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

See these famous faces in some of their first breakout roles in Hollywood.

Before They Were Famous: Actors' Early Roles

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;

In Brett's first on-screen role, only his hands appeared in the commercial for "Skipper's Seafood 'N Chowder House" fish-n-chips. Soon after, he made his way to Zurich, Switzerland where he introduced the "Fresh Start Laundry Detergent" commercial campaign to German television audiences. After studying at the Rational Theatre in Munich, and with over seventy-five commercials, including "Kim Top Line", "Co-op" and "Gold Market" winning numerous awards in Europe, Brett re-located to Los Angeles and received training there from the renowned Harry Mastrogeorge.

Brett continued making his mark, playing the recurring roles of Atty. Joshua Sloane on "Sunset Beach," and the popular Dr. Jay Garvin for years on "The Bold And The Beautiful." He then played the military attaché, Colonel James Mallory, USMC in the feature film "Operation Safeguard," that was filmed solely for use by the United States military in the Middle East. Brett did his first nude scene in the series "Red Shoe Diaries: Laundrymat" and he plays the role of Dan Wisner in the Starz original series "Party Down." He was also Robert Jones on the FX Channel's top rated show "The Shield," and he discovered the North Pole in the Discovery Channel's "Race To The Poles," as the legendary explorer Frederick Albert Cook.

Brett is known for his poignant and accurate portrayals of President John F. Kennedy. His performance of the president in the film Watchmen (2009) (first portrayal) stuck in the mind of Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) (second portrayal) director Michael Bay, who said, "Get me the same guy who played Kennedy in Zack Snyder's movie." Brett procured praise from Ethel Kennedy herself, when she expressed appreciation for how he portrayed the president. The film Kill the Dictator (2013) (third portrayal) added to his national recognition, but it was with Tom Hank's fictional historical drama Parkland (2013) (fourth portrayal), where Brett was able to work alongside Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and Marcia Gay Harden, Oscar nominees Paul Giamatti, Jackie Earle Haley and Jacki Weaver, as well as Zac Efron and Tom Welling. As a triple threat, Brett wrote, produced and starred in his multiple-award winning production of the film "Ray Bradbury's Kaleidoscope" (the film that inspired Oscar nominee "Gravity") and he is now in pre-production on his next feature film where he'll star as "The Champion". Brett carries his passion, energy and work ethic into helping others. He is a trustee of the Olive Crest Abused Children's Foundation, a supporter of Hollywood Heart, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, and the UNICEF Chinese Children's Foundation. "Hard work and following your dreams can take you anywhere. The person who says it can't be done shouldn't interrupt the person doing it," says Brett. (June 4, 2015)

Brett Stimely arrives at the premiere of Parkland on day 2 of the Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto (9-06-2013)

Videos

Brett Stimely

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed