Ranks #26-40
The performers who began to catch my eyes in 2025.
40. Iyanna Halley (📉20)
⭐ Veteran Presence
Halley landed on the list with her handful of appearances on Abbott Elementary as Taylor Howard, Barbara’s daughter and new mother.
2025 Appearances: 2 | Seen: 1 (Abbott Elementary) | Career: 43 Roles
39. Karen Pittman
⭐ Veteran Presence
As a mother to one of the young lovers in Forever, Karen displayed a love for her child finding interest in a young lady as he tries to juggle school and basketball.
2025 Appearances: 3 | Seen: 1 (Forever) | Career: 42 Roles
👀 THE ONES YOU SHOULD KNOW
38. Andrene Ward-Hammond
⭐ Veteran Presence
Andrene introduced the audience to Mississippi family in Sinners. Mother to Sammie, she balances the care for her son’s aspirations to be a musician.
2025 Appearances: 4 | Seen: 1 (Sinners) | Career: 43 Roles
37. Chipo Chung
🧱 Foundation
Silo‘s Sandy was not a fan of Julie stepping into the sheriff role, but was very transparent once Jules was sent out to clean and became a martyr for all the inhabitants.
2025 Appearances: 2 | Seen: 1 (Silo) | Career: 51 Roles
36. Sarah Niles
⭐ Veteran Presence
Niles entered the MCU in 2025 as a supporting character not only in the film but as a character that supported the heroic squad as their Chief of Staff, Lynne Nichols.
2025 Appearances: 3 | Seen: 1 (The Fantastic Four: First Steps) | Career: 48 Roles
35. Tristan Cunningham
⭐ Veteran Presence
Tristan portrays Toni Holley in Reasonable Doubt. Last season, we watched Toni work through the arc of losing a break baby shared with Jax’s husband. Seeking closure, she continues to sow seeds of distrust between the main couple.
2025 Appearances: 4 | Seen: 1 (Reasonable Doubt) | Career: 43 Roles
📚 THE RESUME BUILDERS
34. Lovie Simone
🚀 Momentum
Lovie has grown up much since her role on OWN’s Greenleaf, where she was a very entitled teen in a famous church family. Last year, she steps in as a young girl with a scandalous past just trying to finish high school while finding affection in a young basketball player.
2025 Appearances: 8 | Seen: 1 (Forever) | Career: 16 Roles
33. Wunmi Mosaku (📉16)
📺 TV Force
Wunmi has taken up the challenge of bringing some very powerful women to life on the screen. It was more of the same in 2025; she gave Annie the life of being the one connected to her spirituality enough to recognize the threat the vampires brought to a Clarksdale juke joint on its opening night.
2025 Appearances: 2 | Seen: 1 (Sinners) | Career: 61 Roles
🎭 THE SCENE CHANGERS
32. Brandee Evans
👀 Discovery
The long hiatus of P-Valley has us waiting to see more of Brandee. In comes her as Monica Wilson last year; her part had us wondering if child molesting manager could graduate into a jealous murderer.
2025 Appearances: 7 | Seen: 1 (Reasonable Doubt) | Career: 26 Roles
31. Genneya Walton
🎭 Scene Stealer
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 was nudged along by the investigative freelance reporter, BB Urich (Walton). Her connection to someone inside the mayor’s office would eventually break the corrupt administration but cost someone their life.
2025 Appearances: 8 | Seen: 1 (Daredevil: Born Again) | Career: 21 Roles
30. Regan Aliyah
🔥 Breakout
Regan is a newer face to the industry, and she was assigned the role of Zelma, a Marvel character who is in tuned with the mystic arts. She helped Riri find the power of the main antagonist in the Ironheart series that lead to a huge character reveal by the end of it all.
2025 Appearances: 10 | Seen: 1 (Ironheart) | Career: 7 Roles
29. Angela Grovey (📈6)
🚀 Momentum
Grovey is the 3rd cast member from Reasonable Doubt in this group. As Krystal Waters, she was one of Jax’s supporters in the office. What happens when she finds out about a fling that could threaten the integrity of the murder trial though?
2025 Appearances: 10 | Seen: 1 (Reasonable Doubt) | Career: 13 Roles
🔥 THE MOMENTUM MAKERS
28. Nikki M. James
🚀 Momentum
Matt Murdock needed the help from all his connections to take down Wilson Fisk. It was the work of Kristen McDuffie (James) that proved significant in the anti-vigilante trials during the second season of Daredevil: Born Again.
2025 Appearances: 8 | Seen: 1 (Daredevil: Born Again) | Career: 33 Roles
27. Tessa Thompson (📈3)
🎬 Film Force
Thompson supplied her voice to the animated Marvel Zombies as Valkyrie continues to play a role in the storytelling of the MCU. She was needed to help a crew of survivors navigate a world of zombified heroes to eye popping ending.
2025 Appearances: 3 | Seen: 1 (Marve Zombies) | Career: 71 Roles
26. Adriyan Rae
🌍 Versatile
I stumbled on Adriyan while watching an episode of Fatal Attraction a few years back. She has sprinkled credits here and there since then. She may be found lingering as a non-essential character in many film and shows. Audiences can catch her in most of the Forever series on Netflix.
2025 Appearances: 10 | Seen: 1 (Forever) | Career: 25 Roles
Next up, we jump to my Elite
