TIME 100 2017
The TIME 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world assembled by the American news magazine Time. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now an annual event and the recipients are divided into five categories: pioneers, artists, leaders, titans and icons. Although appearing on the list is often seen as an honor, Time makes it clear that entrants are recognized for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
Of the TV- and movie-related people on 2017's list, who do you think has been the most influential?
Discuss the list here
* Text for each recipient is an excerpt from their entry in the issue.
Of the TV- and movie-related people on 2017's list, who do you think has been the most influential?
Discuss the list here
* Text for each recipient is an excerpt from their entry in the issue.
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- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Riz Ahmed (born 1 December 1982), also known by his stage name Riz MC and birth name Rizwan Ahmed, is a British Pakistani actor, rapper, and activist. As an actor, he has won one Emmy Award, out of two Emmy nominations, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and three British Independent Film Awards.Pioneer: Riz Ahmed has been quietly pursuing every passion and opportunity for many years as an actor (The Road to Guantánamo, Four Lions, Nightcrawler), rapper ("Post 9/11 Blues," "Englistan") and activist (raising funds for Syrian refugee children, advocating representation at the House of Commons). To know him is to be inspired, engaged and ready to create alongside him. - Lin-Manuel Miranda- Writer
- Producer
- Actress
Margaret Atwood was born on 18 November 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She is a writer and producer, known for The Handmaid's Tale (2017), Alias Grace (2017) and MaddAddam. She was previously married to Graeme Gibson and Jim Polk.Icon: No writer has been a god to as many vastly different worlds as Margaret Atwood has, and to my way of thinking, no one has done a better job. Her worlds are harsh and exacting, but also flooded with the brilliant light of her imagination, whether she's writing about the past, the present or a future we had never considered. - Ann Patchett- Producer
- Actress
- Writer
Studied at George Brown Theatre School in Toronto. She waited tables for five years, did some theatre work and the odd commercial. Even kept her comedic bent alive in the Toronto sketch comedy group, the Atomic Fireballs, she formed with three other women.Pioneer: She has the courage and the ability to plant those little feet, lean just slightly into the camera and fire off a staggering spray of machine-gun bullet points laced with delicious asides for color. She is as smart as a whip and, as far as I'm concerned, always on the side of right and funny. Did I say she was smart? Because she really is. - Jane Curtin- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Bingbing Fan was born 16 September 1981. She is a Chinese actress, television producer and pop singer.
Fan rose to fame in Asia in 1998-1999 with the mega-hit TV series My Fair Princess. In 2003, she starred in Cell Phone, which became the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year, winning a Hundred Flowers Award. Since then she has received awards from the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Eurasia International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Beijing College Student Film Festival and Huading Awards for films like The Matrimony (2007), Lost in Beijing (2007), Buddha Mountain (2011) and Double Xposure (2012). Fan has participated in many foreign-language films, such as the French film Stretch (2011), the Korean film My Way (2011) and the Hollywood blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). She has also been called a fashion icon due to frequent appearances on the red carpet, movie premieres, and fashion shows. She topped the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2013 and 2014, after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006.
In 2007 Fan left her management company Huayi Brothers to establish Fan Bingbing Studio. Since then she has produced TV series that she also starred in, and her TV show The Empress of China, believed to be the most expensive Chinese series in history.Icon: She is a woman who knows her own strength. Not only is Fan Bingbing a brilliant actor, but she is also a formidable businesswoman. She's one of the world's highest-paid female actors, she has created her own studio to make her own films and develop other projects, and still she finds time for philanthropy, co-founding Heart Ali to help children who suffer from congenital heart disease. Her fierce independence has earned her the nickname Fan Ye, or Master Fan. She is the woman she wants to be. Her wish, as they say, is our command. - Diane von Fürstenberg- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Describing himself as the "chunky unit," James Kimberley Corden was born in Hillingdon, London, England and raised in Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Margaret (Collins), a social worker, and Malcolm Corden, a musician. He studied drama at the Jackie Palmer Stage School before going on to Holmer Green Senior School, near High Wycombe. However, he admits that he had very little academic ambition and turned to acting, making his screen debut in the monochrome Shane Meadows film TwentyFourSeven (1997). After taking small roles in television drama series, he landed his first notable role as the teenage member of a slimming club in the British TV comedy-drama Fat Friends (2000). Shortly afterwards, he appeared on the London stage in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys," taking part in its subsequent international tour, as well as the cinema adaptation. Whilst working on Fat Friends (2000), he met the Welsh actress Ruth Jones and, between them, they fashioned the sitcom (in which both also appear) Gavin & Stacey (2007), the big hit of the 2007 season, winning British Film Academy awards for them both as Best Comedy Show and for James as Best Comedy Actor. He also persuaded three of the erstwhile "History Boys" to make cameo appearances as Gavin's stag party friends. In 2011 he found fame as a stage actor in the acclaimed farce 'One Man, Two Guv'nors' transferring with it from London to Broadway, thus beginning Transatlantic success topped in 2015 when he became the host of CBS 'The Late, Late Show.'Artist: James is one of the most hardworking and talented people you will ever meet. But that alone doesn't explain his extraordinary success. His authenticity has allowed him to shape pop culture in an incredible way. We can expect to see more of James in the coming years—and that's a wonderful thing for television, comedy and humanity. - Elton John- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Viola Davis is a critically revered actress of film, television, and theater and has won rave reviews for her multitude of substantial and intriguingly diverse roles. Audiences across the United States and internationally have admired her for her work- including her celebrated, Oscar-nominated performances in The Help (2011), Doubt (2008), and her Oscar winning performance in Fences (2016). In 2015, Davis won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for her work in ABC's How To Get Away With Murder, making her the first black woman in history to take home the award. In addition to acting, Viola currently produces alongside her husband and producing partner, Julius Tennon, through their JuVee Productions banner. Together they have produced award-garnering productions across theater, television, and film.Icon: She embodies for all women, but especially for women of color, the high-wire rewards of hard work and a dream, risk and faith. Viola has carved a place for herself on the Mount Rushmore of the 21st century—new faces emerging from a neglected mountain. Her gifts as an artist are unassailable, undeniable, deep and rich and true. But her importance in the culture—her ability to identify it, her willingness to speak about it and take on responsibility for it—is what marks her for greatness. - Meryl Streep- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
A director, producer, writer, marketer and film distributor, Ava DuVernay made her feature film debut with the documentary This is the Life (2008), a history on hip hop movement that flourished in Los Angeles in the 1990's. This was followed by series of television music documentaries which included My Mic Sounds Nice (2010) which aired on BET.
DuVernay's first narrative feature film, I Will Follow (2010), secured her the African-American Film Critics Association award for best screenplay. Her follow-up, Middle of Nowhere (2012) won the Best Director Prize at the 2012 Sundance film festival, making her the first African-American woman to receive the award.Artist: Ava's point of view is fresh, it's inspiring, it's original, it makes people's heads turn. But she also embraces other people's perspectives. When we worked together, Ava was able to integrate herself into my life and see things through my eyes. It takes a very special person to do something like that. She's opening doors, and that's courageous. - Serena Williams- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
The multi-talented Donald Glover is a writer, actor, musician, comedian, producer and director, who performs under the stage names Childish Gambino and mcDJ. He was born Donald McKinley Glover at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and was raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia. His mother, Beverly (Smith), ran a daycare center, and his father, Donald Glover, is a retired postal worker. He is not, despite rumors, related to actor Danny Glover. He has a younger brother, Stephen Glover, a screenwriter and producer. Donald graduated from New York University with a degree in Dramatic Writing in 2006.
In 2006, at age 23, while still living in the NYU dorms, Glover joined the writing staff of NBC comedy 30 Rock (2006), for which he received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination in 2009. Later credited as an executive story editor, he also had several cameos in front of the camera. In 2009, he left "30 Rock" for a role on the comedy series Community (2009), in which he played an athlete in a rather odd study group, opposite Chevy Chase and Joel McHale. The show ran for six seasons.
Glover is the creator, writer, producer, director and star of the series Atlanta (2016), which debuted on FX in 2016. The series was an immediate critical and commercial hit, winning the 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Series and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy) for Glover. At the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards, Glover won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, while the show also earned four other nominations: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Glover (for the episode B.A.N. (2016)) and his brother, Stephen (for the episode Streets on Lock (2016)).
