IMDb Announces the Top Stars and Top Breakout Stars of 2021 and Presents a STARmeter Award to Ben Barnes

Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision) is the Top Star of 2021 and Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton) is the Top Breakout Star of 2021 according to IMDbPro STARmeter data on the actual page views of the hundreds of millions of IMDb customers worldwide

“Fan Favorite” Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone) recognized with an IMDb STARmeter Award

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities, today unveiled the Top 10 Stars and Top 10 Breakout Stars of 2021. Rather than base its annual rankings on small statistical samplings, reviews of professional critics, or box office performance, IMDb determines its definitive Top 10 lists using data from IMDbPro STARmeter rankings, which are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb. IMDb also announced today that this year’s No. 9 Top Star and No. 2 Top Breakout Star, Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone), accepted an IMDb “Fan Favorite” STARmeter Award.

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Ben Barnes receives an IMDb "Fan Favorite" STARmeter Award (photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)

And the 2021 winners are:

IMDb Top 10 Stars of 2021*

1. Elizabeth Olsen
2. Regé-Jean Page
3. Florence Pugh
4. Ana de Armas
5. Yvonne Strahovski
6. Anya Taylor-Joy
7. Alexandra Daddario
8. Jodie Comer
9. Ben Barnes
10. Lily James

*The 10 stars who consistently ranked highest on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart throughout 2021. IMDbPro STARmeter rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb.

IMDb Top 10 Breakout Stars of 2021*

1. Regé-Jean Page
2. Ben Barnes
3. Juno Temple
4. Kelly Marie Tran
5. Sophia Di Martino
6. Eve Hewson
7. Phoebe Dynevor
8. Brianne Howey
9. Wyatt Russell
10. Hannah Waddingham

*Among the group of stars who charted on the IMDb annual Top 100 list for the first time in their careers in 2021, these 10 stars consistently ranked highest on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart throughout the year. IMDbPro STARmeter rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb.

“2021 proved to be another phenomenal year in entertainment, with a host of new and returning titles that kept audiences on the edge of their seats and eager to learn more about the stars of their favorite shows and movies,” said Col Needham, founder and CEO of IMDb. “I want to thank our global community of entertainment professionals, companies, and other trusted contributors who submitted millions of updates to IMDb this year, helping our 200 million monthly customers around the world make informed choices about what to watch, discover titles they might not otherwise have found, and enrich their viewing experiences.”

Actor Ben Barnes received an IMDb “Fan Favorite” STARmeter Award for his performance as General Kirigan in Shadow and Bone, which ranks as one of the Most Popular TV Shows on IMDb this year. Barnes has been a strong performer this year on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart, spending two consecutive weeks in the No. 1 spot and an additional five weeks in the Top 100. Entertainment fans have also gravitated towards earlier Barnes performances in some of the IMDb fan favorite titles, including Westworld, The Punisher, and Gold Digger, and for his role as Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia films. Additionally, Barnes’ debuted an EP of five self-penned original songs, ‘Songs For You,’ on October 15 via Label Logic, as distributed by Ingrooves on all digital outlets. See all of Ben’s credits, including his music videos “11:11” featuring his Westworld co-star Evan Rachel Wood and “Rise Up” featuring his The Punisher co-star Floriana Lima, on his name page on IMDb. Fans can also explore info on thousands of the most popular music videos at https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=music_video and add them to their IMDb Watchlist. IMDbPro STARmeter rankings are determined by the page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. Previous IMDb STARmeter Award recipients include Regé-Jean Page, Eiza González, Alexander Skarsgård, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, John David Washington, Anya Chalotra, Pom Klementieff, and more.

“On behalf of the 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide, we congratulate Ben Barnes on his standout year,” said Matt Kumin, head of IMDbPro. “Fans and professionals around the world turned to IMDb and IMDbPro to learn more about Ben and his performance as General Kirigan in Shadow and Bone, securing Ben’s spot on both our lists of the Top Stars and Top Breakout Stars of the year. We are thrilled to honor Ben as our newest recipient of an IMDb “Fan Favorite” STARmeter Award, knowing that these have proven to be a keenly accurate predictor of stars who are about to have a breakthrough career moment.”

Thanking fans in an exclusive video for IMDb, Barnes expressed, “It’s really, really wonderful that you’ve been curious about my career, all the way back from Narnia through Westworld and The Punisher and now Shadow and Bone. The fact that you would take an interest and pay attention to what I’m doing through the last 20 years of my life is so wonderful to me, so thank you very much.”

Barnes also shared some of the actors who inspired his career, including Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, and Tom Hanks. To see the full video of Barnes accepting his IMDb STARmeter Award, visit: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3974677273

For comparison purposes, the IMDb 2020 year-end Top 10 lists are available here: www.imdb.com/best-of/2020.

The IMDb Best of 2021 section (www.imdb.com/best-of) features a variety of year-end Top 10 lists, more of which will be unveiled in the coming weeks, as well as retrospective photo galleries, trailers, original videos (including an In Memoriam video), and other year-end coverage. Additionally, fans can view this year’s Top 100 Stars of the Year gallery here: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls577894422/

Additional insight into trending movies, TV shows, and celebrities, with rankings updated weekly, is available to IMDbPro members throughout the year on both the site and apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android. IMDbPro includes comprehensive information and tools designed to help entertainment industry professionals achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro offers members the following: detailed contact and representation information; more than 25,000 in-development film and TV titles not available on IMDb; tools to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including selecting their primary images and the credits they are best “known for;” IMDbPro Track, which allows members to receive personalized entertainment industry news and updates on the people and film and TV projects they want to follow; and a convenient tool that generates custom digital assets to promote their work on social media and other platforms. The IMDbPro Discover tool empowers members to search for entertainment industry professionals based on a variety of key data, experience, and expertise, including credit details, representation, and awards received. With more than 25 new search filters and more than 11 million professional name pages, IMDbPro Discover was created for established industry decision-makers, including casting directors, producers, directors, showrunners, and department heads. IMDbPro Discover includes advanced features to customize, export, and share dynamic lists. To become a member today, visit www.imdbpro.com.

About IMDb

IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video. IMDb also offers a free streaming channel, IMDb TV, and produces IMDb original video series and podcasts. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.

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Source: IMDb