in The Virgins at Soho Theatre, and she is one half of the band Marry Me Emelie!, which she co-founded with Yoan Segot after they met on the open-mic circuit in Paris.

She will next be seen in the much-anticipated TV series The Other Bennet Sister in which she will play much-maligned Mary Bennet, the dour and overlooked sibling of Elizabeth and Jane Bennet.

The Other Bennet Sister will debut online on Britbox on May 6.

Ella can be followed on Instagram here.