Kaitlyn Dever
When it comes to acting, Dever welcomes every new role and challenge with unabashed enthusiasm. The 17-year-old remembers being “super excited” when she landed her first movie role in “An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong,” after working in commercials. “I had never done a movie, and that was what I really wanted to do,” she says.
And the thrill hasn't waned. Dever appears in the upcoming films “Laggies” and “Men, Women & Children” in addition to her gig on the ABC comedy “Last Man Standing.” Scheduling was a bit of a scramble, but more than worth it.. “Once I started doing it I didn't want to stop,” she gushes.
“I've never learned so much in my life,” she says of working on Jason Reitman's “Men, Women & Children,” and adds that her role in “Laggies,” challenged her in new ways. “It brought out another side of me.”
Dever previously made her mark in “Short Term 12” where she played Jayden, a troubled teen with a history of self-harm and abuse. “I wanted to make her very specific. It's so dramatic and so dark and I'm the opposite of dark. I'm always a happy person,” she adds with a laugh, “so it took a lot out of me to be dark and angry.”
![000]( "000")
Zoe Kravitz
Show business is a family affair for Kravitz, with an Emmy-nominated actress mother in Lisa Bonet, an actor-musician father in Lenny Kravitz and a groundbreaking actress grandmother in Roxie Roker. In a family so steeped in the entertainment industry, Kravitz knew from a young age that she wanted to act.
“(Growing up) I was just around theatrical people a lot, and I used to put on shows for my grandparents when I was 5 or 6,” she says. “When people starting asking me about what I wanted to do to make a living, or go to college … I didn't know how to do anything else. It was the only choice for me.”
She landed her debut role while still in high school, in the 2007 Catherine Zeta-Jones romantic comedy “No Reservations.” After a year studying in the acting conservatory at SUNY Purchase, she dropped out to pursue acting full time.
After a string of successful independent films, Kravitz made the giant leap to “X-Men: First Class” in 2011 followed by “After Earth” in 2013 and “Divergent” in 2014 with its sequel “Insurgent” coming in 2015.
She hasn't abandoned smaller films, though, appearing in independent dramas including “The Road Within” and “Good Kill” this year. Next year, in addition to the “Divergent” sequel, fans can see her in George Miller's “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
For Kravitz, every role is both a welcome surprise and an opportunity to do something new.
“You just adapt to the situations you're put in. Every time I get a big budget film I'm in shock. I definitely thought I was a better fit for independent films and theater, and it's all the same thing. Everything I do, even if it's an outlandish situation, I just want to try to make it as human and honest as possible.”
![000]( "000")
Tye Sheridan
Just a month shy of his 18th birthday, Sheridan, who made his film debut in the 2011 drama “The Tree of Life” opposite Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, has continued to branch out. Featuring mainly in dramas about family relationships, Sheridan is taking on a host of diverse roles in at least seven films this coming year.
In 2012 he held his own sharing the screen with Matthew McConaughey in “Mud,” then joined Nicolas Cage earlier this year in “Joe.”
Though young, the actor says he uses his past experiences to humanize his characters. “I don't have as much life experience, but I've always made it a point to try to find a place in my life where I was going through or feeling the same things as the characters I was playing.”
This past summer Sheridan flipped the script and joined the cast of Paramount's “Scouts vs. Zombies.” He considered the role an opportunity to grow and expand on the experience he continually seeks. “Mainly I do work that inspires me, based off of interesting relationships or real-life drama. But this I would say is a different step for me in as far as it being a zombie apocalypse movie.”
He can be seen in the mystery “Dark Places” with Charlize Theron. The Texas native will also appear with Benedict Cumberbatch in the war drama “The Yellow Birds,” and alongside Ewan McGregor in the spiritual “Last Days in the Desert.”
With his busy filming schedule, Sheridan says he might spend his 18th birthday on the road, but looks forward to the next step it brings in his acting career. “I'm just really excited to rent a hotel room. Because, you know, you travel around so much and sometimes it's so inconvenient not to legally be able to do that.”
![000]( "000")
Jenny Slate
Slate's experience in comedy prepped her perfectly for her role in indie film “Obvious Child.” Balancing humor and honesty, she gave a breakout performance as a feminist comedian who finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand.
The role was written for the “SNL” alum. It was originally made as a short film in 2009, which was the same year she landed her first TV gig on HBO's “Bored to Death.” Slate says despite the recent lack of complex female characters in films, she will keep pursuing those roles and forge relationships between viewers and her on-screen characters.
“What I value the most is that connection with other people and the moment when you can make somebody's face break into a smile is very powerful,” Slate says.
Slate credits “SCTV” legend John Candy and comediennes Carol Burnett and Madeline Kahn for inspiring her film aspirations. “I love doing comedy, it's in my nature to make people laugh. But there are also so many other parts of myself and places I can go emotionally.”
The busy Slate can currently be seen on three TV shows: “Parks and Recreation,” “House of Lies” and “Married.” Her other acting credits include “The Lorax,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” and “This Means War.”
She also appeared in “The Longest Week” starring Jason Bateman, which was released on Sept. 5
Slate says she will strive to keep her roles authentic. But for her it's all about timing. “This movie came at just the right time. I waited long enough to be in a movie — since I was 5 years old — and it happened at a time that I have a really good development of self.”
![000]( "000")
Miles Teller
Though he's been on the rise for some time in the film world, Teller didn't start out intending to be a movie star. “I wanted to be a sportscaster. I thought I was going to do a Bob Costas,” he says. But after taking part in his first high school play, “Footloose,” he was hooked.
Fortuitously, he landed a part in 2011's “Footloose,” where he played the same character that got him into acting. Since playing the lead in “The Spectacular Now” in 2013, Teller has been on a busy run of movie gigs including “That Awkward Moment” and the “Divergent” franchise. Now he's earning raves for “Whiplash,” where he plays a struggling young jazz drummer.
The 27-year-old actor says his favorite part of being in films is going to festivals, and he made his second Sundance appearance earlier this year with “Whiplash,” which won two top awards.
“I think you have to have both,” he says of the opportunities available in both studio films and independent pics. “For me, I'm lucky to be in a place where I can pick a project. I like the big studio films; it's always good for your work to be seen.”
Though he's not yet used to being recognized, and despite the popularity of his larger pics, he says he still gets remarks from fans about early work. “People still come up to me and say I love you in 'Rabbit Hole'. That film is really special to me. It was my first one.”
Teller has also been cast in “Bleed for This,” a biopic on boxer Vinny Pazienza, and can next be seen reprising his “Divergent” role as Peter in “Insurgent,” and as Mr. Fantastic in the upcoming “Fantastic Four” reboot. He's also set to reteam with “Whiplash” director Damien Chazelle in the musical “La La Land.”
Source
