International Breakouts of the Year: ‘Anora’ and ‘Emilia Perez’ Stars, ‘The Substance’ Director and More Had a Career-Changing 2024

While 2024 will be remembered by many in the entertainment biz as an uphill battle and a make-or-break transition time, for a number of talents working in international film and TV, it will be considered the year where everything changed — a breakout period when new doors opened, calls were answered and bigger projects started coming their way. Some were catapulted into the limelight from relative obscurity and were soon juggling major awards ceremonies and lucrative studio deals. Others were already rising names at home, but suddenly found themselves on Hollywood’s radar.

Variety‘s crop of international breakouts — actors and filmmakers — includes the creator and stars of one of the most talked about TV shows of the year (and one which could leave Netflix with a tasty legal bill), the writer/director of a wild body-horror that took Cannes by storm and could give a beloved star her first brush with the Oscars and a first-time feature director who enjoyed a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office.

See the list of 12 (well, 11, but you’ll see) international breakouts of the year below.

Maura Delpero — ‘Vermiglio’

Young Italian director Maura Delpero came out of relative obscurity to become Europe’s new indie darling after her sophomore film “Vermiglio” scored the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion and was picked over Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope” to became Italy’s –  now shortlisted – International Oscars contender. “Vermiglio” is set at the end of World War II in an Alpine village where the arrival of a soldier causes disruption in the dynamics between three sisters. Delpero’s drama was praised as “quietly breathtaking” by Variety critic Jessica Kiang, who noted that the film “unfolds from tiny tactile details of furnishings and fabrics and the hide of a dairy cow, into a momentous vision of everyday rural existence in the high Italian Alps.” 

Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov – ‘Anora’

Mikey Madison may have been getting much of the performance applause for her lead turn as a sex worker in Sean Baker’s Cannes-winning Oscar hopeful “Anora,” but the strip club rom-com has also lit some fuel under the careers of her two Russian co-stars. Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Madison’s wild, son-of-a-billionaire-oligarch love interest, and Yura Borisov, who plays the more calming henchman-with-a-heart, were both already in-demand rising stars on home soil (Eydelshteyn likened to a “Russian Timotheé Chalamet” and Borisov a best actor winner at Russia’s Golden Eagle Awards). But “Anora” — which Neon released in Oct. — has seen their profiles rise dramatically stateside. Borisov recently landed Golden Globe, Critics Choice and Independent Spirit nominations, among a series of honors, for his performance and is tipped to follow these all the way to the Oscars. Eydelshteyn, meanwhile, was recently cast in the second season of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.”

Coralie Fargeat — ‘The Substance’

Coralie Fargeat burst onto the international scene with “The Substance,” a pulsating body horror movie that made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival, winning best screenplay, and putting Demi Moore back on the map as a leading lady. In the film, Fargeat shows off her love of genre cinema with references to Stanley Kubrick and David Cronenberg, among others, as well as takes aim at patriarchy, ageism and sexism, but laces it all with wicked humor reflecting her bold and outspoken personality. Fargeat made her debut with the horror-action movie “Revenge,” another female-powered movie.  

Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning — ‘Baby Reindeer’

When Netflix series “Baby Reindeer” dropped in April nobody expected the seven-episode limited series about a wannabe stand-up dealing with a stalker to take the world by storm. But within weeks of release, “Baby Reindeer,” which is based on Gadd’s own experiences, was the hot topic of conversation both in the U.K. and abroad and it wasn’t long before the real stalker’s identity was uncovered. Gadd wrote and played himself in the show, while Gunning co-starred as stalker Martha. Even a $170 million defamation lawsuit against Netflix filed by the woman claiming to be the real Martha, hasn’t stopped the duo’s vertiginous rise through Hollywood, garnering Emmy and Golden Globe noms and, for Gadd, a lucrative first-look deal with the streamer.

Karla Sofía Gascón — ‘Emilia Perez’

Fearless Spanish actor Karla Sofía Gascón showed the extent of her range in “Emilia Perez,” Jacques Audiard’s crime musical in which she plays two part, starting with Manitas del Monte, a notorious cartel leader who fakes her own death to live authentically as a trans woman. The elegant Gascón, who made her transition at the age 46 and was previously best known as a TV actor, marked history at the Cannes Film Festival, where she was the first trans performer to win best actress (shared with the ensemble female cast, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz). Already vying for a Golden Globe, Gascón is now on track to land an Oscar nomination and could now become the first trans lead actress to win an Academy Award.

Payal Kapadia — ‘All We Imagine as Light’

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia has cemented her global standing in 2024 with “All We Imagine as Light,” a striking follow-up to her Cannes-winning feature debut, “A Night of Knowing Nothing.” The film, which earned Kapadia her second Cannes award earlier this year, has continued to gather international acclaim, taking home the Gotham Award for best international feature. Adding to the momentum, the film received two Golden Globe nominations, including for best director, reflecting Kapadia’s growing influence in world cinema. Her introspective storytelling and deft blending of documentary and fiction have resonated widely, marking her as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary filmmaking.

Anna Sawai — ‘Shogun’

Japanese actor Anna Sawai’s commanding performance in “Shogun” earned her an outstanding lead actress Emmy and has established her as a global star. While she gained attention in Hollywood with “F9: The Fast Saga,” “Pachinko,” and “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” it the FX series that has truly showcased her range and presence on an international stage. Portraying a nuanced lead in the epic drama, Sawai brought depth to a complex role, earning widespread acclaim.

Dougal Wilson — ‘Paddington in Peru’

For their feature directorial debut, very few filmmakers are given the keys to one of the world’s most beloved — and successful — family franchises. Dougal Wilson was already a much-celebrated name in the world of commercials, but even he would admit that “Paddington in Peru” — the long-awaited third instalment in StudioCanal’s CGI/live action film series about the marmalade-loving Peruvian bear — was a sizeable step up. And yet the film, starring returnees Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and Ben Whishaw (voicing Paddington), plus newcomers Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas, broke box office records when it released in the U.K. in November, landing the biggest opening of the franchise and the biggest opening of the year for a U.K.-produced film since “No Time to Die” in 2021.

Leo Woodall — ‘One Day’

Leo Woodall looks set to capitalize on a stellar 2024 — in which he stole audience’s hearts as the arrogant yet lovable Dexter in Netflix’s adaptation of “One Day” — with a double whammy in the first quarter of 2025. First, in January, he’ll take the lead in Apple TV+’s “Prime Target” as a maths genius who finds himself embroiled in a global conspiracy before following it up the next month as Renée Zellweger’s new love interest in the highly-anticipated fourth instalment of “Bridget Jones” franchise, “Mad About the Boy.” His rising success comes on the heels of scene-stealing roles in “The White Lotus” (2022) and “Citadel” (2023). Not bad for an actor whose first IMDB credit dates back only to 2019.

And finally … Elly Conway — ‘Argylle’

The mysterious novelist Elly Conway briefly eclipsed even her on-screen alter ego Bryce Dallas Howard after rumors about Conway’s identity reached fever pitch ahead of the release of “Argylle,” the feature film adaptation of her debut novel. Deepening the mystery, Conway, described only as a first-time author whose manuscript about a globe-trotting spy had caught the eye of director Matthew Vaughan before it was even published, was not only a character in the meta film (played by Dallas Howard) but boasted almost zero online footprint. Yet despite the clues, Vaughn — and the film’s cast, including Henry Cavill and Bryan Cranston — continued to insist Conway was real. Until the week of the film’s release, when writers Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen finally revealed they were the real scribes behind the spy thriller. Still, a good year for Elly Conway.