From Empire to The Empire, these are the year’s biggest breakout stars.
Amy Schumer
It might feel odd to have Schumer on a 2015 "breakout stars" list, seeing as it feels like she's always been a part of our daily pop culture lives. But that just speaks to how wholly she owned the last 365 days.
In that time, she has graced the cover of every magazine, opened her first film, won a Peabody Award, took home an Emmy, earned a Golden Globe nomination, hosted both Saturday Night Live and the MTV Movie Awards, starred in an HBO stand-up special, advocated stronger gun legislation, and became an object of online fascination, thanks to her friendship with Jennifer Lawrence.
But most importantly, she gifted us with dozens of sketches from the inspired third season of her Comedy Central series, Inside Amy Schumer, and constantly set the internet on fire. The comedian tackled everything from ageism to sexism to rape culture. Few artists contributed so significantly in so many arenas this year — and Schumer is clearly just getting started. —Jarett Wieselman
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Tituss Burgess
Quick with a quip (“But I already did something today!”) and a song (“Pino Noir”), Tituss Burgess and Titus Andromedon — his like-named character on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — were two of the year’s most beloved new performers.
As a character, Titus was absolutely obsessed with everything...as long as everything was about him. As an actor, Tituss was an invaluable team player, working in sublime tandem with Ellie Kemper and Carol Kane to make the most of every syllable. Burgess was as generous as Andromedon was selfish, and as a result, the actor became the kind of star his character could only dream of. —J.W.
Netflix
Melissa Rosenberg
Before 2015, Rosenberg was best known for writing all five films in the hugely profitable (although not that linguistically inspiring) Twilight Saga. But with the superhero Netflix series Jessica Jones, Rosenberg took many of the vampire franchise's defining characteristics — specifically undying love — and turned them on their head by making the object of affection an unwilling participant in the now-horrifying experience.
Through that ace lens, Rosenberg was able to deconstruct subject matter like rape, mansplaining, female friendships, and consent. But more than anything else, Jessica Jones was an absolute blast that offered actors Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor, and Carrie-Anne Moss the best roles of their careers and proved David Tennant does villain just as splendidly as he did hero. —J.W.
Getty Images
Taron Egerton
Handsome white guys are a dime a dozen in Hollywood, but Egerton stands out from the pack thanks to the infectious, joyous, unrelenting charisma he brought to two distinctly different roles in 2015: Eggsy in Kingsman: The Secret Service and Mad Teddy in Legend.
And with a Kingsman sequel and the lead in Robin Hood: Origins on the horizon, it's clear that Hollywood is smartly betting big on this 26-year-old British actor. —J.W.
20th Century Fox
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