tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

Finally, we've reached the Top 20! All the names here are more than capable of getting a Top 10 ranking and indeed some of them have belonged to the Top 10 already the last time... As we said back then...

Almost there! These guys have it already- starring roles, amazing projects and multiple chances to work with some of the industry's cutting edge filmmakers. They are more than just 'matinee idols', they rock!

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# 20 - Ben Barnes: I think Ben Barnes is one of the most promising young actors today. While I am not particularly impressed with the Narnia series, it was an important role for Barnes and it gave him the opportunity to explore acting like never before. He was quite impressive in the indie film, Bigga than Ben and I expect a lot when Dorian Gray, where he played the lead role, hits the big screen.

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Brooke Barnes wrote this earlier piece describing Ben's initial foray into movies:

Barnes is a polite 26-year-old who, until Walt Disney Pictures came calling in February 2007, was struggling in all the typical ways fledgling actors struggle. Despite the splashy outdoor advertising campaign, he is in many ways still living that life. He crashed at a friend's apartment during a recent visit to Los Angeles. He has no publicist. Arriving for an interview at the Sunset Tower Hotel, he parked his rental car on the street because he was leery of leaving it with the valet. Despite being blessed with more than his share of tall, dark and handsome - and starring in a summer blockbuster - he frets that a woman he has a crush on is "utterly unattainable."

His low-key life will change no doubt with the arrival this summer of the lavish "Chronicles of Narnia" sequel. Barnes' character is the swashbuckling descendant of pirates who must battle his evil stepfather for control of the magical kingdom. [ read more ]

I just love some of Ben's scenes in Easy Virtue, one of his more recent films.

Get to enjoy Barnes (I was reminded of Rupert Graves in A Room With a View) in this period piece:

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Barnes is on the verge of completing his portrayal of Dorian Gray, based on the horror classic written by Oscar Wilde. He was recently asked about the film, excerpt follows:

In the movie, Barnes plays a 50-year-old man living in the body of a 20-something-year-old, having maintained his youth with the help of a painting that has the magical properties to take on his natural aging process. Even though there have been many adaptations and versions of Wilde's tale, we asked Barnes if this new version was going to be a very different take on the story than we've seen in previous films and TV movies.

"It's fairly traditional in the context of trying to make a film that hasn't been seen before, because they made one in the ‘50s,. They had the museum version so now our job is to make one that's exciting to a 19-year-old today, as well as the book lovers. It's got a 'Sweeney Todd' element and because it's so much more adult and gory, I think that's why you've got a better chance at getting the teenagers." [ read more ]

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When he got the part in Boy A, he was, he says, "terrified". He worried that he wouldn't be "good or interesting or unique. That's always a genuine feeling that I have. And it's tough trying to figure out whether you need to feel that way to be creative. Do you have to make yourself a wreck?" Neither of us know the answer to this, but another cigarette might help for now.

"I hadn't had much camera experience. I didn't know any tricks," he continues."But if you trust an audience I think they get drawn in."

In Boy A, Jack falls in love for the first time. The performance is terrifying in its naivety. "I had been in love twice at that point and I just went inside myself because that's what the audience sees," he says. Is that how he is when he's in love, I ask, all pure and raw? "Yes, I am. Warts and all. Open heart. And that was the struggle with Jack. He knew he couldn't be himself and that's why he couldn't live. He knew the world wouldn't allow it. And I think that's a metaphor: if you suppress things you never get away with it." [ read more ]

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To complement an exceptional 2007, Andrew was named one of "10 Actors to Watch" by Variety magazine in the United States and one of the "UK Stars of Tomorrow" by Screen International. He'll be seen next in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, which received mixed reviews in Cannes, but I'll have to see for myself how Garfield performed...

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# 18 - Sam Riley: Having originally dabbled in TV and theatre acting in his youth, Leeds-based Sam Riley's energies have been focused on music. The band he fronted, 10,000 Things, secured a major label for the release of its first album, but the band suffered at the hands of major label politics, its release was stalled for a year and the band was soon without a contract. As a result, Riley found himself taking a job in a local warehouse to make ends meet. Disillusioned, Riley reluctantly decided to give acting another shot.

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When I first did acting I was auditioning for TV parts, so it gave me a bit of crisis to be a musician with integrity and auditioning for TV parts. It doesn't really go together," says Riley, "But I rang up my old agent and Control was the first thing that came up, which was pretty incredible.