His first stand-up special aired on Comedy Central in March 2010. As Childish Gambino, Glover has released the studio albums "Camp" (2011), "Because the Internet" (2013) and "Awaken, My Love!" (2016). In 2015, he was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2015 for Best Rap Album for "Because the Internet" and Best Rap Performance for his single "3005" In 2018, he was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for "Awaken, My Love!" and Record of the Year for the hit "Redbone," winning the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
On the big screen, Glover's credits include Magic Mike XXL (2015), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), and The Martian (2015). He will star as the young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and will provide the voice of Simba in a remake of The Lion King (2019).
In April 2017, Glover was named among Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World."Artist: Donald gave us Atlanta, a TV series that is basically him: funny, beautiful, stylish, melancholy and startlingly confident. But as any good millennial knows, when your creation wins 10-plus major awards, you don’t rush into Season 2. You step back, take a breath and just, like, be Lando Calrissian or something. - Tina Fey- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Barry Jenkins was born on 19 November 1979 in Miami, Florida, USA. He is a producer and director, known for If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), Moonlight (2016) and Aftersun (2022).Artist: Barry Jenkins is one of the rare artists who are willing to look into the deeper places of themselves and society in order to provide a lens through which we may discover the humanity at our core. And he has come to the attention of the world at precisely the right moment, just when we most need someone to give voice to those who have not been heard. - Kathryn Bigelow- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Leslie Jones is an American actress and comedienne from Memphis, Tennessee who is known for playing in Saturday Night Live, Trainwreck, Sing, Top Five, Lottery Ticket, Coming 2 America, Masterminds and The Angry Birds Movie 2. She played Patty Tolan in the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, directed by Paul Feig. She is the host of Supermarket Sweep.Artist: It wasn't just the bonhomie, the easy friendship and the shared sense of gratitude. It wasn't just the beauty, though it radiates from her unchecked. It was, in fact, the kindness, the thoughtfulness and the way she owns all of who she is. Like the comedy greats throughout history, she's there to give, and what she is prepared to give is all of who she is. All the absurdity and pathos of being human. All the joy of having a heart that big. She's going to be the person who says out loud what you were thinking, when you didn't even realize you thought like that. - Russell Crowe- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Alicia Keys was born in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, to Terria Joseph (née Teresa M. Augello), a paralegal who was also an occasional actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Her father is African-American and her mother, who is Caucasian, is of Italian and English/Irish/Scottish ancestry. Alicia began taking piano lessons at age 7 at her mother's insistence. She proved to be such a prodigy that she was later accepted into the prestigious Professional Performance Arts School of Manhattan, where she majored in choir. Not only her musical talent but also her grades proved to be so exceptional that she was allowed to graduate, as valedictorian, at age 16. In 1998, she signed with Arista Records, and wrote, produced, and recorded her own albums. In 1999, she left Arista to join J Records, headed by legendary music impresario Clive Davis, and her success has been meteoric. Her 2001 debut album, "Songs in A Minor," sold 6 million copies and garnered five Grammys. Her album "Diary" won her four more Grammys in 2005.Artist: Alicia Keys' debut, Songs in A Minor, infused the landscape of hip-hop with a classical sensibility and unfolded the complexity of being young, gifted, female and black for a new generation. Alicia became an avatar for millions of people, always remaining true to herself. - Kerry Washington- Music Artist
- Producer
- Actor
John Roger Stephens, known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything", and making uncredited guest appearances on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name". He then signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music and released his debut album Get Lifted (2004), which reached the top ten on the Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.Artist: John uses his platform to push for meaningful social change, and the depth of his commitment is to be admired. He has visited prisons to raise awareness about mass incarceration—the new slavery—and he spoke out about the importance of Black Lives Matter at Sankofa’s Many Rivers to Cross festival, which I helped organize. I hope John continues to grow as an artist and an activist. - Harry Belafonte- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Demi Lovato is a GRAMMY-nominated and award-winning musician, actor, advocate and New York Times best-selling author. She was first known for her onscreen talents, and soon after became a musical phenomenon for her remarkable vocal ability. With an audience of over 266 million on social media, Demi has established herself as a global sensation.
