There are faces that seem familiar even before we know where we have seen them. That’s the case with Ella Rubin, the actress who plays Annie Jacobson, the lead character in Sterling Point, Prime Video’s latest teen sensation.
Since premiering earlier this month, the series has become one of the summer’s biggest cultural phenomena, earning praise from both critics and viewers, who seem to have found in it a particularly nuanced portrayal of Generation Z, a generation that TV and movies have often painted with too broad a brush. At the center of that success is Rubin. So much so that she has sparked a viral debate on social media about her resemblance to a string of actresses who, like the 24-year-old today, once held the title of America’s sweetheart.
Some see Julia Roberts’s smile; others the profile of Anne Hathaway, and indeed, Rubin played her daughter in The Idea of You. Then there is the camp who detect the distinctly 1990s beauty of Winona Ryder or Rachel Weisz.
Megan Park, the creator of Sterling Point, summed up Rubin’s appeal this way: “It’s impossible not to feel something while watching her. I know she’ll be one of the biggest movie stars in the world one day.”
But there is something far more interesting behind Hollywood’s latest viral face: Ella Rubin is not a newcomer. She has spent more than a decade preparing for this moment.
In Sterling Point, the teen drama of the summer, Rubin plays Annie, a conscientious, academically driven New Yorker who unexpectedly inherits a Canadian island from her late grandfather. Her father takes Annie and her twin brother there, setting in motion a journey of self-discovery in which long-buried family secrets gradually come to light.
The role has established Rubin as one of the breakout stars of the moment, the actress everyone seems to be talking about. But with a career that already spans more than a decade despite her youth, Rubin looks set to be far more than just Hollywood’s latest summer sensation.
Getting here, however, took time. Although she was discovered by a talent agent during an after-school theater production, one she had joined at the urging of her best friend in a story that follows one of Hollywood’s most enduring clichés, Rubin was never a child star. Showing up to auditions carrying a briefcase in an attempt to convince casting directors that she was a seasoned professional did not prove an effective strategy, probably to her benefit.
For seven years, all she heard was “no.” But something changed when she turned 17. Her first leading role arrived last year in the horror film Until Dawn, after a decade of steadily building her résumé with small parts in films such as The Idea of You, in which she played Anne Hathaway’s daughter, and Anora, where she portrayed the sister of the character that earned Mikey Madison an Oscar.
Now, in a summer when Hollywood seems fixated on its latest crop of nepo babies such as Homer Gere, son of Richard Gere; Sunny Sandler, daughter of Adam Sandler; and Sunday Rose Kidman, daughter of Nicole Kidman, Ella Rubin stands as something of an asterisk to the rule.
Her parents are neither famous actors nor Oscar-winning directors, but neither can she be described as a complete outsider. Her mother is a talent manager, and her aunt, Jodi Kipperman, is a prominent casting director. Rubin grew up surrounded by entertainment industry professionals and studied acting at the Professional Children’s School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, an institution that specializes in educating young performers balancing school with artistic careers.
She is not a nepo baby in the strictest sense of the term, but neither is she a young woman who was plucked from obscurity and suddenly catapulted to stardom. She grew up in a privileged Manhattan environment, had access to artistic training from an early age and understood how the industry worked.
That does not diminish an impressive career that, despite her age, already includes Broadway credits, independent films, major studio productions and television projects such as The God of Woods, which she is currently filming for Netflix and is already expected to be one of the platform’s next major releases.
But Hollywood was part of her landscape long before the film industry began looking at her as a possible star. Perhaps that is why she appears so at ease in front of the camera.
Of course, Rubin’s style and image have played a role as well. Social media users have praised her “’90s actress beauty,” perhaps because of a face that somehow feels familiar and stands apart from today’s heavily highlighted makeup and meticulously sculpted contouring. So far, her fashion choices have leaned toward minimalism, with a particular preference for monochrome black and white dresses.
Whether dressed in an all-black Prada look for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a white Balenciaga minidress paired with modest heels, or an immaculate Louis Vuitton halter-neck gown at the Sterling Point premiere, Rubin tends to avoid excess and complication, favoring loose hair, understated makeup and a natural elegance.
That simplicity, however, is carefully considered. Rubin has enlisted Emma Jade Morrison, the stylist behind Kaia Gerber and other actresses known for their fashion credentials, including Sarah Pidgeon and Zoey Deutch, to help craft an image that seems destined to make an impact on red carpets and at high-profile events.
Her interest in fashion is unmistakable. She has attended events and runway shows for brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel and even helped Sterling Point’s costume designer shape the character that is now bringing her global recognition.
“I wore my own flats. That’s why they’re so destroyed,” she told Teen Vogue, explaining how her contribution helped her better understand Annie, to the point that she felt she “knew what she would wear.”
Determined to become a versatile actor — to date she has moved effortlessly from horror to comedy to drama — Rubin says she looks for roles that challenge her creatively and characters she finds intimidating to play. The actress has said she would love to work with Mike White and counts The White Lotus among the projects she most admires. She has also named Rachel Dratch, Parker Posey and Isabelle Huppert among the performers she would most like to work with.
But perhaps the strongest reason to pay attention to Sterling Point is not Ella Rubin alone. A few years from now, we may look back and realize that this summer series brought together several of Hollywood’s next generation of stars.
There is Bo Bragason, who plays Oona and already has the role that could transform her career lined up: she is set to play Zelda in the film adaptation of Nintendo’s legendary video game franchise, a project that could turn her into a global star when it is released next spring.
There is also another high-profile nepo baby, Keen Ruffalo, the son of Mark Ruffalo, who plays Annie’s twin brother. Sterling Point marks his first major role after a brief appearance alongside his father in HBO’s Task.
And then there is Daniel Quinn-Toye, who plays Rory. The Scottish actor recently appeared opposite Bella Ramsey in Sunny Dancer and has been chosen by Tom Ford to lead his highly anticipated next film, A Cry to Heaven.
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