The 2013 Popcorn N Roses Rising Stars Honors List

In the short span of just two years, and with just two perfect parts, Tye has proved he is going to be one of the top young actors of his generation. He has the natural ability to take on any role and make it work. And obviously there’s something just “right” about him, since it was famed director Terrance Malick that gave him the role in “The Tree Of Life” that shot him to fame almost overnight. Now with another critically acclaimed role in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival favorite “Mud” putting him in the lead and allowing him to shine in ways most young actors who have to play opposite Matthew McConaughey would have a difficult time doing, the film world is at his feet. With two more highly anticipated films in the can and awaiting release, Tye is about to explode, and we can’t wait to see what fireworks he creates…and it’s what makes Tye Sheridan 2013’s #1 Male Rising Star!

An actor, model, musician, and visual (performance) artist, Thomas has been working hard at his career for almost a decade. After years of modeling, he made the transition to acting in a small role in the martial arts flick “The Forbidden Kingdom” and hasn’t looked back. Lead roles in the teen comedies “Prom” and “Fun Size” has also made Thomas a very bankable commodity with the ladies as well. Next to be seen as one of the leads in the CW’s upcoming midseason science fiction series “The 100”, and continuing his film career as well, there is no doubt that with each role he lands, Thomas’ star is getting brighter and brighter…

Thomas has been one of those kids you see in virtually every film or TV project needing someone his age made in the UK over the last decade – he appeared in “Nanny McPhee” and “Love Actually” on the big screen and did his stint as a “Doctor Who” guest star as well. He first got noticed by us in a big way playing the teenaged Paul McCartney (opposite 2010 RSH alumnus Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in the sadly-underseen John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy” in 2010, and now has hitched his rising star to the monster HBO hit “Game of Thrones” where he plays Jojen Reed. Looks like biding his time doing the kid actor turn is really starting to pay off for Thomas, and we know there’s even more yet to come…

Joey first made the short list in 2010, and we’ve been keeping an eye on his budding career since. Although presently best known for roles on TV series “Kickin’ It” (which won him a 2013 Young Artist award for featured performer, one of SIX nominations he landed this year) and “How To Rock”, as well as his off-the-wall cable and internet talk show “The Joey and Elise Show”, co-hosted by sister Elise, he is also actively involved in a variety of short films and feature films. Throw in the fact that he’s also a musician and a stand up comedian, and Joey’s got the full package. And seeing as how talent runs in the family, it’s probably only a matter of time before sister Elise graces this list in future years as well…

Alex might be a total unknown to most of our readers and listeners, unless you’re from Canada, but he won’t be for long. Already a popular performer in his native land thanks to long-running roles on TV series like “Durham County” and “The Yard”, he’s making a major move to films with one of last year’s most critically acclaimed, award-winning festival circuit films. In “I Declare War”, hitting US theaters in August from Drafthouse Films, Alex plays “Frost”, an intensely sweet and hilariously imaginative kid who probably shouldn’t be involved in war games with his friends. While the entire young cast is excellent, Alex shines just ever so slightly above all of them and his antics onscreen – filled with comedy and also a bit of angst – command your attention. And we think it’s going to lead to bigger and brighter career opportunities for him throughout the film and television world…

We first noticed Gabriel in the 2011 JJ Abrams-directed family film “Super 8” playing the nerdy Martin. But it was his run on the cable series “The Big C” and his role in this summer’s off-the-wall comedy “The Kings Of Summer” that proved he belongs on this year’s RSH list. He has a certain style of charm that he brings to every role he plays, and no matter what kind of character it is, he manages to let that charm shine through. I have a feeling Gabriel could easily play a charming psychopath and get away with it…and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? He’s got the chops to go a long way…

At just 13, CJ is already having casting agents beat a path to his door. The title star of “The Odd Life Of Timothy Green” last year, CJ carried 70 percent of the movie, and stood alongside a host of veterans, able to make his mark without a problem; it was a bravura performance from someone so young, able to make you laugh so hard you could barely breathe, and also cry so hard you think you’ll never stop, and it earned him TC’s year-end Poppy Award for Best Juvenile Performance of 2012. And also earned him a spot on this year’s RSH, because we know if he can do all that at 12, there’s a LOT more to be seen from this young man…

