The AP names its Breakthrough Entertainers of 2021

By The Associated Press

If 2020 was a pandemic-induced pause, 2021 was when things started up again, albeit slowly and timidly. But that doesn’t describe this year’s eight Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of the Year: They seized their masks — and the moment. They are Damson Idris, Simu Liu, Rachel Zegler, Rauw Alejandro, Adrienne Warren, Saweetie, Anupam Tripathi and Sydney Sweeney. Zegler starred in “West Side Story,” Liu made “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” a hit and Idris made “Snowfall” destination TV viewing. Warren lit up Broadway, Bay Area-rapper Saweetie got Grammy love, Tripathi added soul to “Squid Game” and Sweeney turned heads in “The White Lotus.”