TOP 30 Actors and Actress with or under 35 years old: 2012 (revised and updated)

Since my opinion about some of our "young stars" changed, I had to revise this list and, once I was editing it, I decided to have in consideration the actors' and actresses' future projects, which caused some major alterations in the ranking.

1.

Ryan Gosling

Born: November 12, 1980 (age 31)

Breakthrough performance: The Believer (2001)

Best performances: Half Nelson (2006); Lars and the Real Girl (2007); Blue Valentine (2010); Drive (2011); Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

Oscar recognition: Best Leading Actor for Half Nelson (nom)
What's next? Gosling will have a supporting/co-leading role in Derek Cianfrance's second directorial work (and second reunion with Gosling), The Place Beyond the Pines, to be presented during Toronto International Film Festival and to have a late 2012 US release (maybe in order to get awards' traction). For 2013, he will appear in the delayed Gangster Squad, Nicolas Winding Refn directed Only God Forgives and a yet untitled Terrence Malick drama (in which he shares the screen with Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett)

2.

Michelle Williams

Born: September 9, 1980 (age 31)

Breakthrough performance: Dick (1999)

Best performances: Land of Plenty (2004); Brokeback Mountain (2005); Wendy & Lucy (2007); Blue Valentine (2010); My Week With Marilyn (2011)

Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actress for Brokeback Mountain (nom); Best Leading Actress for Blue Valentine (nom); Best Leading Actress for My Week With Marilyn (nom)
What's next? After receiving an Oscar nod for her portray of Marilyn Monroe, Michelle Williams moved away from indie territory and she will be seen as Glinda in Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful, a 1939's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz's prequel set for a March 2013 worldwide release. She's not attached to any other project at the moment, according to the press.

3.

Michael Fassbender

Born: April 2, 1977 (age 35)

Breakthrough performance: Hunger (2008)

Best performances: Hunger (2008); Fish Tank (2009); A Dangerous Method (2011); Shame (2011); Prometheus (2012)

Oscar recognition: none
What's next? After the most acclaimed performances of his career in Hunger and Shame, Michael Fassbender will reunite with Steve McQueen for the third time for a meaty supporting role in the highly-antecipated drama Twelve Years a Slave, to be released in 2013. He will also re-team with Ridley Scott for the second time in The Counselor, a thriller that also stars Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Javier Bardem and it is set for a 15 November, 2013,  USA release. For 2014, he will reprise his role as  Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) in Marvel's X-Men: Days of Future Past, which also stars James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence and it will be directed by Matthew Vaughn (who already directed the first installement).

4.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Born: February 17, 1981 (age 31)

Breakthrough performance: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Best performances: Manic (2001); Mysterious Skin (2004); Brick (2005); (500) Days of Summer (2009); 50/50 (2011)

Oscar recognition: none
What's next? Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be seen alongside Bruce Willis in the sci-fi/action Looper, this September, and then he will share the screen with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Jackie Earle Haley and John Hawkes in Steven Spielberg's Oscar buzzy Lincoln, that will be released 16 November in USA. In 2013, he will be seen in his own directorial debut, Don Jon's Addiction, an (indie?) romantic-comedy in which he plays a selfish porn-addicted during a personal journey - and there are some comments about the movie's chances to be presented at Sundance Film Festival.

5.

Samantha Morton

Born: May 13, 1977 (age 35)

Breakthrough performance: Under the Skin (1997)

Best performances: Sweet and Lowdown (1999); Minority Report (2002); In America (2003); Control (2007); The Messenger (2009)

Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actress for Sweet and Lowdown (nom); Best Leading Actress for In America (nom)
What's next? One of the best character actresses I've ever seen, she just finished shooting the upcoming 2013's an untitled comedy by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich; Where the Wild Things Are; Adaptation) about a man who falls in love for the voice of a computer, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde. She will also be in Monster's director of photography directing debut drama Decoding Annie Parker, that may not be ready soon enough for a 2012 release.

6.

Natalie Portman

Born: June 9, 1981 (age 31)

Breakthrough performance: Léon - The Professional (1994)

Best performances: Léon - The Professional (1994); Beautiful Girls (1996); Garden State (2004); Closer (2004); Black Swan (2010)

Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actress for Closer (nom); Best Leading Actress for Black Swan (win)
What's next? Away from theatres since 2011 due to motherhood, Natalie Portman has a promising 2013 on her way: she's currently filming Alan Taylor directed Marvel's Thor sequel (Thor: The Dark World), where she plays the hero's love interest; and she will be seen in two Terrence Malick romantic dramas (Knight of Cups and the other one remains untitled), both also starring Christian Bale.

7.

