There's a whole heap of great television shows heading your way in 2019, and along with the familiar faces, many of them star some talented folk who might not be on your radar yet, but absolutely should be.

It's going to be an exciting year for this lot – breakthrough talent with big things in their future over the next 12 months and beyond.

1. Anjli Mohindra

ITV

28-year-old Mohindra – who got her big break in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures – had a terrific 2018, playing the devious Nadia in the BBC's mega-hit Bodyguard, DC Josie Chancellor in ITV crime thriller Dark Heart and sparring with Simon Callow in Mark Gatiss's Christmas horror short The Dead Room.

We're anticipating even bigger things this year, with Anjli telling us, "Leading something is definitely what I have my eye on next – not from an ego perspective, but [because] those parts are so rich. That's definitely where I want to end up next."



2. Stephan James

Amazon Prime

2018 was a similarly strong year for James – the 25-year-old impressed with a lead role in Moonlight director Barry Jenkins' acclaimed If Beale Street Could Talk, but it was his compelling work as military veteran Walter Cruz in Amazon series Homecoming that earned the Canadian a Golden Globe nomination.

The Julia Roberts-starrer has been renewed for a second season, though it's not been confirmed whether James will reprise his role. Having signed to top-flight talent agency CAA just prior to Christmas, though, there's bound to be plenty of exciting projects on this breakout actor's plate.

3. Freya Allan

AMC

17-year-old Allan has not one but two major fantasy projects in the pipeline for 2019.

First, she'll appear alongside Rafe Spall, Robert Carlyle and Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson in BBC One's long-awaited War of the Worlds adaptation, from Doctor Who writer Peter Harness.

Then, she'll be playing the pivotal role of Ciri, Princess of Cintra, in Netflix's series adaptation of The Witcher starring Henry Cavill. Not bad considering she only made her screen acting debut in 2017.

4. Anya Chalotra

BBC/Mammoth Screen/Agatha Christie Ltd

Chalotra's also booked a major role on The Witcher, playing the sorceress Yennefer in the fantasy epic.

It's her first lead-screen gig, after impressing with supporting roles in last year's Wanderlust – playing Jennifer, object of Tom's (Joe Hurst) affections – and The ABC Murders, as Lily Marbury, the unloved daughter of Rose (Shirley Henderson).



5. Kathryn Newton

HBO

It's been a hell of a few years for Newton, with big-screen outings in critics' favourites Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Blockers and small-screen turns in the BBC's Little Women adaptation and AMC's Halt and Catch Fire.

But 2019 is set to be her biggest year to date – not only has she landed a lead part in Pokémon Detective Pikachu, she'll reprise her role of Abigail Carlson in season two of HBO's Big Little Lies and she'll also front a new Netflix series, Society, about a town where all the adults mysteriously disappear, leaving the adolescents to fend for themselves.

6. Dafne Keen

20th Century Fox

Keen had a major breakthrough playing Laura in 2017's Logan, but is set to rise to even greater heights this coming year, having landed the lead role of Lyra in the BBC and HBO's His Dark Materials television series.

The 14-year-old will be starring opposite James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson and Lin-Manuel Miranda in the hugely ambitious adaptation, which has already been renewed for a second season. (In addition, Keen will play the title role in the movie Ana, about the unlikely bond formed between her street-smart urchin and Andy Garcia's financially destitute car salesman.)

7. Barry Keoghan

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis via Getty Images

Keoghan caught the attention of many with his chilling performance in 2017's The Killing of a Sacred Deer, playing a troubled teen with a vendetta against Colin Farrell's cardiac surgeon, and played a major role in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk that same year.

This year will see him not only feature in Sky and HBO's mini-series Chernobyl, dramatising one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, but also tackle the lead role of Yorick, the lone male survivor of a worldwide plague, in FX's much-anticipated adaptation of post-apocalyptic comic series Y: The Last Man.

8. Lydia Wilson

BBC

Having booked memorable roles in everything from South Riding to Black Mirror over the past 10 years, Wilson took the lead in last year's eerie BBC series Requiem and is following it up in 2019 with a scene-stealing performance in W's upcoming original series Flack, playing the foul-mouthed colleague and best friend of Anna Paquin's PR guru Robyn. She's hardly new on the scene, but this could be the year that Wilson deservedly becomes a household name.

9. Sonoya Mizuno

NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

Having appeared in Crazy Rich Asians last year, as well as the Netflix original movie Annihilation and original series Maniac, Mizuno has since landed the lead in Devs, the new FX thriller series from Alex Garland (having previously featured in his 2014 feature Ex Machina).

The Japanese-born British actress will play Lily, a computer engineer who suspects her employer, a cutting-edge tech firm, is responsible for the disappearance of her boyfriend.

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