Israel is one of those performers who manages to charm everyone the second they see him on screen, and has made him one of those young actors who made the RSH in their first year of being considered. His debut lead role as a somewhat-lackluster gay teen fashionista in Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” is off the chart fantastic, and a big role like this should lead to better and better success in LaLa Land. His manner of carrying his character on-screen reminded me a lot of another young actor I think he bears a passing resemblance to, 2007 RSH alumnus Patrick Fugit.

Despite his young age – at 12, Ty is the youngest member of the RSH Class of 2013 – he is already a seasoned pro in the business, and a face you might recognize, having spent a number of years on the daytime drama circuit and doing commercials. In the past two years, however, he has hitched his career to some stellar projects. Audiences have come to know him as the young boy trapped in a netherworld after a head injury in the terrifying thriller “Insidious” and as the street-smart, far-too-wise-for-his-age smart aleck sidekick to Robert Downey Jr in this spring’s blockbuster “Iron Man 3”. On our short list last year and just missing the cut, his turn in the latter film convinced us that Ty’s time is HERE…and it’s only a matter of time before his career really flies into the stratosphere.

Liam has been on our radar for several years, since his turn in the 2009 disaster epic “2012”, where he played John Cusack’s obnoxious son. Since then, the not quite 17 year old actor has blossomed, moving into roles that have had a great depth of character to them. His turn as “Duncan” in this summer’s critical comedy darling “The Way Way Back” is on the verge of turning him into a household name, and a face we’ll be seeing a lot more of in the future.

26 year old Osric is one of those young actors you can miss if you’re not paying attention, and that’s perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay a budding character actor. Like his fellow honoree Liam James, he first came to our attention in the blockbuster disaster epic “2012”, but it was his hilarious turn as the inept, nerdy Peng, sidekick to 2011 RSH Alumnus Thomas Mann’s equally nerdy Roosevelt in the Nickelodeon comedy “Fun Size” that really got our attention and landed him on this year’s list. We know big things are waiting just around the corner for Chau.

It cannot be easy being Meryl Streep’s daughter when you’re following in her almost-now legendary footsteps. But Mamie is proving she can do it and make it work. Even though mom initially discouraged both Mamie and sister Grace from trying acting full time because of how hard it can be to break in, Mamie is now starting to find the same kind of roles now that 30 years ago turned her mom into the superstar she is now. A lot of her early experience came from working with Mom in her movies, but once she started moving beyond that, with featured parts in films like “Stop-Loss”, “Taking Woodstock”, on television shows like “The Good Wife” and the short-lived “Emily Owens MD”, where she played the title character, and on stage as well, it’s easy to see she’s inherited her mother’s gifts. With a real star-making turn coming soon in the Sundance favorite “The Lifeguard” opposite Kristen Bell, Mamie is poised for big things, and like her mother before her, she will shine..and that’s why she is 2013’s #1 Female Rising Star!

Amy is already a superstar on the indie film circuit. She’s been around for the better part of the last decade, and has plied her stock and trade as a versatile actress, as well as a director, writer, and producer of many projects. She won Kim’s year-end Rosie award for Best Actress in the horror thriller “A Horrible Way To Die” (also nabbing TC’s runner up in that category). And in the last two years, she’s moved behind the camera in features as well, directing and writing the critically acclaimed fest favorite “Sun Don’t Shine”. Whether she’s in front of the camera acting, or doing double duty in front of and behind the camera, or when she’s out of sight and strictly behind the scenes, Amy is that rarest of rare bird in Hollywood – successful with ALL hats she wears…

