Category: Up and Coming

Anya Taylor-Joy’s lifeplan wasn’t exactly what every parent wants to hear, but when she wrote a lengthy treatise to her parents at the age of 16 saying she wanted to quit school for acting, they acquiesced. Her drive and intensity even as a teen, coupled with a bewitchingly expressive face and famous doe eyes have shown the gamble paid off.

First noticed as a model while living in London, the precious teen was quickly making waves, wowing at Sundance in 2015’s The Witchwhich premiered when she was just 18. But it was her turn as Beth Harmon in 2020’s The Queen’s Gambit that introduced the sexy chess player to an audience of some 62 million on Netflix in the limited series where Taylor-Joy’s stardust was simply mesmerizing and much-lauded, earning her a Critics’ Choice Television Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award with an Emmy nomination pending Taylor-Joy returns to theaters in another dark role in the upcoming Last Night in SoHofrom director Edgar Wright, known for Baby Driver.

She’s also tied to the historical thriller, The Northman, in post-production, as well as a super-secret David O’Russell project with a monster cast attached including Robert DeNiro, Christian Bale, and Margot Robbie to name just a few. There’s no doubt this young starlet, just 25, will do more than hold her own.

“I can’t just say yes to a movie. I have to be really passionate about it.” —Anya Taylor-Joy

Sergio “Checo” Pérez is nothing if not tenacious. Born in Guadalajara, the Mexican Formula One driver, 31, competed in 190 races before finally casting victory in Bahrain in 2020, 10 years into his career, the longest wait for victory in racing history. Racing is clearly in his blood. Pérez’s introduction to speed on wheels began at the tender age of six when he started competing in karting races and finished his first season in second place. He moved to Europe to race at the age of 15 and navigated his way up the ranks to bigger and faster machines. Named to the sauber racing team in 2011, Pérez is only the fifth Mexican to drive Formula One, and the first since Héctor Rebaque in the late ’70s.

“I’m a bit speechless. I hope I’m not dreaming you know because I dreamed so many years of being in this moment.”

He quickly established himself as a tough competitor, finishing seventh in his first race in Australia and ascending to his first podium in Malaysia in 2012. His win in Bahrain marks the first victory for a Mexican driver in 50 years and he has earned more points than any Mexican driver in history.

Now racing with Red Bull, Pérez hopes to over-deliver for the 2021 season, and is determined that fans will be hearing the Mexican anthem from the podium for many years to come.

William Henry Gates III, or Bill Gates as he is universally known, is a living legend. He is one of the most important leaders of his generation, responsible for change beyond most people’s reasonable imaginings.

Who is to say what special combination of ingredients was required to produce a man whose ambition was to put a computer on every desk in the world – a far-fetched idea for many of those, like him, born in 1955. His parents, a lawyer and a teacher, were intelligent, civic-minded parents who noticed their child’s capacity and provided him with the tools: a private education at Lakeside School, where he could explore his potential, and where he was introduced to computers.

He quickly mastered programming, and by 1975, he and his friend, Paul G. Allen, converted the mainframe computer language of BASIC for use on a personal computer. This initiated the change that has undeniably rewritten the archetype of computing. Allen and Gates formed the Microsoft Corporation – the name a simple blend of microcomputer and software – in April of that year. At the age of 31, Bill Gates became the youngest man in the world ever to become a billionaire on his own.

Now he leaves most of his business in the hands of others, applying his programming skills to better humanity. Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, devote themselves to good works; donating time, ideas, and support to specific agendas. Gates is no longer the richest person in the world, for he has given away, as at 2017, over 50 billion U.S. dollars. In 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates, along with Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, founded The Giving Pledge, whose current count of 183 signatories have made “A commitment … to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back.”

Private, humble, and only a few self-indulgences which include a penchant for Porsches and a personal plane, William Henry Gates III, is a game-changer, a one-of-a-kind, modern-day icon and inspiration.

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. – Bill Gates

Up & Coming: Saoirse Ronan

At age 24, Saoirse Una Ronan is a world-class actress. She is not an overnight success, this American-born, Ireland-raised, seemingly natural performer. She received her first Oscar nomination for her role in the movie Atonement, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, when she was just 13 years old. She has been nominated for two subsequent Oscars for best actress in both Brooklyn and Lady Bird. She did win the Golden Globe award for best actress in a comedy, in Lady Bird.

Ronan is an A-List Performer with leading roles in another McEwan adaptation, On Chesil Beach, and, in Chekhov’s, The Seagull. In December of this year, the public will witness what is predicted to be cinematic magic, as Ocean Blue’s cover-featured Margot Robbie, and Ronan will be battling for power in their onscreen roles of the greatly anticipated film, Mary Queen of Scots.

Complicated, intricate roles come to life with Ronan’s impressive talent. Those who have worked with her almost always remark on her extraordinary ability to seamlessly transform into character. She is sure to join the ranks as one of the greatest performers of our times.

“The written word can be powerful and beautiful – but films transport us to another place in a way that even the most evocative words never can.” – Saoirse Ronan

Jacinda Ardern – Let’s Do This

It’s Jacindamania – there is no denying the surge of enthusiasm surrounding New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who at age 37 became the youngest female world leader.  The energetic Prime Minister has a clear mission: to make New Zealand a global player.

Born in Hamilton, New Zealand, Prime Minister Ardern graduated from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Communication Studies in Politics and Public Relations. She is quick-witted, intelligent, and boasts an appealing aesthetic, as witnessed in the feature on Ardern in the March edition of Vogue.  She is attempting to combat some big issues, including better housing and poverty reduction for the poor, nuclear disarmament, and climate change, as well as a promise to protect the country’s heritage, its environment and the future of its children.

Prime Minister Ardern is vocal about these and many issues. She encourages women to, “Make your voices heard because no country can truly prosper without you.” A business as usual attitude was her response to the baby-mania surrounding the announcement of her pregnancy in January of this year. She remarked, “I’m pregnant, not incapacitated.” The Prime Minister will take a six-week maternity leave, with Deputy Winston Peters taking charge in the Prime Minister’s stead, until her return. Clarke Gayford, Ardern’s partner, and television’s “first man of fishing” will stay home with the newborn.

Prime Minister Ardern’s poise, charm and well-spoken thoughtfulness is setting the leadership bar high as she lives and breathes the Labour Party slogan, “Let’s do this,” every single day.

In April of this year TIME magazine named New Zealand’s Prime Minister one of 2018’s top 100 most influential people in the world.

 

 

 

The Queen of Bhutan

Queen Jetsun Pema, ascended to the throne of the ancient kingdom of Bhutan when she was only 21 years old. Born in 1990, she is the youngest living queen on the planet.

Prior to ascending to the throne, Her Majesty graduated from London’s Regent’s College in international relations, with minors in psychology and art history. Upon her return to Bhutan it was announced she was to marry King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

The popular young king studied at Oxford University. Known as the ‘Will and Kate of the Himalayas’, their fairy tale story has captured the world’s imagination with a resurgence of interest in 2016, upon the birth of their son, Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck.

Her Majesty is an attentive mother and enthralling presence, carrying a sweet air of gentle elegance at home and on Royal visits abroad.

Fluent in Dzongkha, Hindi and English, she is known for her charity work with the Red Cross Society, Ability Society, and Kidney Association of Bhutan and is a patron of the Royal Society for Protection of Nature.

“Jetsun Pema is a kind-hearted girl who is very supportive and whom I can trust. I cannot say how she might appear to the people, but to me, she is the one.” – King Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck