Isabela Merced in Superman
DC
We have nearly reached the end of 2025, and we are going to see about a thousand year-end lists as a result. This one caught my eye, as it’s often hard to gauge the popularity of actors outside of award shows. But among viewers? We now have data from Google on who the most-Googled actors of the year were around the world.
Out of these ten, I knew eight of them, and you can see if you get all ten or less than that. Here’s who they are, and where you may know them from:
TOPSHOT – US actress Mikey Madison poses in the press room with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for “Anora” during the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
1) Mikey Madison – The Best Actress Oscar winner from Anora was not a household name, and you can imagine that after that win, a bunch of “who is she?” questions followed online. And probably a lot of streams of Anora, where most people may not have fully understood what they were getting into.
2) Lewis Pullman – A legitimately surprising number two, and one of only two superhero actors on the list. Steven Yeun pulled out of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, where he was set to play Sentry, but Pullman stepped in. He also happens to be the son of Bill Pullman, where I did not make that connection until recently. He’ll be appearing in Avengers: Doomsday next year.
3) Isabela Merced – Merced had two huge projects this year, stealing the show in The Last of Us season 2 on HBO, and then guest-starring as Justice Gang member Hawkgirl in the first DCU film, Superman. On top of that, she starred in Alien: Romulus in late 2024, another great film. She’s blowing up fast.
4) Song Ji Woo – Well, I knew her, I guess, but I didn’t know her name. Song Ji Woo was a newcomer to Squid Game in season 2, where she played Kang Mi-na. She also…died incredibly fast. In the first game, Red Light, Green Light, shady character Thanos gets her to flinch, and she’s promptly shot. So, why is she so high on the list? Well, this is a global list, and she’s a well-known actress and model in Korea, so people are Googling her for non-Squid Game reasons as well.
5) Kaitlyn Dever – Watch her, she’s going to win an Oscar someday, mark my words. She too was a new addition to The Last of Us as upcoming co-lead Abby, the second most important character in the second game. She also had a wild role in Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix.
6) Charlie Hunnam – I am sure this is for one reason only; Ryan Murphy tapped him to play Ed Gein in his latest “Monsters” entry, and while I’ve known him since Undeclared, he’s probably less than a known quantity for most people, and so a lot of Googling ensued, as that show was extremely popular.
7) Bella Ramsey – Alright, well, we’re up to the three biggest characters in The Last of Us season 2 here. This was literally her own big role this year, so I guess The Last of Us fans are more curious than most.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Amazon
8) Gavin Casalegno – You got me here, I didn’t know him, nor do I watch his show, the mega-popular The Summer I Turned Pretty, where he plays Jeremiah Fisher. Honestly, I’m a little surprised that he is here instead of star Lola Tung.
9) Emma Myers – Myers beat out her Wednesday co-star Jenna Ortega as her star continues to rise. She was also one of the main characters in the enormously popular Minecraft movie this year, which elevated her profile further. In addition to this, she stars in her own Netflix show, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which was renewed for a second season, out in 2026.
10) Walton Goggins – He’s everywhere, man. A lead character on The White Lotus. A lead character in Fallout. A lead character in The Righteous Gemstones, where at one point, you’d watch him in The White Lotus and Gemstones back-to-back on Sunday night. Fallout season 2 airs on Amazon next week, so he’s not going anywhere.
Those are the ten most-Googled global actors, but if you want more lists they made? Here you go:
Actors (U.S.)
Pedro Pascal
Malachi Barton
Walton Goggins
Pamela Anderson
Charlie Sheen
Eric Dane
Mikey Madison
Aubrey Plaza
Adam Sandler
Justin Baldoni
Celebrity Weddings
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld
Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji
Demi Lovato and Jordan Lutes
Jalen Hurts and Bryonna Burrows
Travis Hunter and Leanna Lenee
Paige Drummond and David Andersen
Charli xcx and George Daniel
Hunter Fieri and Tara Bernstein
Explained
The Woman in the Yard
Sinners
Weapons
Adolescence
Sirens
House of Dynamite
Straw
The Hunting Wives
We Were Liars
Wayward
K-Drama
S Line
Head over Heels
Study Group
Would You Marry Me?
Beyond the Bar
Buried Hearts
The Nice Guy
Friendly Rivalry
Tastefully Yours
The First Night with the Duke
Books like…
KPop Demon Hunters
Shield of Sparrows
Kiss of the Basilisk
Alchemised
The Hunting Wives
The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About
Broken Country
Quicksilver
Sunrise on the Reaping
Great Big Beautiful Life
Music Videos
‘1965’ – Jessie Murph
‘The Fate of Ophelia’ – Taylor Swift
‘Manchild’ – Sabrina Carpenter
‘Worst Way’ – Riley Green
‘Gnarly’ – Katseye
‘Gabriela’ – Katseye
‘Doot Doot (6 7)’ – Skrilla
‘FEAR’ – NF
‘Ordinary’ – Alex Warren
‘Tears’ – Sabrina Carpenter
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/12/04/how-many-of-2025s-top-10-most-googled-actors-have-you-heard-of/