With nearly 49 billion streams earned worldwide, Demi has captivated audiences with her renowned powerhouse vocals and illustrious songwriting. From the resilient ballad "Skyscraper," to the unapologetic earworm "Sorry Not Sorry" and her enduring queer anthem "Cool for the Summer," Demi's discography showcases her musicality knows no bounds, with a genre-blending approach that has infused pop, R&B, rock, soul and more. Through several sold-out tours, Demi has brought her undeniable stage presence to venues across the globe, while live performances such as her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl LIV and the powerful debut of her single "Anyone" at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards have garnered universal acclaim.
Demi has released eight studio albums, all of which debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and four which boast over one billion streams on Spotify. Her most recent album, HOLY FVCK, is a sonic journey grounded in Demi's rock and pop-punk roots that illustrates an earnest yet tongue-in-cheek retrospective of her life experiences and opened to widespread acclaim from both critics and fans. The album was hailed as "the best we've heard from Lovato to date" (Variety) and was described as "fiery album filled with passion, thoughtful reflection, and a dash of good ol' fashioned rage" (Vogue), with Demi receiving praise as a vocal "powerhouse" (Pitchfork). HOLY FVCK debuted at #1 on several Billboard charts including the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart, the Top Rock Albums chart, and the Top Alternative Albums chart. The album also marked Demi's eighth consecutive Top 10 album on the Billboard 200 and landed in the Top 5 of the Top Album Sales chart. The single "29" resonated with listeners worldwide and was deemed "the best song on the album" (TIME), with critics commending Demi's emotional delivery that reflects a "new, clear-eyed perspective" (Recording Academy).
Most recently, Demi released her album REVAMPED featuring rock versions of her hit songs on September 15, 2023, which hit the top 10 of Billboard's Top New Albums Chart in line with Demi's previous releases. With all new vocals and production, the 10-track album REVAMPED sees Demi reimagine her career-defining songs with a fresh perspective that reflects her current artistic vision. The re-recorded music serves as another showcase of Demi's artistic growth and versatility, as she seamlessly evolves her songs from pop to rock while maintaining her signature powerhouse vocals.
Demi has been lauded by fans and peers alike for her authenticity and vulnerability, demonstrating her transformative growth across two celebrated documentaries, 2017's Simply Complicated and 2021's Dancing with the Devil. As an advocate, Demi serves as Global Citizen's official ambassador for mental health, with a special focus on vulnerable communities around the world.
Lovato has been honored with numerous awards and accolades over her career, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, an ALMA Award, two Latin American Music Award and a GLAAD Vanguard Award for her services to LGBTQ+ activism. She has also received two GRAMMY Award nominations, four Billboard Music Awards nominations and three Brit Award nominations for her work.
A native of Dallas, Demi resides in Los Angeles.Artist: Demi Lovato is a remarkably talented artist and performer. But her courage, honesty and willingness to use her own experiences to help others are what make her a true star. - Arianna Huffington- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Sarah Paulson was born on December 17, 1974 in Tampa, Florida, to Catharine Gordon (Dolcater) and Douglas Lyle Paulson II. She spent most of her early years in New York and Maine, before settling in Manhattan to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for Performing Arts. Although she made her Broadway debut in "The Sisters Rosensweig" and performed in the off-Broadway "Talking Pictures", she debuted on the small screen in late 1994 in a guest shot on NBC's Law & Order (1990), then, in the following spring, landed her first TV-movie role in CBS' Friends at Last (1995) and finally became a TV series regular by fall 1995.
Best known for her amazing performance in CBS' supernatural drama American Gothic (1995) as the benevolent spiritual guide to her young brother, she was also a regular on the WB series Jack & Jill (1999) as "Elisa Cronkite", the former girlfriend of David "Jill" Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei) as well as the main character in the TV series Leap of Faith (2002), "Faith Wardwell", and as "Audrey" in the TV movie Metropolis (2000). She was also part of the cast of Shaughnessy (1996), The Long Way Home (1998) (as "Leanne Bossert") and Path to War (2002) as Luci Baines Johnson, as well as making notable appearances in Touched by an Angel (1994) playing "Zoe" in Manhunt (2001), 20 October 2001, and Cracker: Mind Over Murder (1997) playing "Nina" in True Romance: Part 1 (1997), 18 September 1997.