As the oldest member of the RSH Class of 2013 at 33, Lake is poised to become Hollywood’s breakout girl of the next year or so. Already very visible in various projects from 2009’s “It’s Complicated”, where she plays Alec Baldwin’s wife, to her role on the Adult Swim cult hit “Children’s Hospital”, she’s known to quite a few fans. But this year, Lake took the Sundance Film Festival by storm, winning a screenwriting award for her debut film as a writer, director, producer, and star. “In A World…” is set in the world of movie voiceovers, and was one of this year’s favorites at the festival. Having already seen this hilarious film co-starring Demetri Martin, we know this film is going to catapult Lake onto the “It” list as an actress, as well as a director and writer, and you’ll know it too when the film hits theaters and OnDemand next month…

Since landing her debut film role in “The Bling Ring” as the thieving, celebrity-obsessed ringleader Rebecca Ahn, Katie is not sitting idly by; she’s had parts in a couple of other projects since then. Katie, who plans to attend Columbia University this fall, does not intend to give up acting while in college. In fact, she’s been training in her native Chicago for a number of years already, and will likely be hitting the auditions in NYC between classes. Katie is a young performer we’re going to greatly enjoy watching the progress of over the next several years, because if she’s THAT good in her debut, I have a feeling we probably haven’t even scratched the surface of her talent..

Of all the young performers who have made our short list for a year or two before making the list, Haley has been on it off and on for the longest period of time – almost SEVEN YEARS! We first noticed Haley in the critically-acclaimed film “Into The Wild” back in 2007, and since that time, she’s built up a steady string of unbelievable performances. And after almost making the cut in 2011 and 2012, fantastic performances in the films “Skateland”, “Red State” and “Disconnect” have combined to make 2013 her year. With her track record, we know Haley has what it takes to push even further up the list of in-demand young actresses, and we know she’s going to do it, too…

Acting is just part of her palette – Odeya has been turning heads as a model in both print and in commercials since she was in her preteens. Since she made the move into acting several years ago, she’s been racking up quite an impressive list of credits, not the least of which was the role of Joni, the girl who knows Timothy’s true secrets, in “The Odd Life Of Timothy Green”. Although clearly older than Timothy, she treated him as an equal and a friend; she took what could have been an obnoxious, one-note role and turned Joni into one of the memorable character of last summer. If she can do that with every role, there’s not a chance of stopping her rising star…

Lyndsy has been on our radar for several years, but never really pushed it over the top until now. Visible on television shows from daytime drama “The Young and The Restless” to primetime’s “Desperate Housewives” , it was her turn as a regular on the CW’s hit “Nikita” that finally moved her up and onto the RSH list. In addition to television work, Lyndsy will reprise her role as Dave’s loyal girlfriend Katie (opposite 2010 RSH alumnus Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in “KickAss 2” next month. And with “Nikita” ending after its upcoming season, the time is ripe for her to make the full-time leap to film stardom.

Taissa made her mark last year on the FX smash series “American Horror Story” and now this summer, takes on a role that’s a complete opposite – as a vapid, celebrity-obsessed high-schooler in Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring”. But Taissa is no stranger to acting – older sister Vera is one of the most popular character actresses of all time. If her talent pushes her to be as versatile as her sister, there are HUGE things waiting for her in the near future…

She’s barely eighteen, she’s beautiful, and she’s super talented – what ISN’T there to love about Erin? Recently seen in the short-lived ABC thriller “Red Widow” and now on movie screens everywhere in the critically-acclaimed, Sundance favorite “The Kings Of Summer”, Erin shows in that film that she can just pick up a part and walk away with the entire film. She’s got stardom written all over her work, and who knows – maybe she can play her namesake CBS journalist in a biopic some day…heh heh heh…

We’ve been keeping an eye on Alona for about four years now, waiting for her to have that role that should generate just enough buzz to bring her to everyone’s attention. She got that this year in the short-lived CW television series “Cult”, which earned, pardon the pun, a cult following in a very short time. She was quickly on the talk show circuit promoting the series, and every appearance she makes, she gets more buzz. She was also seen recently in the feature film “Broken City”, co-starring alongside Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe.