Pete Davidson, Simu Liu and Ariana DeBose among stars on Time 100 most influential people list

Others featured include Channing Tatum, Jazmine Sullivan, Jeremy Strong, Amanda Seyfried and Michael R Jackson

The 2022 list of Time magazine’s 100 most influential artists, entrepreneurs, sportspeople, activists and authors was unveiled on Monday (23 May).

Shang-Chi star Simu Liu was joined on the prestiguous list by actors Zoë Kravitz, Andrew Garfield, Channing Tatum, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Seyfried, and Jeremy Strong.

Ariana DeBose, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Anita in the 2021 remake of West Side Story, and longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson also made the annual list.

News of Davidson’s inclusion comes days after the comedian announced he would be leaving SNL ahead of its 48th season.

Musician Jack Harlow wrote about 28-year-old Davidson for Time, emphasising the performer’s candour: “Pete’s appeal to the world has everything to do with his authenticity. He doesn’t try to hide the person that he is.”

Davidson, who has been open about his mental health struggles in the past, is set to star in a loosely autobiographical television series called Bupkis.

In her essay about Liu, actor Sandra Oh highlighted the Kim’s Convenience star’s groundbreaking success as the first Asian superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “He’s been on a path that no Chinese Canadian has walked before,” she wrote. “He’s part of the first generation of Asian Americans and Canadians to reach true stardom.”

Basketball player LeBron James, who was last featured on Time’s list in 2019, was enlisted to write about Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of the breakout comedy Abbott Elementary – a mockumentary-style sitcom about teachers in a Philadelphia public school.

James, who co-founded a public primary school in Ohio, talked about how Brunson’s writing addressed flaws in the American education system, like lack of resources: “She uses comedy to shine a light on big issues in public education in a very real, relatable way.”

Aaron Sorkin, who cast Jeremy Strong in his film The Trial of the Chicago 7, wrote glowingly about how the actor continues to evolve on Succession: “After two seasons of breathtaking work on the HBO masterpiece from Jesse Armstrong and Adam McKay, Jeremy came back for the third season and dug even deeper into the soul, heart, and mind of Kendall Roy with a nuance and dexterity we only see from our greatest actors.”

Jeremy Strong at the Met Gala (Getty Images)

Others stars on the list include US figure skater Nathan Chen and the actor and activist Mila Kunis, who was born in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi when it was part of the USSR.

The American painter Faith Ringgold, Grammy-winning singer Jazmine Sullivan, and Michael R Jackson, who’s Broadway musical A Strange Loop won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, rounded out the category.

In a heartfelt essay, the actor Billy Porter wrote about the impact Jackson’s play – about a Black queer writer writing a play about a Black queer writer – had on him personally: “It gives hope for people like me whose stories have been undervalued for so long.”

Read the full list here.