Author Topic: The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today  (Read 2703 times)

Offline dot-matrix

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The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today
« on: January 28, 2008, 04:05:27 am »
The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today
http://www.saltystix.com/Movies/TopTenMostPromisingActors/tabid/320/De%20fault.aspx
By Bob 1/24/2008
 

In the wake of Heath Ledger’s tragic death, I contend that he was the most promising young actor working today. While we are all eagerly awaiting his portrayal of The Joker in this summer's The Dark Knight, his performances in Brokeback Mountain, Candy, I'm Not There, and Monster's Ball spoke for themselves.  Now that he has died, we will never see what he was capable of, but it makes us wonder where he would have fit in. Because of this, here are the most promising actors under the age of 30. You can decide where Heath would have fit into this list, but if he was still living, I would have put him right at the top. He will be missed, but these men will continue on in his absence.
 
10) Jason Segel (28 years old) and Seth Rogen (25)

Both Segel and Rogen first made it big as stars of Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks. I first became aware of Segel as Marshall on How I Met Your Mother, and he has gotten a lot of mainstream attention for his hilarious role as Rogen’s friend in Knocked Up. While Rogen has most of the buzz right now, I think Segel has more promise, which will be demonstrated in the forthcoming Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which he also wrote).
 
9) Michael Cera (19) and Jonah Hill (24)

The Superbad stars have had a quick rise to stardom over the past couple years with Cera emerging from Arrested Development and Hill starring in several comedies. I don’t know if either of these guys will be able to shake off their early screen personas, but if they can they certainly both have promise.
 
8 ) Adam Brody (28) and Benjamin McKenzie (29)

The guys from The OC definitely have the talent to make it big, but thus far they each only really have one big screen role that stands out (Thank You for Smoking and Junebug respectively). However, their time on the FOX teen soap opera proves that they are capable of great dramatic performances.
 
7) Taylor Kitsch (26) and the men of Friday Night Lights

Each of the performers in this show rightly deserves to be included on this list, and I personally believe I could have made half the list just by the show’s credits. Zach Gilford (who portrays Matt Saracen), Gaius Charles (Smash), Jesse Plemons (Landry), and Scott Porter (Jason Street) are all excellent in their roles, and have a ton of promise, but I believe that Taylor Kitsch is most likely to emerge from this excellent show. He brilliantly portrays misunderstood fullback Tim Riggins who must deal with a drinking problem, the paralysis of his best friend, and the absence of his parents, all while leading the team. While each of these guys has fully demonstrated his dramatic ability throughout the course of the show, I believe Kitsch is the one to watch in years to come.
 
6) Jake Gyllenhaal (27)

From his early films such as October Sky and Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal has continued to develop towards a promising career. Recently, he has seemingly taken the next step with his roles in Jarhead, Zodiac, and of course his role opposite Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. With some more supporting roles, he could develop to be great.
 
5) Shia LaBeouf (21)

Who would have thought eight years ago that Louis Stevens would become a talented star of all genres? LaBeouf has become just that. He showed us in Transformers that he has a way about him that makes a great action star, who can bring humor to his roles. His role in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints proves that he has the dramatic prowess to do great things really soon.
 
4) Paul Dano (23)

It only took two films to skyrocket Dano up this list, but his performances in Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood are so good that his talent can not be denied now. While previous entries are merely promising, Dano has already arrived with these two awesome performances.
 
3) Emile Hirsch (22)

It’s hard not to love The Girl Next Door (I mean, she is Elisha Cuthbert), but since Hirsch broke out with that film (also starring Dano), he has successfully tackled more dramatic fare in Lords of Dogtown (with Heath Ledger) and Into The Wild. Many believe he was snubbed for awards this year, but his time will come, albeit not for next year’s Speed Racer.
 
2) James McAvoy (28)

Like Dano, it didn’t take much for McAvoy to make this list. Not only is he the star of this years Oscar contending Atonement, but he more than held his own opposite Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. I personally thought he was better than Forest in that film (which is saying quite a lot), and really look forward to his future work.
 
