Star turns: The year’s big winners
From Lupita Nyong’o to John Oliver, here’s who shot into stardom in 2014
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 1: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves prepares to shoot a free throw against the Chicago Bulls on November 1, 2014 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
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David Sherman/NBAE/Getty Images - ANDREW WIGGINS: As expected, the pride of Thornhill, Ont., went first overall in the NBA draft, and is already making an impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves. At 19, he’s a boy among the NBA’s men. But credit Wiggins for defying his critics. There were whispers that he “floated” at times during his only college season with the Kansas Jayhawks. But he’s been reportedly logging extra time in the gym to build his strength and, in his first few professional outings, he defended well against established stars while averaging more than 10 points per game. Not bad for a kid from the northern hinterlands.
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John Oliver - JOHN OLIVER: The Daily Show alumnus breathed life into a threadbare late-night comedy formula, proving an un-posh Englishman can draw laughs and viewers. His HBO show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, features rants that run as long as 16 minutes—16 times the presumed attention span of the average American viewer. The gags are strung together on a thread of social commentary and underpinned with sufficiently solid research to leave their subjects red with embarassment and anger. His takedown of the Miss America pageant’s exaggerated scholarship claims (“more than $45 million made available!”) was exquisite.
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Darren Staples/Reuters - MALALA YOUSAFZAI: Ceaseless attempts to discredit her failed to overshadow a triumphant year for the Pakistani 17-year-old, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize (with Indian children’s rights advocate Kailash Satyarthi) for her continuing campaign for girls’ education. Malala’s recovery after being shot in the head by the Taliban was inspiring enough. Her fearless decision to capitalize on the international attention made her one of 2014’s big difference-makers. That a network of 150,000 Pakistani schools would denounce her with an “I am not Malala” day merely testifies to her impact. “I speak not for myself,” she said in her 2013 UN speech, “but for those without a voice.” And she continues to.
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Jason LaVeris/WireIMage/Getty Images - LUPITA NYONG’O: Beauty and talent are a timeless potion; ask Lupita Nyong’o. The Mexican-born actress, who is of Kenyan heritage, won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s harrowing film 12 Years a Slave and, by then, she’d captivated the world. People declared her the most beautiful woman of 2014; Glamour named her woman of the year. Lost in the excitement were the dues she’s paid acting on a Kenyan TV series, writing and directing her own documentary and completing a degree in drama at Yale University. We eagerly await her turn this year in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
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Gabriel Bouys/AP - THE POPE: Francis’s glow among non-Catholics dimmed when his welcoming tone toward gay and divorced members of the Church wasn’t matched by a bishops’ synod on marriage and family issues. But Francis admonished his bishops at synod’s end to search their hearts for signs of rigidity; he is committed to establishing guidance for the clergy on homosexuality, divorce, remarriage and contraception. Meanwhile, Catholics remain enthralled with a Pope far more focused than his predecessors on the parish-level tension between traditional doctrine and modern reality.
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Keshav Singh/Hindustan Times/Getty Images - NARENDRA MODI: India’s new PM led his Bharatiya Janata Party to power for the first time, securing a clear majority in the country’s parliament. More important, he has shown moderation. Painted by critics as a wolf in sheep’s clothing—he and his party have ties to a Hindu nationalist organization—the 64-year-old has focused on the economy and government management, while praising the patriotism of the Muslim minority. He’s in a sweet spot: Thanks largely to sinking oil prices, India is one of few developing nations enjoying solid growth without the drag of inflation.
- THOMAS PIKETTY: You don’t need a degree in quantitative analysis to grasp what this courtly French economist is telling the world: The gap between the super-rich and the rest of us has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression, and will keep growing if nothing changes. Piketty’s book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, turned a lot of heads; even North American conservatives are concerned about the potential for social instability caused by the wealth gap. His prescription—a global tax on wealth—may be heresy to capitalist ears. But Piketty has shone much-needed light on a troubling feature of post-industrial economies, and they ignore him at their peril.
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Noel Vasquez/GC Images/Getty Images - STEVE BALLMER: Calling a guy with a net worth of US$20 billion a winner seems superfluous, but not only did Ballmer leave Microsoft in excellent shape when he retired as CEO, he became the company’s largest shareholder, as Bill Gates sold off a portion of his stock. Ballmer then realized a long-time dream of buying a pro basketball team, scooping up the L.A. Clippers when Donald Sterling’s racist diatribe confirmed him as unfit to be owner. He also helped to fund a successful campaign to bring in universal background checks for gun ownership in Washington state. By billionaire standards, a good year’s work.
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Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection - ‘FROZEN’: This dazzling iteration of the Disney-princess fairy tale raked in two Oscars and $1.3 billion at the box office. The plot twists and subtle satire proved a delight to parents who’d braced for yet another onslaught of Disney-fied formulae; Olaf the snowman was cute enough that we forgive the producers for that infernal Let it Go song.
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Kevin Lamarque/Reuters - SPELLING BEE CHAMPS: Rare is the speller who can exhaust the word list of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But two in one year? Sriram Hathwar, 14, of Painted Post, N.Y., and Ansun Sujoe, a 13-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, were still standing last May when the quizmasters ran out of words such as “stichomythia” (argumentative dialogue delivered by actors) and “feuilleton” (part of a European newspaper). Both were declared winners and got a congratulatory tweet from President Barack Obama.
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C Flanigan/FilmMagic/Getty Images - MEGHAN TRAINOR: Anyone who, by age 18, has released three albums of music she’s written and performed herself is destined for great things. But it’s the way Trainor went about it that impresses. In her breakthrough hit, All About that Bass, the 20-year-old mocks modern female body imagery, declaring: “I’m no stick-figure silicone Barbie doll.” She still made No.1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.