Most Intriguing People of the Year

FROM NEWLY MINTED A-LISTERS TO TIMELESS FORCES OF NATURE, THESE STARS KEPT US TALKING

EMMA STONE
Actress, 35

The Oscar winner and mom to 2-year-old daughter Louise Jean, with husband Dave McCary, 38, capped off her year with the Showtime dark comedy The Curse and the fantastical film Poor Things. Playing Bella Baxter, a woman who gets a second chance at life from an unorthodox scientist, Stone embraced raw sensuality and extreme vulnerability for the role. "It felt like acceptance of what it is to be a woman," she said. "To be free, to be scared and brave."

Britney Spears
Singer & Author, 42

The pop star proved she's stronger than all of her yesterdays with The Woman in Me, a searingly personal memoir that found Spears taking control of her narrative. "It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out," she told People in October of the revelatory book, a No.1 New York Times bestseller.

DAVID BECKHAM
Sports Mogul, 48

How much more is there to know about soccer megastar David Beckham? Turns out quite a lot: Millions were transfixed by the Netflix docuseries Beckham, which showcased everything from his meticulously organized closet to a couple's goal "Islands in the Stream" dance with wife (and former Spice Girl) Victoria. "It was a series that took me a while to come to terms with filming," Beckham has said. But he's "very, very proud."

Halle Bailey
Actress & Singer, 23

Already one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle, Bailey made a big-screen splash in May as Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid. "Surreal," she's said of living out the childhood dream of countless young girls of color. Now, while playing coy about pregnancy rumors, she's focused on her newest role, Nettie in The Color Purple.

Jacob Elordi
Actor, 26