Apparently, Riley will not be required to do odd jobs anymore - not ever. With a nomination for the Orange Rising Star awards, Sam Riley, who was phenomenal as Ian Curtis in Control, is one hot commodity. After Control, Riley is now enjoying a showbiz 'roller-coaster ride'. As a result, he is one of the leads in Gerald McMorrow's Franklyn, his most recent film. Here's the movie trailer:

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Riley's future line-up of films include:

Brighton Rock: The Playlist posted some info about the film, and I quote:

Sam Riley and Carey Mulligan are set to star in Rowan Joffe's adaptation of Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock." The story is described as an underworld thriller and follows a young gangster who marries the waitress who witnessed a murder he's committed in order to keep her quiet. Riley and Mulligan? Color us intrigued. [ Original source: Variety ]

13: Riley is, of course, playing the lead in the remake of Cannes fest sensation Géla Babluani's 13 Tzameti. Riley will play a naive young man who assumes a dead man's identity and finds himself embroiled in an underground world of power, violence, and chance where men gamble behind closed doors on the lives of other men.

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Critics are marvelling over the fact that the Yelchin of Star Trek is so completely different from the Yelchin of Terminator Salvation which opens May 21. But from his perspective, he’s simply doing his job: each role demands its own defining characteristics. Still, he gave a lot of thought to his Reese assignment in particular because he has so much admiration for Michael Biehn’s performance as Reese in 1984’s The Terminator. [ read more ]

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I first took notice of the young Yelchin in David Duchovny's flick called House of D. The Russian-born Yelchin was already making a name for himself in TV and it was just a matter of time before he started making movies. Duchovny cast Yelchin as the young Tom Warshaw (the older version is played by Duchovny himself), an American artist living in Paris, who begins to discover who he really is, and returns to his home to reconcile with his family and friends. After that, Yelchin went on to play one of the leads in Alpha Dog. But it was in Charlie Bartlett that Yelchin took his career to the next level...

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Although hundreds of hopefuls auditioned for the role of Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin essentially sealed the deal in his first meeting with Poll. "He blew me away," recalls Poll. "I just felt like here's Charlie Bartlett. He was incredibly empathetic and really funny. And what made me realize he was perfect is that he said it was the honesty and optimism of Charlie that drew him to it. If anyone was ever destined to play a part, I think it was Anton as Charlie Bartlett." says director Jon Poll.

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Ultimately it comes down to whether we're still enjoying it. If we are then I think we would be sort of stupid not to do them. As long as I'm doing other stuff around the same time, I think it'll be fine. Also, I sort of try to read the books when they come out impartially and not make up my mind, but the fact is when I was reading the sixth, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, there were bits in there where I was going, 'God, I would love to do that because it's so good.'" says Daniel about playing the role.

Perhaps the most popular among the top 50 young actors in the list, Radcliffe's acting resume is not limited to the Potter movies anymore- with a controversial stint in theatre for Equus and an upcoming drama feature, The Journey Is the Destination, where he will play the lead role, Radcliffe is as shrewd as he is charming.

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# 15 - Shia LaBeouf: Ignore the hype, Shia can act and act really well. Before the huge hit Transformers, Mr. LaBeouf has been wowing both indie and mainstream audiences in such movies as Holes, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Bobby and The Greatest Game Ever Played.

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Says Shia:

I'm not an Adonis, that's for damn sure. I've never really thought of myself that way, and it doesn't matter to me. My favorite actors aren't Adonises. Dustin Hoffman is a flawed-looking man; he's amazing to me. Tom Hanks is flawed-looking; people love him. Same with Gene Hackman.

NY Daily News has this to say:

LaBeouf does seem to have an old-school actor's soul inside his Gen-Y body, and prefers not to get caught up in angst or internal dramas. And he has fun while making movies, even if co-stars like Morse ("The Crossing Guard," "The Green Mile") need to work another way. The next part of LaBeouf's journey is hosting "Saturday Night Live" this week.

"When you start in this industry, there are a few things you dream about: An Academy Award, Scorsese, Spielberg and 'SNL.' I'm 20 and two of those four things are off my list. It's nuts!"

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# 14 - Jesse Eisenberg: The young New York-based actor is known for taking his role choices seriously and has proven that he can present us with some really remarkable screen performances. Starting with a notable role in Roger Dodger, Eisenberg went on to play one of the leading roles in The Squid and the Whale (starring alongside Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney). Jesse also stars in The Education of Charlie Banks, the directorial debut of Fred Durst which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

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In Greg Mottola's Adventureland, Eisenberg really established himelf as one of today's most exciting and talented young actors. Elle.com has an interesting profile of Eisenberg:

In Adventureland, Eisenberg stars with Kristen Stewart in Greg Mottola's semiautobiographical coming-of-age tale about finding love in the most unlikely of places. As with The Squid and the Whale, Eisenberg was instantly drawn to the script and depth of the characters. "It's so sweet and told so well," he says. In the 1980s, Mottola spent a summer working at a ramshackle amusement park, similar to the one in the film. Mottola based elements of Eisenberg's character, James Brennan, on himself. "I love the character so much and never thought that I would get chosen to play the part," says Eisenberg, who didn't have to audition for this one either. "James is such a wonderful well-rounded person, which is exciting." Eisenberg seamlessly maintains his earnestness and sincerity in the midst of the film's comic environment, rather than forcing the funny. "I let it come from a real place." [ read more ]