Sarah has now played in movies with such stars as Mel Gibson in the romantic comedy What Women Want (2000) (as "Annie", Gibson's secretary), Diane Keaton in the romantic drama The Other Sister (1999) (as "Heather Tate", Keaton's lesbian eldest daughter), Jamie Foxx in Held Up (1999) (as "Mary", a developmentally disabled young woman with an unfaithful boyfriend) and David Hyde Pierce in the romantic comedy Down with Love (2003) (as "Vicky Hiller", Pierce's crush). She also had two major roles in the comedy Bug (2002) and the drama, Levitation (1997), where she starred as a pregnant teenager who searches for her biological mother, with the help of a guardian angel.Artist: When someone is as unique and unboxable as Sarah Paulson, it takes time for creative spaces to open up that are large and porous enough to hold the depth and complexity of her talent. In remaining true to her distinct voice, she has been at the forefront of a generation of women who are changing the landscape of the film and television industry. When I first met her I was floored by her buoyancy, her irreverence, her left-field sense of humor and her devotion to her craft. You enter a scene with Sarah and it’s game on. She brings with her, in work as in life, the sense that anything is possible. Anything. - Cate Blanchett- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Jordan Peele is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, actor, producer, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions. Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, recognized with four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film would earn Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. His second feature, "Us," broke numerous box-office records, becoming the biggest opening for an R-rated original film in history when released in March of 2019 to widespread critical praise. Peele's third feature, the original horror epic, "Nope," opened in the summer of 2022 to rave reviews, the No. 1 slot at the box office, and once again becoming a widely discussed cultural phenomenon. Five years in the making, Peele produced and co-wrote Henry Selick's stop-motion animated feature, "Wendell & Wild," to which he also lent his voice as one of the title characters. Under the Monkeypaw banner, Peele co-wrote and produced Nia DaCosta's "Candyman" which made history as the first film helmed by a Black woman director to open at No. 1 at the box office. He also produced Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," which earned a nomination for Best Picture and won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. He has also served as executive producer for numerous television series, including "Hunters" (Amazon), "Lovecraft Country" (HBO), and "The Twilight Zone" (CBS). Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Peele was a celebrated comedian who was the co-star and co-creator of "Key & Peele" on Comedy Central.Pioneer: Of The Exorcist, James Baldwin once wrote, "I was most concerned with the audience. I wondered what they were seeing, and what it meant to them." Sitting in a crowded theater, I wonder the same as I take in Jordan Peele's astonishing Get Out. In the shifting laughter lacing the room, at once rancorous, nervous, defensive and, yes, knowing, a cinema maxim is turned on its head—rather than presenting us a mirror, this multi-hyphenate auteurist shows us more of ourselves than we ever wanted to see, a window through which America is left no choice but to recognize the purgatory of her own sunken place.- Actor
- Producer
- Composer
Benjamin Schiff Platt is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of The Sound of Music (2006) and The Book of Mormon (2012-2015), rising to prominence for originating the title role in Broadway coming-of-age musical Dear Evan Hansen (2015-2017). His performance in the latter earned him multiple accolades, including a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award. At 23, Platt became the youngest solo recipient of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.Artist: From the minute he stepped onto the Dear Evan Hansen stage, I knew there was something different about Ben Platt. I wanted to give him a standing ovation after his first song. Because of the way Ben brings Evan to life, that story becomes instantly relatable for any person who has ever felt conflicting emotions without having an outlet. His performance brought me back to a sensitive place. It was almost difficult to watch, because it hit so close to home. - Zac Efron- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the youngest of four children. His father, James Chester Reynolds, was a food wholesaler, and his mother, Tamara Lee "Tammy" (Stewart), worked as a retail-store saleswoman. He has Irish and Scottish ancestry. Between 1991-93, Ryan appeared in Fifteen (1990), a Nickelodeon series taped in Florida with many other Canadian actors. After the series ended, he returned to Vancouver where he played in a series of forgettable television movies. He did small roles in Glenn Close's Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995) and CBS's update of In Cold Blood (1996). However, his run of luck had led him to decide to quit acting.