1) Ryan Gosling (27)

While he is probably most known for starring in every girl’s sleepover (a.k.a. his role in The Notebook), he has proved his worth through his Oscar nominated role in Half Nelson and his golden globe nominated performance in Lars and the Real Girl. Gosling, like others on this list doesn’t just have potential, but he has already displayed it. Like Heath Ledger, he has become selective with the roles he chooses, and is even more promising because of it.
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Offline Kd5000

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Re: The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2008, 03:12:15 pm »
Jake should be higher. ;D  Other then that, it's a good list.
Is it only Americans?
Don't know about the country of origin of everyone of these actors, but I always liked Gael García Bernal and he's not on the list.  He turns 30 this coming November.

I'm glad Heath was at the top. 

Offline oilgun

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Re: The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2008, 02:22:01 pm »
Here's another list, this time from The Movie Fanatic .  They are compiling a list of The 50 Hottest Young Actors.  Here's the top ten so far:

10- Gaspard Ulliel- Representing the new wave of French leading men, Gaspard Ulliel has both the looks and the talent to make it big in the world stage. Nominated three times for Most Promising Male Newcomer at the César Awards, the former male model's acting career is just taking off.

09- Jamie Bell- Talented and opinionated, charming and fiercely independent. That’s how we see Jamie Bell.  Ever since his success in Billy Elliot, Bell has built an impressive acting resume, working with such filmmakers as Peter Jackson, David Gordon Green and Clint Eastwood. This he did without compromising his integrity as an actor. While there are the usual rumours and innuendoes coming from the most ill-refuted media sources, the young actor remains unscathe.

08- Paul Dano. Not many young actors can afford to choose their roles, let alone not star in the usual no-brainer teen movies that has been so common you could puke just thinking about it. Much has been said about Paul Dano and how awesome he is...

07- Emile Hirsch. He is everybody’s dreamboy- young, gorgeous and handsome. As Sedgewick Bell in The Emperor’s Club he charmed his way into our hearts. But as Duncan in The Mudge Boy he brought in a certain vulnerability into his character that we’re utterly convinced he’s no ordinary young actor. Hirsch continues to amaze and at this moment, he is Hollywood’s most promising young lead actor.

06- Joseph Gordon-Levitt- After a hustling gig that turned violent, we see Neil (Gordon-Levitt) silently licking his wounds as he stared at his bruises and cuts, silently he cries – he must have realized he’s all alone and that there’s no one to help him or even listen to him… Such was the performance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Greg Arakki’s Mysterious Skin, that almost all critics agreed- Levitt is the young actor to watch! Of course, Levitt is no ‘one-movie wonder’, as Brick from director Rian Johnson proves.

05- Ben Whishaw. Enjoying the best of both worlds, Ben Whishaw is one actor who has successfully made the transition from theatre to film. After playing Hamlet at the Old Vic in London to much acclaim, Whishaw started doing minor roles until he was chosen to play the perfumer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Pitting talents with such veterans as Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman, Whishaw held his own and established a reputation as an actor capable of playing intense, dark, even disturbing characters with integrity and ease.

04- Gael Garcia Bernal. If there is one actor you are absolutely certain to be a bonafide political and social activist, then it has to be Gael Garcia Bernal. His brand of political activism is not limited to attending benefit concerts or being photographed in a refugee camp, he goes beyond the cliché and takes it further to where the real action is.

03- Jake Gyllenhaal. With a talent and instinct beyond his years, Jake Gyllenhaal proves an actor can be both a media celebrity and a critically acclaimed actor. Known for his antics on TV talk shows, Gyllenhaal has charmed his way into the hearts of American audiences. But the guy has international appeal and a following that could rival today’s biggest stars.

02- James McAvoy- First ever winner of the Orange Rising star award, James McAvoy is already a big name in British cinema before he received acclaim for his role in The Last King of Scotland, opposite eventual Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker. Playing lead roles in not just 1 but 3 featured films this year- Starter for Ten, Becoming Jane, and Atonement- McAvoy is the star on the rise.

01- Ryan Gosling- He is the actor that even his peers talk about. He likes to play dark, disturbed characters, but he can also play romantic leads or be an innocent guy who fell in love with a life-size doll. Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling has come a long way from his Disney stint as one of its mousekeeters. Noted for his role in Lars and the real Girl, Gosling is once again making the list as one of the year’s best actors.

More names further down the list: Daniel Bruhl (11), Louis Garrell (15), Sam Riley (19) & Anton Yelchin (28)

This is an awesome site:

http://themovie-fanatic.com/tmf_top_50/version_1/tmf_top50_version1/

Note:   They removed Heath's name but he was way up there on the list, maybe even #1.