Top 10 Best Debut Movie Actors of 2025

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Ignacio Weil

Entertainment - January 13th 2026, 22:00 GMT+1

SZA One of Them Days cropped processed by imagy — 10. SZA – One of Them Days

This movie moves on pure momentum: two friends, one rental crisis, and a whole lot of bad decisions made at sprint speed. SZA’s film debut as Alyssa works best when she plays it loose – reactive, messy, funny in a way that feels natural next to Keke Palmer’s bigger comic firepower. Some reviews call her a straight-up natural, while others peg her as charming but still a little limited, which honestly feels fair for a first swing in a starring role. Either way, she’s present, game, and never dead weight in a comedy that demands timing. | © TriStar Pictures

Maia Kealoha Lilo Stitch cropped processed by imagy — 9. Maia Kealoha – Lilo & Stitch

If you’re going to remake *Lilo & Stitch*, you need a Lilo who can sell the hurt under the jokes – otherwise it’s just noise with a cute alien. Maia Kealoha makes that emotional core feel lived-in, not “kid-actor precious,” and her debut performance keeps the movie grounded whenever the chaos ramps up. She’s playful without being forced, prickly without being unlikable, and when the story leans into family and grief, she doesn’t blink. It’s a debut that doesn’t just survive the spotlight; it quietly controls it. | © Walt Disney Pictures

Angel Reese A House of Dynamite cropped processed by imagy — 8. Angel Reese – A House of Dynamite

The wild part is how quickly you can spot her if you’re paying attention – one of those “wait, was that…?” moments that lands like a little jolt inside a very serious movie. WNBA star Angel Reese makes her feature film debut via a cameo in Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear-crisis thriller, and the appearance doesn’t derail the tension; it adds a quick flash of real-world presence before the film snaps back into its procedural panic. It’s brief, but it’s a legit big-screen first step, and a memorable one. | © Netflix

Tom Francis Jay Kelly cropped processed by imagy — 7. Tom Francis – Jay Kelly

Baumbach’s *Jay Kelly* is the kind of low-key, bittersweet Hollywood satire that lives or dies on whether the supporting players feel like real people orbiting the “main attraction.” Tom Francis pops up as the “Actor at Audition,” and even in a smaller slice of screen time, he registers – sharp timing, clear choices, no desperate “look at me” energy. It’s a smart first step into film: he doesn’t try to outshine Clooney or Sandler, he just adds texture to the movie’s industry-in-the-mirror vibe, like someone you’d actually run into at a casting office on a bad day. | © Pascal Pictures

Nadia Melliti The Little Sister cropped processed by imagy — 6. Nadia Melliti – The Little Sister

Nothing about this coming-of-age drama is flashy, and that’s exactly why the lead performance matters so much – every glance, every hesitation, every decision not to speak has to carry weight. Nadia Melliti plays Fatima with restraint that can read as guarded (even opaque, if you’re expecting big emotional punctuation), but the subtlety is the point: you can practically watch her negotiating identity in real time. It’s the kind of debut that asks you to lean in, not clap, and when the film lands, it’s because she refuses to overplay the inner turmoil. | © June Films

Luke Manley Marty Supreme cropped processed by imagy — 5. Luke Manley - Marty Supreme

Safdie’s camera loves people who feel discovered rather than cast, and *Marty Supreme* leans hard into that lived-in, downtown New York energy. Dion Galanis isn’t written like a tidy supporting piece; he’s more like a spark plug in the movie’s manic ecosystem – someone who can tilt a scene with pure attitude and timing. What makes it pop is how unpolished it feels in the best way: the confidence is messy, the reactions are fast, and the whole thing reads like a real character brushing past you in a crowded room. Luke Manley sells that vibe without trying to “perform” it, and that kind of natural presence is exactly what makes Safdie’s ensembles hum. | © A24

Miles Caton Sinners cropped processed by imagy — 4. Miles Caton – Sinners

A lot of *Sinners* runs on mood – heat, music, dread – and the performance that sells that vibe without forcing it is the kid at the center of the storm. As Sammie, Miles Caton arrives with an easy, lived-in calm that makes the supernatural turns hit harder, because you buy the human stakes first. Reviews clocked him as an acting debut, and it shows in the best way: he isn’t overplaying “breakout,” he’s just convincing, especially in the musical passages where the film’s soul is supposed to live. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

Cropped bring her back — 3. Jonah Wren Phillips - Bring Her Back

The Philippou brothers don’t do gentle horror, and *Bring Her Back* asks its youngest cast members to carry a lot of the unease without leaning on jump-scare theatrics. What makes the performance stick is how *quiet* it is – long stretches where the discomfort comes from stillness, timing, and the sense that something is wrong before anyone says a word. Jonah Wren Phillips, playing Oliver/Connor Bird, delivers that kind of unnerving presence that creeps under your skin rather than trying to shock you on cue. It’s a breakout big-screen role that feels engineered to haunt the audience’s memory, and he pulls it off with eerie control. | © Causeway Films

Aidan Delbis Bugonia cropped processed by imagy — 2. Aidan Delbis – Bugonia

Getting dropped into a Lanthimos machine is a trial by fire even for veterans, so watching a newcomer hold his ground is half the thrill here. Aidan Delbis plays Don, and what could’ve been a quirky sidekick role instead lands with real tenderness and oddball specificity – he feels like a person, not a “concept.” Coverage around the film framed him as an overnight story (high school to a major set), and multiple sources list *Bugonia* as his first feature. The result is a debut that’s eccentric in the way Lanthimos needs, but still emotionally readable. | © Focus Features

Chase Infiniti One Battle After Another cropped processed by imagy — 1. Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson doesn’t hand out soft introductions, and this film gives its youngest performer a lot to carry – speed, danger, big emotions, and scenes opposite absolute screen titans. As Willa, Chase Infiniti has that rare quality where you believe the character’s fear and bravado in the same breath; she doesn’t “act tough,” she just is, then lets the vulnerability leak through when it hurts most. Profiles and film notes have been explicit about this being her movie debut, and it plays like one of those debuts that instantly turns into a calling card. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

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With sequels, franchises, and awards bait crowding the calendar, 2025 still managed to deliver something rarer: true on-screen introductions that felt instantly magnetic. These weren’t “good for a first movie” performances – they were the kind that make a familiar genre snap into focus, or turn a solid film into one people won’t stop recommending.

A quick note on scope: hundreds of films premiere every year, and even more new faces show up across them, so this list isn’t pretending to be an exhaustive census. We’re focusing on widely seen, talked-about movies – and the new actors whose debuts broke through that noise, sparked real buzz, and announced themselves to mainstream audiences.