AGE: 28.

PROVENANCE: Vancouver, British Columbia.

CLASS ACT: The Canadian ingénue studied English literature at McGill University, in Montreal. She then moved to New York City, in 2009, where she attended the Neighborhood Playhouse for theater training. “Behavior matters more than words.”

FRESH AIR: The actress’s big break came in the 2013 Sundance darling Breathe In, alongside Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, and Amy Ryan. “It was the best introduction to professional acting that I could have hoped for. The cast wasn’t populated with jaded people; everyone was excited. To enter the business with that sort of energy was so lovely. It set a high bar.”

ON FIRE: She’s also in AMC’s series Halt and Catch Fire, which is set in Texas’s “Silicon Prairie” in the 1980s. “It’s about ego and innovators, and people being very competitive and dying for their cause.”

DIRECTING ATTENTION: This month Davis appears as NASA worker Mindy Park in Ridley Scott’s The Martian, starring Matt Damon. “Ridley knows exactly what he wants. He’s so comfortable and confident that when you stop shooting, it’s because he got what he needed.”

KEEPING PERSPECTIVE: Actors she admires: “People who make project choices because they want to tell a very specific story, not because they’re making chess moves to become the biggest star.”

Related: Why The Martian Should Be This Year’s Populist Awards Contender