The Hollywood Reporter presents the Next Gen Talent of 2024 in honor of THR's Next Gen Issue. Stars including Kit Connor, Ryan Destiny, Kaia Gerber, David Jonsson, Katy O'Brian, Aaron Pierre, Josh Rivera, Dominic Sessa and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai reveal the celebrity they are dying to work with, the best advice they’ve received and more.
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00:00Early is on time, and on time is late.
00:03It's not really a good example,
00:03because I showed up 20 minutes late to this,
00:05but LA traffic, man, that's all I gotta say.
00:17If I was not an actor, I would be a librarian.
00:20If I weren't an actor,
00:21I would probably want to be a fighter,
00:26which would be really scary,
00:28and I'd be bad at it, but it'd be fun.
00:30I'd probably be in the army,
00:31or probably do something really brainy,
00:34which is astronomy, or the calculations
00:38of how to get from one place to another.
00:40A track and field athlete.
00:42Who knows how much success I would have,
00:44but I would definitely do my best to pursue that.
00:47A history teacher.
00:48I'm a big fan of history.
00:49I know that sounds a little lame and boring,
00:51but I never had a lot of inspirational teachers
00:54in my past who made me want to continue going to school,
00:56so being that person for some youth
00:59would be my dream.
01:01The person I'm dying to work with is Ayo Edebiri.
01:05We met, actually, at a BAFTA tea party,
01:08and she screamed my name from across the room.
01:12And I turned around, and it was her,
01:14and she gave me a big hug,
01:15and everyone was like, what's going on here?
01:17And it was the first time I met her,
01:18but she's just got such a beautiful, generous energy.
01:22I would love to work with Josh O'Connor.
01:26You know, him and I are pretty friendly,
01:30and whenever I see him, I just always kind of think,
01:34I'd love to see him at work.
01:37Helena Raine.
01:37What I've learned from my career is,
01:39if you can, work with your friends.
01:42Man, I would love to work with Toni Collette.
01:45Oh, she is unbelievable.
01:47I really was like, oh my gosh, this woman's incredible,
01:50when I saw Hereditary.
01:52Jack Black, maybe, just because it seems like
01:56it would be a fun time being around him.
01:58To decompress on set and in life, I drink tea.
02:03I usually listen to music.
02:06It just really calms me,
02:08and then puts me in my own little bubble.
02:10I meditate.
02:12I always take like a couple minutes in my trailer,
02:14just to sit and have silence.
02:17To decompress on set, I read a book.
02:22Shocker.
02:24I like to read books, you know?
02:26I feel like that also kills a lot of time,
02:28when you're waiting around for stuff.
02:30Reading can fasten the pace up a little bit.
02:33Unfortunately, talk to everyone on the crew,
02:35and probably bother them,
02:36while they're trying to do their jobs,
02:37but I just really, I can't stop talking to people.
02:41I play video games.
02:45I think while I was on American Sports Story,
02:47I replayed all of the Halos.
02:50The album that I'm listening to right now,
02:52on vinyl, is Marvin Gaye, I Want You.
02:57It's a beautiful, beautiful album.
02:59The song I've been listening to right now
03:01is called Southern Nights, by Glen Campbell.
03:03Very popular song, I think.
03:05Woody Guthrie, Two Good Men,
03:06would probably be a song that's on repeat at the moment.
03:09One of my favorite albums of all time,
03:11that I have really been listening to a lot recently,
03:13is David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust,
03:17and The Spiders From Mars.
03:19One song that really calms me,
03:21is this song called Skin Tight,
03:24by Raven Lynnae and Steve Lacey.
03:27It's just such a calming song.
03:30I'm listening to a British band, they're called Deary,
03:33and they're this wonderful,
03:35almost like shoegazy kind of band,
03:38which I'm just digging right now.
03:39My wife's listening to Chapel Rowan right now,
03:41so that's what I have to listen to all the time.
03:45And it's great, but it's like, constant.
03:49All we need is a little more time,
03:51is your time to get.
03:52I think it's called Little More Time.
03:54It's, I think it's Lucky Day.
03:57It's a really, really good song.
03:58Brat, and it's completely different,
03:59but also still brat,
04:01because I am not willing to let go
04:03of having a brat summer yet,
04:05even though we're well into fall.
04:07Something I watched recently that was really great,
04:09was David Fincher's The Killer.
04:12The Sopranos, because I've been watching it.
04:16I just started the franchise,
04:18and it's really funny.
04:19I did just see The Substance,
04:21and it was pretty great.
04:23And I am pretty obsessed with it,
04:27especially the tone of it and how it looks.
04:29I just want to kiss the cinematographer on the cheek.
04:34This is kind of specific.
04:35I'm re-watching Dragon Ball right now,
04:37because when I was little,
04:39I really, really liked that show.
04:41So Dragon Ball Z's different than Dragon Ball.
04:43Dragon Ball's like before when Goku's a kid.
04:46It's so nerdy, but I'm re-watching that.
04:49It's a lovely, lovely, cute show.
04:51It makes me very nostalgic.
04:52Love is Blind, yeah.
04:53I've been watching a lot of Love is Blind.
04:55But I finished, I guess I have to go back now,
04:57because I've already finished the new season.
04:59I have a lot of respect for those people,
05:01able to put themselves out there like that, in that way.
05:03I don't think I'd have that level of confidence.
05:06I just also think they're really funny.
05:08Always Be On Time, and that was from my mother.
05:12Don't Take It So Seriously.
05:15And that came from Colin Firth.
05:18I was told by an acting teacher
05:20to always be planting seeds.
05:22So even when one job is done,
05:25don't count on it for the rest of your career or whatever.
05:28You have to just keep planting seeds
05:30before that job, after that job.
05:33Just trying to keep the gears rolling, I guess.
05:36I'm a big believer in being yourself,
05:38being the best thing that you can do.
05:41And not everybody's gonna be about it,
05:43but it's the most comfortable way to live,
05:45regardless of the situation that you're in.
05:48Not to be afraid of taking up space.
05:51I'm a very, I don't know,
05:53I like to kind of fade in the background type of person.
05:56I don't like any problems, any issues.
05:59So I just kind of like to stay neutral.
06:01Early is on time, and on time is late.
06:04It's not really a good example,
06:05because I showed up 20 minutes late to this.
06:06But LA traffic, man, that's all I gotta say.
06:09The most Hollywood thing that has happened to me
06:11is probably that Pamela Anderson
06:13was the crossing guard at my elementary school.
06:16Beyonce coming up to me in a party.
06:20That just seems very Hollywood and surreal.
06:24Seeing your face on a billboard in any capacity.
06:28Probably being like getting a kiss from someone
06:31in an elevator at an award ceremony,
06:35which was just really friendly.
06:37That was quite a Hollywood.