[link=/name/nm5097044]Isabela Merced[/link], [link=/name/nm10695146]Leo Woodall[/link], and more stars who are on the rise in 2025.

Top Stars to Watch in 2025

<a class="ipc-md-link" href="/name/nm5097044?ref_=nmpub_eds_right-3_lk">Isabela Merced</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link" href="/name/nm10695146?ref_=nmpub_eds_right-3_lk">Leo Woodall</a>, and more stars who are on the rise in 2025.

Take a look at the IMDb staff picks for the best movies and series coming to theaters and streaming.

Staff Picks: What to Watch in January

Take a peek at the biggest new and returning series coming to your screens in 2025, including new seasons of "Yellowjackets" and "Stranger Things."

IMDb's 2025 TV Guide

Take a peek at the biggest new and returning series coming to your screens in 2025, including new seasons of &quot;Yellowjackets&quot; and &quot;Stranger Things.&quot;

Anzu Lawson is a force of nature in many disciplines; acting, music, stand-up comedy, screenwriting & directing. A true warrior when it comes to following her passions, which have led her on many creative adventures, each one adding another layer to the multi-dimensional artist that is Anzu Lawson. Beginning at age 7, Anzu's first taste for acting was opposite Academy Award-nominated actor, Mako in her first screen test playing his granddaughter, in an independent film. Then at 14, She was scouted to model in Tokyo, thus beginning her International career path. While modeling one summer, the stars conspired for her to meet YES's singer Jon Anderson, backstage at an INXS concert in Tokyo. It was a pivotal moment in her career when Jon discovered Anzu's musical talent. He prompted the beginnings of her first album, and two albums later, Anzu topped the Japanese Billboard charts with a number one hit on AVEX records as a teen J-Pop star in Japan. Her creative career as a singer-songwriter had begun. Her bold and unique vocal styling can be heard on many of Hans Zimmer's & Harry Gregson-Williams movie soundtracks; The Chronicles of Narnia, Spygame, The DaVinci Code and Sinbad. As a young adult, back in Los Angeles, her acting career ignited when she landed the lead role in "American Yakuza", starring opposite Viggo Mortensen by casting director Don Phillips. Don Phillips is known for giving such talents as Forest Whitaker, Sean Penn, Viggo Mortensen & Matthew McConaughey their first film role. That film's director, Frank Cappello, commissioned her to write a song for his next movie "No Way Back" starring Russell Crowe and then cast her again, opposite Christian Slater in the indie Showtime movie, "He Was A Quiet Man", years later. To date, Anzu has played many diverse roles from Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Latin, Native American & Chinese.

After befriending comedian Brad Garrett, Anzu was inspired to explore the stand-up comedy world, and has now performed on such famous stages as The Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, Westside Comedy Theatre and The Improv Hollywood/Brea.

Frustrated with the lack of diverse leading female roles in Hollywood at the time, The seed for writing her own material had been planted, and Anzu received her certificate in screenwriting at UCLA in '09, where she optioned her first script, "The Seed Between the Stones." A coming of age story inspired by her time spent with Mick Jagger, Richard Perry & Steve Bing. Then in April 2018, Anzu collaborated with Cal State University Los Angeles to launch the second live workshop of her all original rock movie musical she penned called "Dear John, Why Yoko?" (formerly known as "Rock and Roll's Greatest Lovers.") Anzu Lawson had previously received her first "Best Actress nomination" in her portrayal as "Yoko Ono" in the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

One month later in May 2018, following her mother's death, Anzu wrote an homage to the "two Asian women that shaped her life and fueled her creativity" by debuting her 1st One Woman Show called "Dear Yoko." Anzu's One Woman Show "Dear Yoko" sold out every Los Angeles performance and was an official selection at the 2019 Santa Monica Playhouse "Binge Fringe Festival", Crazy Woke Asian Festival and Solofest 2020 Festival. While prepping for the 2020 summer festival tour of "Dear Yoko", Anzu was starring opposite Al Pacino in a revival workshop reading of Pacino's 1977 Tony Award winning performance in "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" at the Wallis Annenberg/Beverly Hills, benefiting war veterans. On March 6, 2020 they had their only performance, with Los Angeles going into lock down the next day, due to the pandemic. On February 18th 2023, Anzu debuted her 2nd One Woman Show called "The Rub" at Solofest 2023 based on the single camera comedy pilot she wrote a struggling stand-up comic whose side hustle was being every "Asian mother's worst nightmare"... a massage therapist.

Anzu's production company Happy Hapa Films is focused on edgy screenplays that focus on challenging the stereotypes and bringing to light the untold stories of Asian American & diverse women throughout history.

No one says it better than Nicole Force of The Examiner when she wrote: "Anzu Lawson is a consummate and multi-talented performer who represents the new triple threat in Hollywood-singer, actress and stand-up comedian. Anzu Lawson is an entertainment force who consistently delivers, regardless of the genre."

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