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What's next for Jesse? Elle.com's article also has the latest scoop:

With the upcoming film Holy Rollers, based on a true story, he's a Hasidic youth from Borough Park, Brooklyn, who becomes an ecstasy courier in the late 1990s. "It's not a drug movie," says Eisenberg. "It is told realistically with my character's conflict between his faith and the modern world." Eisenberg enlisted his real-life little sister, Hallie Kate Eisenberg (The Insider), a talented actress in her own right, to play his on-screen one. "With such a small movie, everyone had to pool the resources they had access to," Eisenberg says. "And she was so sweet to do it." He's also signed on to play poet Allen Ginsberg in the upcoming Kill Your Darlings. "These great opportunities come before I anticipate them," he says. "That's the nature of the industry."

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# 13 - Eddie Redmayne: Robert de Niro personally picked him to play one of the major roles in The Good Shepherd, the spy/thriller film that starred Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. It was enough to send us into frenzy and search for what's available information about this young actor.

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Right now, after watching him in Yellow Handkerchief, Like Minds, and the awesome Savage Grace, all I can say is that he's one of the most talented young actors around! Here are some scenes from Savage Grace, the film where Redmayne really made such an impression [ via youtube! ]

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Says the Guardian, which sums up what the actor has accomplished so far...

Redmayne is one of Britain's brightest young actors, and at 26 has already established a stage and film reputation, appearing in Edward Albee's The Goat Or Who Is Sylvia?, for which he won best newcomer at the Evening Standard theatre awards in 2005; the film Savage Grace, as Julianne Moore's son; and in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd. He has also done his fair share of plush costume dramas - Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Other Boleyn Girl, and the BBC's forthcoming Tess of the D'Urbervilles. [ read more ]

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# 12 - Emile Hirsch: Our original commentary for Hirsch goes like this:

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.

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His acting in Into The Wild, gave us more than a glimpse into his capacity as an actor ready to take on more matured roles. Says Variety of the young actor's performance:

Hirsch, who's shown impressive range in various TV and lesser-seen film projects ("The Mudge Boy," "Lords of Dogtown"), easily holds the screen in this demanding role. If his McCandless comes off as a bit blank-slate, that's appropriate for a man-boy whose unshakable convictions are mostly of the kind that grow more malleable with age and experience.

Right now, he must be saying 'No!' to predictable scripts and trying his find another challenging role, but surely with the kind of buzz he has generated already, we'll soon find out what Hirsch is all up to!

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

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As Howie Blitzer in the indie film L.I.E., Paul portrayed a 15-year-old boy who got involved in a sexual relationship with an older man (played by the brilliant Brian Cox). While there are no explicit sex scenes, the movie was still given a NC-17 rating by the MPAA. Says filmcritic.com:

Dano is quiet and at first glance seems so withdrawn as to be transparent. We're so used to child actors whose dramatic choices are broad and obvious (calling Haley Joel!); it's surprising to see one who actually listens throughout any given scene. The restraint is admirable.

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Dano went on to win four acting awards for this role. The indie film opened many doors for the young actor, and since then, he's found a way to excel in every role he undertakes. He was awesome in the Emile Hirsch-starrer, The Girl Next Door, although he only played a supporting part. He also held his own admirably against Gael Garcia Bernal in the James Marsch film, The King. But it was in Little Miss Sunshine that mainstream audience finally got to know him. This was, of course, followed by another outstanding performance in There Will Be Blood, where he gets to act alongside Daniel Day-Lewis.Of Dano's latest, here's what we quoted a while ago...

One of the more recent film reviews has this to say about the movie and Dano's performance:

Of the recent spate of young-man-finding-himself movies, Adventureland may be the most fun, but Gigantic sticks to the ribs. Debut-feature director Matt Aselton (a Worcester native who wrote the film with fellow Williams graduate Adam Nagata) has a firm hand on the tiller of this low-key comedy starring a poker-faced but nonetheless expressive Paul Dano. Dano is the anchor; the willowy, porcelain-skinned actor has shown himself to be one of the best of his generation since his debut in L.I.E. as an exploited teen. As Olive's Nietzsche-fanatic brother, he gave Little Miss Sunshine an element of gravitas. And he survived the histrionics of Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, in which he played both evangelist Paul and his twin, Eli. Here his aspiring father looks to be merely the first in a gallery of grown-up roles.

I think that sums up the young actor in terms of acting performances, right?

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What's on your mind? Oh and yes, there are 10 more names on the list, and if your favorite actor is not yet here, then perhaps he might be ranked higher or perhaps not at all, so please do tell us who he is and why he ought to be part of the list. Anyway, just fire away!

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