Twenty-three million six hundred eighty-six thousand five hundred and forty.
That’s how many of us the Australian Bureau of Statistics projects there are at the time of you reading this sentence. It’s also a pretty considerable ledger of names to wade through should you find yourself looking for a new underdog to root for (emotionally), a new start up to invest in (financially) or a journey other than your own you wouldn’t mind hitching onto (physically, spiritually or otherwise).
As 2014 effectively draws to a close and we start looking back to the future, we thought it time to assemble a prospectus for the generation most likely to get painted by a trend piece as entitled, solipsistic narcissists whose only redeeming feature is an exhaustive understanding of their best angles.
Herewith then is the first of two instalments in a review we’ve conducted with MINI of our 28 favourite Australians aged under 28 who are killing it in their respective fields. Twenty-eight guns who we’d ride or die with. Twenty-eight A+ individuals you’d be well advised to have on your radar from here on in. Twenty-eight Australians charting their own course at home and making waves internationally.
Twenty-eight Ken Oath legends who make us proud to call ‘Straya home:
TKAY MAIDZA
Our musical crush on tiny legend and teenage dream Tkay Maidza has been made abundantly clear at this point. The 17-year-old Adelaide-based MC, who emigrated from Zimbabwe to Australia at the age of five, made her presence felt last year with the storming ‘Brontosaurus’, and has since banged out tune after tune ever since, finding herself on both festival bills around the country and industry showcase stages across America.
The good people at [Adult Swim], whose taste is clearly as discerning as ours, most recently collaborated with Tkay to animate the video for her recent single ‘Switch Lanes,’ taken from her excellent debut EP The Switch Tape.
CAITLIN STASEY
It’s the same old story, really – Neighbours star breaks through into Hollywood roles, gets caught up in imaginary feud with Bindi Irwin, becomes the target of News Limited shade, becomes one of our nation’s drollest and most essential Twitter exports. If you’re not following her, we’ll wait here while you go ahead and get on that.
Since Neighbours, you’ve likely clocked her in TV shows as Please Like Me and Reign, but far more impressive than that is Stasey’s predilection for dropping undeniable, hella intelligent truth bombs on matters of great national consequence – on gender equality, LGBTQI rights and the national pastime: pizza.
You think I’d be suspicious of a place that delivers pizza at 11 am
You’d be right but fuck off you judgey fuck
— caitlin stasey (@caitlinstasey) November 16, 2014
Burn all the flags, erase all the borders.
The sheer notion that quality of life is a product of geography is truly dehumanizing
— caitlin stasey (@caitlinstasey) November 17, 2014
Gabriel Olsen via Getty Images
SARAH SNOOK
The darkest dark horse on the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake shortlist, ethereal screen actress Sarah Snook had her long-awaited breakout role in this year’s phenomenal time travelling thriller Predestination, and her resume is stuffed with some of the finest Aussie films of the past few years, from These Final Hours and Sleeping Beauty to Not Suitable For Children.
The NIDA graduate just scored her first big US role in the horror flick Jessabelle, is a real delight and somebody you can expect to see a hell of a lot more of her from here on out.
THON MAKER
Fans of hoops prodigy look up to him figuratively and, at a height of seven feet, literally. Maker came to Australia as a Sudanese refugee at the age of five, and dabbled in soccer for a bit before his height (did we mention he’s seven feet tall?) made his true calling clear.
Currently 17, he has been considered as the country’s brightest basketball hope and recently relocated to the U S of A, where he is touted as the number one prospect in his age group.
ORANGE SKY LAUNDRY
The dudes behind Orange Sky Laundry are the kind of stellar individuals who make you want to lift your own game. This volunteer organisation, which provides a mobile laundry service for the homeless, was founded by Brisbane mates Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi in July of this year, out of the simple desire to help people in need.
Though the service is still in its infancy, the pair are hoping that they can muster the energy of enough volunteers to take Orange Sky Laundry around all of Australia, raising hygiene standards and respect for the nation’s homeless population.
ISABELLA MANFREDI
You can go ahead and thank Isabella Manfredi for providing the soundtrack to your summer this year with Blue Planet Eyes, the brilliant debut album from her band The Preatures. The singer and keyboard player – originally from Brissie, but now cooling her heels in Sydney – worked hard to get to the top of the indie pile, but has a way of making everything seem totally damn cool and effortless. Case in point:
JAMES FRECHEVILLE
To say James Frecheville not only held his own but stole scenes in David Michod’s acclaimed drama Animal Kingdom acting opposite Jackie Weaver, Guy Pierce and Joel Edgerton should give you some indication his burgeoning talents.
Frecheville has since gone on to make a diverse mark opposite on-screen heavyweights like Robin Wright (Adore) and James Gandolfini (the currently screening and A+ The Drop) after romancing Hannah Simone with a guest role in the comedy series New Girl. If the number of people doing Google searches for “Cece’s Australian boyfriend” is anything to go by, the Melbourne-born 23-year-old made quite an impression. You’ll be able to see him next alongside Nikki Reed in the indie film Scout.
Frazer Harrison via Getty Images
COURTNEY EATON
We’ll save you some time and introduce you to model-turned-actress Courtney Eaton right now, so that when her upcoming debut alongside Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road makes her the officially designated Next Big Thing, you’ll be able to smugly say you knew about her all along. The 18-year-old Bunbury native will also appear alongside Gerard Butler and Geoffrey Rush in the upcoming Gods Of Egypt and is all but guaranteed red carpet darling status on account of her being heaven.
NICK KYRGIOS
Melbourne tennis prodigy Nick Kyrgios came to the world’s attention after beating Rafael Nadal and smashing his way to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year, and firmly cemented his place in our hearts after emerging victorious in a thoroughly polite dust-up with Degrassi troubadour Drake.
The 19-year-old, ranked 52 in the world, recently modelled for Bonds, and reportedly has a number of management firms begging to work with him – not a bad position to be in, starting from the bottom and all.
LITTLE MAY
Sydney-based indie folk band Little May are favourites of triple j’s Unearthed, where they won a coveted opening slot at this year’s Laneway Festival.
Straight up legends Liz Drummond and Hannah Field started making sweet music together in high school, jamming out on Eagle Eye Cherry covers in their bedrooms, and after adding guitarist and illustrator Annie Hamilton, Little May was born. Having racked up festival bills across the nation and with a national tour in support of the debut EP Hide behind them, Little May recently decamped to the States where they not only played CMJ, but signed with Island Records in the UK and Capitol Records in the US, only coming home to support Rodriguez after the fact.
You’ll next catch them supporting Angus and Julia Stone nationwide.
JAI COURTNEY
Name an action film from the last few years, and it’s highly likely that square-jawed 28-year-old Jai Courtney was involved in some way. After breaking out in Spartacus: War Of The Damned, Courtney has appeared in the likes of Divergent, A Good Day To Die Hard and Jack Reacher. After an impressive turn in this year’s locally-made psychological thriller Felony, you’ll be seeing him again soon in Angelina Jolie’s WW2 film Unbroken, the Russell Crowe weepie The Water Diviner and the just-announced Terminator: Genisys.
A rumoured role alongside Tom Hardy and Will Smith in D.C.’s Suicide Squad ought to cement blockbuster status even more for this ascendent young Aussie.
Frazer Harrison via Getty Images
GEORGE MAPLE
Another Unearthed favourite, George Maple, says that she loves music because it makes her feel alive. Her sultry electronic tunes got her signed by the all-round excellent Future Classic label, and she has toured and played shows with the likes of Flight Facilities and Toro Y Moi. George Maple – a pseudonym for her real name, Jess Higgs – hails from Sydney’s northern beaches but is currently based in London, making music influenced by “soul and glitchy beats” that you’ll no doubt be hearing a lot more of.
HOLLIE GORDON
It would be putting it pretty mildly to say that Hollie Gordon is a powerhouse. While completing degrees in International Relations and Business, Gordon, who hails from Brisbane, created Milaana, named for a Hindi word meaning “to connect people”. The website, described by its creator as a “social enterprise”, aims to connect passionate young people with community organisations, from not-for-profits through to charity fund raisers, in need of their skills and expertise. Enterprising, entrepreneurial and an all-around ray of light, it wouldn’t come as much of a shock should Gordon’s number make its way to Ban Ki-moon’s speed dial in the near future.
Image supplied
TROYE SIVAN
Singer, song writer, actor, thinker of deep thoughts and inspiring Internet star – he came out via his popular YouTube channel in 2013 – 19-year-old Troye Sivan gets around. There’s a good chance you may already be one of his two and a half million subscribers. Sivan slayed with the release of his EP TRYXE earlier this year, and is currently working on writing and recording his debut album. We don’t want to say we called it, but…
*If you’re naturally predisposed toward high performance legends that clock in under ’28’, the all-new MINI Hatch is available now for – look at that – under $28K. Smooth, no?
