For those who watched Mr Nabhaan Rizwan’s explosive performance as double agent Raza Shar in 2018’s Informer, it will come as no surprise that Hollywood is banging down his door. This month sees Rizwan take on Greek god Dionysius in Netflix series Kaos, a modern-day retelling of the Greek myths, featuring an ensemble of silver-screen veterans such as Mr Jeff Goldblum. “Jeff is half jukebox machine, half encyclopedia – and a delightful man to boot,” Rizwan says.

Next up, Rizwan tackles a gritty part in the BBC’s hotly tipped Dope Girls, based on Dr Marek Kohn’s novel. Expect an adrenalised deep dive into the underbelly of London’s organised crime in the early 1900s, created and written by cult playwright Ms Polly Stenham (That Face).

Kaos is on Netflix now

Mr Arthur Conti has landed the role of a lifetime for his first ever feature film – not bad for a newcomer with only a cameo in House Of The Dragon under his belt. Indeed, Mr Tim Burton picked Conti for top billing in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the 36-years-in-the-making sequel to his cult classic. The actor is captivating as Jeremy, the mysterious boy next door and love interest to Ms Jenna Ortega’s Astrid.

With original cast members Mr Michael Keaton, Ms Winona Ryder and Ms Catherine O’Hara returning, Conti was not short of inspiration. “Practically everyone [in the cast] is a hero of mine in some way,” he says. “Someone that I’ve grown up watching and admiring. Burton is an iconic director and when you’re on set, it’s easy to see why. He runs an incredibly tight ship and at the same time gives the actors a lot of freedom to improvise and try out different things.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is out now

With renowned actors for parents – Mr Alessandro Nivola and Ms Emily Mortimer – creativity runs deep in Mr Sam Nivola’s DNA. From his screen debut aged 10, in his mother’s much-loved show Doll & Em, to meatier roles in Mr Noah Baumbach’s White Noise and Mr William Oldroyd’s Eileen alongside Ms Anne Hathaway, he’s been learning from the industry’s finest. So, when he got the call about a thrilling new murder-mystery on Netflix, with Ms Nicole Kidman, Mr Liev Schreiber and Ms Eve Hewson attached, auditioning for it, he says, was “a no-brainer”.

The Perfect Couple is a disarming whodunnit, in which Nivola deftly plays the youngest son of an immaculate – if slightly deranged – Nantucket high-society couple, under investigation for murder. Then, from one whodunnit to another, next year sees Nivola join the latest season of The White Lotus, which is certain to be more talking-point TV.

The Perfect Couple is on Netflix now

Voicing one of cinema’s most-beloved characters, The Lion King’s Mufasa, is an intimidating feat, but Oscar-winning director Mr Barry Jenkins knew Mr Aaron Pierre was the man for the job. The offer followed their collaboration on 2019’s The Underground Railroad. “I got a text from Barry in late 2020 along the lines of ‘Can you sing…?’” Pierre says. Four years later, he’s is at the helm of a cast that includes Beyoncé, Mr Donald Glover and Mr Seth Rogen. “Barry is my big brother and I mean that so sincerely,” Pierre says. “One of the many key things I’ve learned from him is to be in constant pursuit of authenticity and truth.”

Pierre’s upcoming projects have been carefully selected. This month, he takes the lead in Rebel Ridge, from True Detective director Mr Jeremy Saulnier (“one of our greatest living filmmakers”), followed by a part in the award-winning The Morning Show alongside Mr Billy Crudup, Ms Jennifer Aniston, Ms Reese Witherspoon and Ms Greta Lee, no less.

Rebel Ridge is on Netflix now; Mufasa: The Lion King is out on 20 December

Mr Felix White is on his way to national-treasure status. The London-born polymath, who first found recognition as the guitarist in Indie band The Maccabees, now co-hosts the chart-topping cricket-themed podcast Tailenders. He’s also managed to find the time to write a memoir, start his own record label Yala! Records and release a 15-track debut album with his new band 86TVs. Is he the hardest-working man in rock? “I feel when people say they work too hard, often they're talking about jobs that they hate,” White says. “All the work that I'm doing is stuff that I genuinely love.”

Next up, White is heading on tour with his 86TVs bandmates (his two brothers and Stereophonics drummer Mr James Morrison), penning the second album and ghost-writing cricketer Mr Jimmy Anderson’s memoir. To top it all off, he has just finished composing the score for a documentary on the Olympic sprinter Mr Michael Johnson. “My life has got really surreal,” he says. “Things I would never have ever imagined that I was going to do, I’ve ended up doing.”

86TVs by 86TVs is out now

He may be just a few years into his career, but Mr Spike Fearn’s IMDb profile already boasts a roll call of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers. Following star turns in Ms Charlotte Wells’ acclaimed indie Aftersun, alongside Mr Paul Mescal, and Ms Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Ms Amy Winehouse biopic, Back To Black, Fearn bagged a coveted role in the latest instalment of the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, with Ms Cailee Spaeny.

Later this year, Fearn is in Mr James L Brooks’ black comedy Ella McCay, alongside The Bear’s Ms Ayo Edebiri, Mr Woody Harrelson and Ms Jamie Lee Curtis. On set, Fearn wasted no time learning all the tricks from his stellar castmates. “Even if I wasn’t working with the person, I would go in every day and watch them on the monitor,” he says. “Every day, I was so inspired.”

Alien: Romulus is out now

Mr James Morosini is the actor and filmmaker wunderkind whose name will soon be on everyone’s lips. He stars in the thriller It’s What’s Inside, for which Netflix made one of the highest offers ever seen at the Sundance Film Festival when it premiered in January. Expect a mind-bending ride of a plot, when an old friend shows up to a party with a mysterious suitcase containing a body-swapping machine. It is a concept that even Morosini himself spent some time unpacking. “I thought, ‘This is either going to be genius or completely insane.’” he says. “Luckily, it leaned towards genius.”

Written and directed by Mr Greg Jardin, It’s What’s Inside required playing multiple characters or, as Morosini puts it, “the acting Olympics”. Not unlike the many hats Morosini wore for his previous project, I Love My Dad, which he wrote, directed and starred in (it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at SXSW). Next up, he will write and direct his first major studio feature, Mommy’s Home, for Lionsgate – a truly twisted thriller that could only come from the brilliant mind of Morosini.

It’s What’s Inside is on Netflix from 4 October

Ms Bernardine Evaristo’s novel Mr Loverman is a poignant story of unfulfilled love between two elderly Antiguan men. And it is now being brought to life on the small screen – with a little help from the actor Mr Ariyon Bakare. “Stories like Mr Loverman are rare, let alone roles like Barry and Morris,” Bakare says. “So, when Mr Loverman was presented to me, I felt the magnitude of how important it was to be part of the project.”

Bakare’s projects so far have all been conversation starters. From 2017’s existential thriller Life, alongside Messrs Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, to His Dark Materials with Ms Ruth Wilson, based on Sir Philip Pullman’s books. His role in Mr Loverman is certain to go down as a career-defining moment.

Mr Loverman is on BBC iPlayer and BBC One this autumn

Each of vocalist Mr Victor Ray’s songs is a soul-stirring missive, sung utilising every emotion he has in him. You only have to rewatch his early videos, filmed while he was busking on the streets of London, to see the soaring heights of his talent. When, in 2019, one of these videos went viral on TikTok, it lead to a record deal, live shows and collaborations with singers Ms Grace Carter and Debbie.

Ray has just announced a headline tour, which sold out in hours – something that he tells The Journal is “insane considering what I was doing [busking] at the top of the year. I want to give everyone a show they have never seen before.”

Mr Victor Ray’s UK and European tour starts in November