Meet 12 exceptional young talents, all age 20 and younger, selected for their achievements and potential.
Already making waves across Asia’s entertainment landscape, they represent a new generation helping shape the future of Asian entertainment.
From musical prodigies to award-winning screen performers, these are the artists to watch across the region.
1. Gordon Cormier, 16, Filipino-Canadian actor. “Asia’s Breakout Star.” He stars as Aang in Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Before “Avatar,” he appeared in “The Stand” and made appearances in “Get Shorty” and “Lost in Space.”
2. Moon Woo-jin, 16, Korean actor. “Asia’s Next Leading Man.” He appeared in “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim,” “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” and “The Atypical Family.” In 2025, he played a serial killer in the Disney+ drama “Unmasked.” He has also been dubbed the “K-Drama Flashback King.”
3. Aqeela Calista, 18, Indonesian actress and singer. “Asia’s Next IT Girl.” At 17, she won four major trophies at the 2025 SCTV Awards for her leading performance in “Asmara Gen Z.” Her songs include “Cinta Tak Ada Yang Tahu,” “Berhenti Berharap” and “Menunggu Cinta.” She was also crowned Aktris IT Girl of the Year at the 2026 GRID Awards.
4. Rong Zishan, 20, Chinese actor and model. “Asia’s Next-Gen Acting Powerhouse.” He has appeared in Harper’s Bazaar Men, GQ, InStyle Icon and Cosmopolitan. His screen credits include Dollar Zhang in “Mountains May Depart” and Zhu Chaoyang in “The Bad Kids.”
5. Rahul R. Vellal, 19, Indian classical singer. “Asia’s Carnatic Boy Wonder.” A Carnatic vocalist, mridangist and pianist, he sang for the Telugu edition of Disney’s “The Lion King,” completed a 10-city U.S. debut concert tour and received the Global Child Prodigy Award in singing.
6. Elia Ilano, 16, Filipino actress, host, creative writer and model. “Asia’s Multifaceted Star.” A youth leader for State of Youth by the KidsRights Foundation, she became its youngest chapter leader. She won Best Actress awards at film festivals in Brazil and India for “Teresa.” She later played the lead in “Violet,” produced by a Netherlands-based nonprofit accredited with the U.N. Economic and Social Council. Her short story and poem were also published in the University of the Philippines’ “Tsikiting Stories: Samut Saring Kwento” collection.
7. Izaac Wang, 18, Chinese-Laotian-American actor. “Asia’s Young Phenom.” He provided voice work for Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Win or Lose,” the Disney+ animated series created by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates.
8. Mac (Nattapat Nimjiwarat), 18, Thai actor under GMMTV. “Asia’s Rising Heartthrob.” A former child actor, he appeared in “Thong Nuea Kao” and “Tukkae Rak Pang Mak,” winning supporting-actor honors at the Suphannahong National Film Awards and Thai Film Critic Awards. In 2026, he starred in GMMTV’s “Unlucky Bae.”
9. Kokoro Terada, 18, Japanese actor and bodybuilding enthusiast. “Asia’s Acting Prodigy.” At 10, he won Best Actor in the Foreign Language Film category at the Milan International Film Festival for “Grandma Is Okay.” He later appeared in “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar” and “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy.” He has since pursued bodybuilding and competed in physique tournaments.
10. Mai Cat Vi, 17, Vietnamese actress. “Asia’s Silver-Screen Gem.” She appeared in the action film “Furie” and won Best Supporting Actress at the Vietnam Film Festival at age 10. At 14, she won Best Actress at the same festival, helping establish her reputation as one of Vietnam’s most accomplished young performers.
11. Feng E, 19, Taiwanese musician. “Asia’s Ukulele Virtuoso.” His performance of Tommy Emmanuel’s version of “Classical Gas” went viral, leading to two appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” He later performed on “Asia’s Got Talent” Season 2 and “America’s Got Talent” in 2020, and his 2024 U.S. West Coast tour included the Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival.
12. Alan Sun Kim, 14, Korean-American actor. “Asia’s Young Maverick.” He became widely known as David Yi in the 2020 film “Minari,” winning the 2021 Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. He also received youth performance honors from critics groups in Washington, D.C., and Seattle and earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His later credits include “Theater Camp,” “IF,” “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” and “Monsters at Work.”