One night, he ran into fellow Vancouver actor and native Chris William Martin. Martin found Ryan rather despondent and told him to pack everything: they were going to head to Los Angeles, California. The two stayed in a cheap Los Angeles motel. On the first night of their stay, Reynolds' jeep was rolled downhill and stripped. For the next four months, Ryan drove it without doors. In 1997, he landed the role of Berg in Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998). Initially, the show was reviled by critics and seemed desperate for any type of ratings success. However, it was renewed for a second season but with a provision for a makeover by former Roseanne (1988) writer Kevin Abbott. The show became a minor success and has led to additional film roles for Ryan, most notably in the last-ever MGM film, a remake of The Amityville Horror (2005). Ryan was engaged to Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, another Nickelodeon veteran, between 2004-2006.
He has been married to Blake Lively since September 9, 2012. They have three daughters. He was previously married to Scarlett Johansson.Artist: Ryan is rumpled, kind, committed and generous, especially to women. He likes them in the most simple, direct, unadorned way: for their humanity. (How very appropriate that he is the father of two girls.) He has a natural wit, which he often turns on himself, and he can balance his private and public life with great dexterity. He is open and generous, but never inappropriate. I suspect this is part of what makes him such an appealing performer. - Helen Mirren- Actress
- Producer
- Executive
Margot Elise Robbie was born on July 2, 1990 in Dalby, Queensland, Australia to Scottish parents. Her mother, Sarie Kessler, is a physiotherapist, and her father, is Doug Robbie. She comes from a family of four children, having two brothers and one sister. She graduated from Somerset College in Mudgeeraba, Queensland, Australia, a suburb in the Gold Coast hinterland of South East Queensland, where she and her siblings were raised by their mother and spent much of her time at the farm belonging to her grandparents. In her late teens, she moved to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to pursue an acting career.
From 2008-2010, Robbie played the character of Donna Freedman in the long-running Australian soap opera, Neighbours (1985), for which she was nominated for two Logie Awards. She set off to pursue Hollywood opportunities, quickly landing the role of Laura Cameron on the short-lived ABC series, Pan Am (2011). She made her big screen debut in the film, About Time (2013).
Robbie rose to fame co-starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, portraying the role of Naomi Lapaglia in Martin Scorsese's Oscar nominated film, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). She was nominated for a Breakthrough Performance MTV Movie Award, and numerous other awards.
In 2014, Robbie founded her own production company, LuckyChap Entertainment. She also appeared in the World War II romantic-drama film, Suite Française (2014). She starred in Focus (2015) and Z for Zachariah (2015), and made a cameo in The Big Short (2015).
In 2016, she married Tom Ackerley in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
She starred as Jane Porter in The Legend of Tarzan (2016), Tanya Vanderpoel in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) and as DC comics villain Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (2016), for which she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, and many other awards.
She portrayed figure skater Tonya Harding in the biographical film I, Tonya (2017), receiving critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress - Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.Artist: Like no one else—that's what Margot Robbie's like. You're asked this question a lot about actors—"What's she like?"—and I've never been able to give an answer I'm happy with. Margot is stunning in all she is and all she does, and she will astonish us forever. - Martin Scorsese- Producer
- Actor
- Music Department
RuPaul Andre Charles is an American actor, model, singer, songwriter, television personality, and author. As executive producer and host of the reality competition TV series RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul has received fourteen Primetime Emmy Awards - the most wins for outstanding host of a reality or competition program and for any Black artist in history.
In 2022, RuPaul received a Tony Award as a producer of Best Musical A Strange Loop.
RuPaul is the most commercially successful drag queen of all time, and in 2017 was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
RuPaul was born and raised in San Diego, CA and later moved to Atlanta, GA to study performing arts. After settling in New York City, RuPaul became a popular fixture on the nightclub scene before achieving international fame with the release of the 1993 song "Supermodel (You Better Work)."
In 1995, RuPaul became the first spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics, raising millions of dollars for the MAC AIDS Fund and becoming the first man to land a major cosmetics campaign.
In 1996, RuPaul landed a TV talk show on VH1, The RuPaul Show, taping more than 100 episodes with co-host Michelle Visage, while simultaneously co-hosting a morning drive radio show with Visage on WKTU.
As a recording artist, RuPaul has co-written and co-produced eighteen studio albums to date, including Foxy Lady (1996), Champion (2009), Glamazon (2011), Born Naked (2014), American (2017), and Black Butta (2023).
