If you’ve been keeping up to date with recent movie releases or get actively recommended movie clips through social media, you may be familiar with the names Mason Thames and McKenna Grace. Both of these Hollywood stars are making headlines in the film industry, having been set to star in more than one highly anticipated movie this year.
Thames is a newer face among prominent figures in this industry, having first starred in his debut movie, “Black Phone,” four years ago at only 13 years old. Since then he has only been in a few smaller projects that haven’t been tied to larger franchises. Despite this, in 2025 he starred in “Regretting You,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and “Black Phone 2,” all of which were major films that reached #1 at the box office, breaking a 30-year-old record held by Jim Carrey.
McKenna Grace on the other hand is not a new face to this industry. She started acting at only 5 years old and is more commonly known for playing the younger version of characters in movies during flashback scenes. She starred in movies like “Gifted” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in addition to being featured in “Young Sheldon,” “Captain Marvel,” “Ready Player One,” and many other films.
Recently, the two young actors co-starred in a film released October 24 titled “Regretting You,” based on a book of the same name by renowned author Colleen Hoover. The movie follows McKenna’s character, Clara, and focuses on her relationship with her mother following the death of her father and aunt. This tragic event led to Clara uncovering secrets about her mother’s life, creating strain on their connection. The movie focuses primarily on the rebuilding of their relationship, alongside the creation of a new one with Mason’s character, Miller Adams, the love interest of the film. Despite being the lesser anticipated film out of the three upcoming and released movies by both actors, the film did surprisingly well, earning $27.2 million in its first 10 days.
Here at Hampton Bays, many students have been engaged in this excitement, with several student responses on a brief questionnaire regarding the topic indicating that they’ve heard of the actors, have seen their recently released projects, or plan to go see them.
Of these responses, Leah Russell, a senior here at Hampton Bays High School, recently saw “Regretting You” in addition to previous films of the two actors, says that she absolutely loved the film, and that both actors do an amazing job of grabbing the attention of their audience and accurately portraying various emotions based on the unique situations their characters have been through.
Additional responses indicated that students have seen McKenna’s older projects, like “Gifted,” which featured other recognizable stars like Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer, sparking further interest in her newer projects.
This film has connected two very popular young actors and allowed them to develop a strong relationship with one another on and off set. More importantly, it also acted as a great way to engage audiences and promote McKenna’s upcoming projects, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” both of which are films in two very successful franchises.
“Regretting You” also allowed for a newer audience to watch Thames’ recent films: “How to Train Your Dragon” (live-action), released earlier this year with a sequel on the way, and “Black Phone 2,” released only a week apart from “Regretting You” on October 17. The recent popularity of these projects, amplified by the voices of two influential young adults, has resurfaced community interest in respective franchises on social media, motivating people to dress up for these film releases, buy exclusive theater merchandise, and share their love for the actors.
