The HERO Winter Annual 2025

The HERO Winter Annual 2025 - Issue 09

Josh Hutcherson

In conversation with Rachel Sennott

Josh Hutcherson suddenly finds himself at the centre of Silverlake’s hot and messy ecosystem in Rachel Sennott’s audacious new comedy series, I Love LA. All IV drips, iced matchas, mercury retrograde and the perfect Instagram dump. It’s a curveball role, and a perfect one – deadpan, off-kilter, and oddly endearing – setting the actor in a brilliant new direction. For this cover feature, Hutcherson tells Sennott why this part has changed him forever.

Joe Keery

Joe Keery leads a double life. On Stranger Things, he plays the fan favourite Steve Harrington, the foe-turned-friend of the kids of Hawkins. But, to a different legion of fans, he’s Djo: the solo artist who just wrapped a 70-date worldwide tour. As the cult series draws to a dramatic conclusion, Keery steps into life beyond the Upside Down – as a musician crafting his own sound, and as an actor seeking new worlds.

Daryl McCormack

In conversation with Cailee Spaeny

Daryl McCormack is officially on everyone’s radar. Not just as one of the industry’s most captivating emerging talents, but also as a prime suspect in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Next up: the ultimate story – a leading role in Netflix’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. On the cover of The HERO Winter Annual, McCormack reunites with his Knives Out co-star Cailee Spaeny, whose defining turn in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla caught his attention long before they shared the screen.

Natalia Dyer

In conversation with Maya Hawke

Nine years. Five seasons. Forty-two episodes. Countless bike rides, Demogorgons, and brushes with the Upside Down. Now, it all comes down to this: the final season of Stranger Things. Natalia Dyer says goodbye to Nancy Wheeler – the role she’s grown up with. In conversation with Maya Hawke (aka Robin Buckley), the pair share stories from Hawkins and what it means to leave a world that became home:
“Maybe you don’t know how much something means until you’re like, ‘Oh… never again.’”

Also in the issue:

Dozie Kanu

US artist Dozie Kanu builds sculptural forms that render the familiar into anything but. Repurposing found materials – rusted metal, discarded furniture, and wheel rims – to reclaim their past. In conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Kanu unpacks a practice rooted in collaboration, architecture, and the constant renegotiation of utility and form.

Mieko Shiomi

Mieko Shiomi’s avant-garde practice forever reshaped art and music, from pioneering improvisations as part of the renowned Fluxus movement, to radical, participatory works – challenging convention and laying the foundations for Japan's experimental sound art scene. Speaking with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Shiomi invites us to think beyond.

Candice Lin

Candice Lin has worked with liquid, organic materials, bacteria, mould, insects, fabric, hair, fermentation and hormones to raise questions about our histories, politics, colonialism, morality and ritual. Speaking with Francesca Gavin about her new Whitechapel Gallery exhibition, Lin introduces feline characters and fairy-tale violence.

Felix Kammerer

Frankenstein, retold. Felix Kammerer steps into Guillermo del Toro’s dark and epic new vision – embodying a character born as much from the auteur’s own life as from legend. A totally transformative experience, Kammerer tells friend and actor Louis Hofmann all about it.

Plus:

Renowned wine expert Jancis Robinson cuts through the pomp of wine, and model couple Lemmie and Estella share their latest series of travel snaps. Allan Hamitouche and Alexander Picon capture a fashion story of New York City noir, Joe Brennan and Tristan Levi Kane shoot cosy portraits, and Bruno McGuffie and Arielle Gold shoot an evocative story of off-grid youth.