Britney Spears, Simu Liu and More Stars Who Had a Very Good Year in 2021

Yes, 2021 was a roller coaster, but these celebs personified kindness and strength

01 of 16

Britney Spears

Britney Spears
Britney Spears. Allen Berezovsky/WireImage

With a groundswell of support from fans and a new legal team, Spears finally won in court and the 13-year conservatorship that kept her under her father's control came to an end on Nov. 12. Newly engaged to Sam Asghari, the star said she was "just grateful" for "being able to have the keys to my car ... be independent and feel like a woman." By raising a question about the conservatorship system, her case may lead to much-needed reform.

02 of 16

Simu Liu

Simu Liu attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City.
Theo Wargo/Getty

The first lead Asian superhero in the Marvel Universe got his start as an accountant in Canada, where he was raised. Luckily he moonlit as a movie extra, and, he said, "I came out of it totally enamored." He doesn't take his role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lightly. "I know just how much this movie could mean to so many people," he said.

03 of 16

Lil Nas X

10th Annual LACMA ART+FILM GALA Presented By Gucci
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

In 2019 the artist challenged country music with Old Town Road. This year he "birthed" an album at No. 1 and challenged "hyper-masculine" hip-hop norms. "Change is happening," he told GQ, adding, "Ten years from now, everything that I'm doing won't even seem like it was shocking."

04 of 16

Adele

CBS revealed an extended preview and first look of the exclusive Oprah interview in ADELE ONE NIGHT ONLY
Adele. Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty

After a five-year hiatus, the British icon reemerged with new music and a new boyfriend. Her first album since her divorce was therapeutic and turned heartbreak into hits like "Easy on Me." "My main goal in life," she told Oprah, "is to be loved in love."

05 of 16

Ryan Reynolds

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 01: Actor Ryan Reynolds attends WSJ Magazine 2021 Innovator Awards at Museum of Modern Art on November 01, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Ryan Reynolds. Theo Wargo/Getty

America's Sweetheart didn't even start out as an American. The Vancouver-born star is Canadian-nice: strong but not intimidating, funny but also able to prompt swoons just by posting a photo on Instagram of the 10th anniversary of his first date with wife Blake Lively. And with Free Guy, he combined action and humor to help save the blockbuster.

06 of 16

Shonda Rhimes

shonda rhimes
Kevin Winter/Getty

After the unparalleled success of Bridgerton, which returns in 2022 and has been renewed for seasons 3 and 4, the genius behind Shondaland expanded her Netflix deal to include films. "Shonda Rhimes is a force like no other," Michelle Obama told Forbes. "All you have to do is look at the empire that keeps growing year after year to see that her stories ... are something people are hungry for."

07 of 16

Jason Sudeikis

jason sudeikis
Getty Images

He made a career of playing jerks on SNL and in films like Horrible Bosses. But after tiring of playing the guy "who is ignorant but arrogant," as he told The Guardian, he "wanted to play a guy that was ignorant, yes, but also curious." As Ted Lasso, a hapless American football coach hired to coach a U.K. soccer team, Sudeikis leaned into kindness, charming viewers craving positivity during a pandemic. For that, Ted Lasso won seven Emmys.

08 of 16

Awkwafina

2018 iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards - Show
GP Images/Getty

After Raya and the Last Dragon, the comedian from Queens moved up to the Marvel Universe this year, as Simu Liu's comic sidekick, Katy, in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. "I've always dealt with a big deal of impostor syndrome because of the speed at which my career happened — like it was overnight," she told Vogue Singapore. "But there has to be a point where I stop and tell myself that I've worked really hard for this."

09 of 16

Selena Gomez, Martin Short & Steve Martin

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez
Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu

Take two comedy geniuses who've been friends for 30 years and pair them with a millennial superstar with 274 million Instagram followers. The result: Only Murders in the Building, the most-watched comedy premiere in Hulu history — perhaps because three generations of family members can watch together. While Martin and Short could give a master class in comedy (Martin actually does), offscreen it was Gomez who was doing the teaching, explaining to her costars the lyrics to the raunchy hit "WAP." Said Martin: "She is perfect because she is so unlike us."

10 of 16

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo makes a brief statement to reporters at the beginning of the daily news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 14, 2021 in Washington, DC
Olivia Rodrigo. Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Comparing the lyrics from her hit "Driver's License" to "a page ripped out of my diary," the year's breakthrough pop star told CBS Sunday Morning there's "no greater euphoria" than to mine her "messy feelings" for her music. She's so influential she was invited to the White House to promote COVID vaccination.

11 of 16

Elliot Page

Elliot Page attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City.
John Shearer/WireImage

The Umbrella Academy star shared his journey in a Time cover story in March. Explaining that he'd felt like a boy since 9, he revealed that coming out as trans brought him "true excitement and deep gratitude" combined with "a lot of fear and anxiety." By May his anxiety appeared to have lessened. He posted a shirtless selfie on Instagram, adding the hashtags #transjoy and #transisbeautiful.

12 of 16

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis Antetokounmpo. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty

He's living the American Dream. From a rough start in Athens, where he sold items on the streets to help support his family, the 6'11" powerhouse led the Milwaukee Bucks to their first NBA championship in 50 years. At 26, he's already a two-time MVP and was named to the NBA's list of 75 greatest players of all time.

13 of 16

Steve Burns

The Internet Is Crying Over Steve From "Blue's Clues"
Steve Burns. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Nearly 20 years after his departure from Blue's Clues, the former Nickelodeon host popped up on Twitter with a comforting message that resonated with his millennial fans. "Look at all you have done and all you have accomplished," Burns said in character. "After all these years I never forgot you, ever. And I'm super glad we're still friends." Next up for him: mastering TikTok.

14 of 16

Rihanna

Rihanna Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, Arrivals, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA - 13 Sep 2021
Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

The multi-hyphenate joined the billionaire's club in August when Forbes crowned her the world's wealthiest female musical artist. Most of her fortune, however, comes from her Fenty Beauty brand. "I used to be in the studio ... for three months straight," she told Interview. "Now ... I do fashion one day, lingerie the next, beauty the next, then music the next." Just this week, she was named a National Hero by her home country of Barbados.

15 of 16

William Shatner & Wally Funk

William Shatner, Wally Funk
Mario Tama/Getty; Joe Raedle/Getty

Of all the tourists who went to space this year, perhaps none were more inspiring than Funk, 82, and Shatner, 90, the oldest people to reach the final frontier. Funk, a "woman astronaut trainee" in a government program that was shuttered some 60 years ago, and Shatner, Star Trek's legendary Captain Kirk, were guests aboard Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin. Said Shatner: "I was moved to tears by what I saw, and I come back ... overwhelmed by sadness and empathy for this beautiful thing we call Earth." Funk said simply, "It was wonderful. I want to go again."

16 of 16

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig attends the World Premiere of "NO TIME TO DIE" at the Royal Albert Hall on September 28, 2021 in London
Daniel Craig. Jeff Spicer/Getty

After No Time to Die, the 25th film in the James Bond franchise and the fifth starring Craig, the world's highest-paid actor is moving on. "Apart from Marvel movies, there aren't movies that are as big as this," he told EW. "I've had the privelege of being involved in it. I'll miss everything." As for the next Bond, Craig said, "I want them to be great."

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