RuPaul's Drag Race has produced sixteen seasons to date and has inspired several international spin-off series, including RuPaul's Drag Race: UK and RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. RuPaul was also featured as a host on the series Skin Wars: Fresh Paint, Good Work, Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul, Lingo, Celebrity Lingo, and was the guest host of NBC's Saturday Night Live on February 8th, 2020.
As an actor, RuPaul has appeared in more than 50 films and television shows, both in and out of drag, including Crooklyn (1994), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), the Comedy Central series Broad City (2017), Netflix originals Girlboss (2017) and Grace and Frankie (2019), and as the voice of Queen Chante in The Simpsons (2018). In 2020, RuPaul teamed up with Michael Patrick King (Sex in the City, 2 Broke Girls) to produce the Netflix original comedy series AJ & The Queen, in which RuPaul also starred.
As an author, RuPaul has published four books: the #1 New York Times bestseller The House of Hidden Meanings (Harper Collins, 2024), GuRu (Harper Collins, 2018), Workin' It! RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style (Harper Collins, 2010), and Lettin' It All Hang Out (Hyperion Books, 1995).
On March 16, 2018, Jane Fonda presented RuPaul with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6652 Hollywood Blvd.
RuPaul lives in New York, California, and Wyomin.Icon: I first met RuPaul in the ’90s, when I was doing a shoot on 14th Street in New York City. As soon as I saw him, I wanted to know where he was going, because that was where I wanted to be. Ru was different. As I got to know him better, I got to experience firsthand his wit and his intelligence—he’s like an encyclopedia. And his beauty is far beyond skin-deep. I am blessed to know Ru. We all are. - Naomi Campbell- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Emily Jean "Emma" Stone was born on November 6, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona to Krista Jean Stone (née Yeager), a homemaker & Jeffrey Charles "Jeff" Stone, a contracting company founder and CEO. She is of Swedish, German & British Isles descent. Stone began acting as a child as a member of the Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, where she made her stage debut in a production of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows". She appeared in many more productions through her early teens until, at the age of fifteen, she decided that she wanted to make acting her career.
The official story is that she made a PowerPoint presentation, backed by Madonna's "Hollywood" and itself entitled "Project Hollywood", in an attempt to persuade her parents to allow her to drop out of school and move to Los Angeles. The pitch was successful and she and her mother moved to LA with her schooling completed at home while she spent her days auditioning.
She had her TV breakthrough when she won the part of Laurie Partridge in the VH1 talent/reality show In Search of the Partridge Family (2004) which led to a number of small TV roles in the following years. Her movie debut was as Jules in Superbad (2007) and, after a string of successful performances, her leading role as Olive in Easy A (2010) established her as a star.Artist: What I really admire about Emma the person—as well as Emma the actor—is that she is never afraid to show us the most difficult thing you can show the world: yourself. What that entails is not always pretty. But with Emma, it is real, and it is beautiful. - Brie Larson- Actress
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Constance Wu was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother is a computer programmer and her father is a college professor. Both are immigrants from Taiwan. Constance grew up in Richmond performing in the local community theater scene. At 16, she moved to New York City to study at the famed Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and she's been busy ever since. While in New York, she worked in classical theater and quickly transitioned to film work. She soon appeared in several Sundance Feature Films including Stephanie Daley (2006) and Year of the Fish (2007). In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles where her theater and film background helped land her a role in another Sundance Feature, Sound of My Voice (2011). In 2014, she was cast as Jessica Huang in the ABC comedy series Fresh Off the Boat (2015), which premiered in 2015. Based on Eddie Huang's memoir, it is set in the 1990s and revolves around a Taiwanese family that moves to suburban Orlando. Wu enjoys long-distance running, camping, piano, and reading. She lives in Silverlake, Los Angeles, with her pet rabbit, Lida Rose.
In 2018, she starred as Rachel Chu, an American college professor who dates a Singaporean multimillionaire (Henry Golding), in the smash romantic comedy hit Crazy Rich Asians (2018).Pioneer: On the road with her for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, I was not only able to access a glint of Constance’s humor (the girl is very wicked) but also witness her giving nature, her monstrously big heart, her passion for change and the careful way she lets everyone around her share the challenges of their own identity. This year—when she spoke out against Hollywood’s knack for dismissing sexual misconduct in our great men—she chose honesty and fight over the neutrality so many think they need to maintain in order to further their careers. It was a hallelujah moment. - Lena Dunham