The Best Young Black Actors and Actress Right Now

Black Hollywood is putting in that work right now. If it were a person, Black Hollywood would have clear skin, an immaculate hairline, edges to die for and a shoe game worthy of its own show on Complex. The future is bright. Black stars from the 99s and 2000s are becoming bosses, moving from in front of the camera to behind the camera. Gabrielle Union’s production company just secured the rights to the next big YA novel turned movie 500 Words Or Less. Kevin Hart just produced his first movie, Night School, which opened at number 1 at the box offices.

With all this success and transitioning, who are the stars of tomorrow? Well, if the next crop of actors and actresses are a sign of the future, the kids of Black Hollywood will be alright. We have a bunch of super talented actors, who are getting all the roles, Brian Tyree Henry, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita N’yongo, Tiffany Haddish and more, but who’s next? Here is a list of 6 actors you need to put on your radar right now. They are the future.

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Jonathan Majors – Whether playing a tough guy gangster from Detroit in the 80s or a badass American soldier in 1892, Jonathan Majors has a lot of range. Most recently you saw him pull off a stellar performance in White Boy Rick as Johnny “Lil Man” Curry. He was so good in that role that you wouldn’t have even noticed he played a soldier in the movie Hostiles. He transforms into characters. Now, he is about to get his break alongside Jurnee Smollett Bell in HBO’s Lovecraft Country produced by Jordan Peele for HBO. So take advice from me get familiar now.

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Kiki Layne – You have not seen Kiki in anything yet unless you just remember her brilliant performance in Chicago Med, but she is the star of Barry Jenkins upcoming film “If Beale Street Could Talk.” The film is based off the world famous James Baldwin novel of the same name and Kiki plays Tish Rivers a young woman who ends up pregnant by a man in jail trying to do everything in her power to get him out of jail before the baby is born. Kiki gives a marvelous performance that is bound to get a lot of Oscar buzz. Throw in movies like Native Son and she is going to be a name you hear every award season.

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RJ Cyler – The cool kid. I first saw him give an emotional performance as Earl in Me, Earl and The Dying Girl as well as steal the show in the Power Rangers movie. Since then he has been on HBO’s Principals and Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here. His acting style can consume you as you lose him in his characters. Whether he is a geek who makes weird videos for a sick girl, or a cool thug who shoots guns in abandoned buildings while selling crack for a Detroit boss, he is so good you probably saw his work and didn’t know it was him. But make a mental note and remember him because he is the future.

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Dominque Fishback – I had the pleasure of meeting this young lady at Pace University 5 years ago and immediately knew she would be a star. Since our meeting, she’s booked a role in HBO’s newest hit show Deuces and she is a bright spot in The Hate U Give, a social justice movie about a young girl who witnesses the cops killing her best friend. Fishback is super talented and she’s booking role after role. You got to be good to play Jay Z’s mother, a role she completely owns in Jay Z’s smile video. Next, you can see her starring alongside Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in an untitled sci-fi movie. The girl is going to be huge.

Photo by Lloyd Persil —- M i a H a n s e n 5320 Sylmar Avenue, Sherman Oaks, CA 91401 O: 818.386.2907 | C: 310.871.2677 | F: 818.386.2909 http://www.portraitpr.com | ashton sanders,kids of summer</p>

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Ashton Sanders – After gaining attention in the Oscar-winning movie Moonlight, Ashton has been making a name by himself by working with the best name in acting, alongside Denzel Washington in Equalizer 2 as Miles Whittaker. Acting alongside Denzel is no easy task but Ashton held his own crafting believable scenes in a sequel people are calling better than the original. Next up for Sanders is a movie called Captive State that looks freaking insane, so put that on your must-watch list now. The film stars Vera Farmiga and John Goodman, and is set in a Chicago neighborhood a decade after an occupation by an alien force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict – the collaborators and dissidents. Ashton is building a very impressive resume.

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Bresha Webb – When it comes to women in comedy, y’all should get up on Bresha Webb. She’s been holding down in Marlon on NBC as Yvette and the last movie she was in, Night School, opened at number 1 in the box office with the help of Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. While more opportunities and door are opening for her, Bresha been funny. Her Tiny impressions are spot on, and he Fences parody broke the internet. Her next two movies are bound to make her a hood legend. She is going to steal the show in Meet The Blacks: The House Next Door as well as rejoining Marlon Wayans in his movie Sextuplets.