Kirsten Dunst

Born: April 30, 1982 (age 30)

Breakthrough performance: Interview With the Vampire (1994)

Best performances: Interview With the Vampire (1994); The Virgin Suicides (1999); The Cat's Meow (2001); Marie Antoinette (2006); Melancholia (2011)

Oscar recognition: none
What's next? This December, she will be seen in Upside Down, a romantic Sci-Fi drama about two lovers from different worlds, also staring Jim Sturgess. In 2013, she joins Mark Ruffalo and Billy Crudup in the big-screen for  Adam Rapp (Winter Passing) directed drama Red Light Winter. Then, Dunst stars Wings of the Dove and Drive screenwritter (Hossein Amini) directorial debut - The Two Faces of January - alongside Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac, a thriller centered on the relation between a con artist, his wife and a stranger. For 2014, Kirsten Dunst has The World's Fastest Indian's director (Roger Donaldson) next project, called Cities, a tale that brings together three different stories from London, Mumbai and New York.

8.

Jessica Chastain

Born: March 29, 1981 (age 31)

Breakthrough performance: Jolene (2008)

Best performances: Jolene (2008); The Tree of Life (2011); The Help (2011); Take Shelter (2011); The Debt (2011)

Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actress for The Help (nom)

What's next? Chastain will be seen in Tar, a drama centered on author C.K. Williams' life over the course of 40 years, directed by 11 different directors and with no release date (in spite of being already completed). This December, she will be the leading lady of Kathryn Bigelow's highly-antecipated Zero Dark Thirty, a chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attack. For 2013, Chastain has the horror flick Mama and she's currently filming The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His, both directed by debut director Ned Benson and both tell the same story of a New York couple, but from different points of view ("Her" from the wife's and "His" from the husband's).

9.

Jamie Bell

Born: March 14, 1986 (age 26)

Breakthrough performance: Billy Elliot (2000)

Best performances: Billy Elliot (2000); Nicholas Nickleby (2002); Undertow (2004); Hallam Foe (2007); Retreat (2011)

Oscar recognition: none

What's next? Jamie Bell has a supporting part in the the interesting adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel Filth, a comedy-drama that also stars James McAvoy, on the way for a 2013 UK release, but with a possible 2012 US release (maybe in order to have a try in this year's awards season). 2013 will have Bell's reunion with Joon-ho Bong (director of 2009's South Korean drama film Mother), for a thriller called Snowpiercer, also starring Chris Evans, Allison Pill, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer and John Hurt. Right now, Bell is attached to star the comedy-drama Fighting Jacob, alongside Kate Mara, and the movie should be released in 2013 too.

10.

Saoirse Ronan

Born: April 12, 1994 (age 18)
Breakthrough performance: Atonement (2007)

Best performances: Atonement (2007); Death Defying Acts (2008); The Lovely Bones (2009); The Way Back (2010); Hanna (2011)

Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actress for Atonement (nom)
What's next? Saoirse Ronan will be seen in Violet & Daisy this fall (the movie screened in last year's Toronto International Film Festival). She will also be in The Crying Game's director's, Neil Jordan, upcoming Byzantium, a drama between a mother and daughter vampire duo, starring Gemma Artenton and Sam Riley and it's set to be release already this year. For 2013, Miss Ronan will play the title role in the upcoming adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's best-selling novel The Host, set for a 28 March, 2013 worldwide release. She's currently filming the Kevin Macdonald's adaptation of the award-winning Meg Rosoff's novel How I Live Now (about an American girl on holiday in the English countryside with her family finds herself in hiding and fighting for her survival as war breaks out).

11.
Scarlett Johansson

Born: November 22, 1984 (age 27)

Breakthrough performance: The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Best performances: Lost In Translation (2003); A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004); Match Point (2005); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008); The Avengers (2012)

Oscar recognition: none
What's next? There's her collaboration with Jonathan Glazer in Under the Skin, which didn't get a release date yet, but there's always the possibility of being in theatres later this year. For 2013, Scarlett has the independent romantic-comedy Don Jon's Addiction (Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut) and she will appear as Janet Leigh in the upcoming Hitchcock, a movie about the making of the horror classic Psycho, starring Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife, Alma Reville. Johansson will also spend some of her 2013 on Broadway, starring the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and everything says she will reprise her role as Black Widow in Marvel's The Avengers sequel, set for a non-definitive May  2015, worldwide release.

12.
Tom Hardy

Born: September 15, 1977 (age 34)

Breakthrough performance: Bronson (2008)

Best performances: Bronson (2008); Inception (2010); Warrior (2011); Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011); The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Oscar recognition: none

What's next? Right now, Tom Hardy is filming Mad Max: Fury Road, which is described as an re-imagination of the Mad Max's world and title character, with George Miller directing, Charlize Theron also starring and it will be released in 2013. For 2014, he's currently attached to some other projects, such as a Al Capone's David Yates directed biopic called Cicero, and there's also a project called Rought Diamond, but there aren't any known developments about both flicks, so doubts about their possibilities of getting done remain.

13. 

Anne Hathaway

Born: November 12, 1982 (age 29)

Breakthrough performance: The Princess Diaries (2001)

Best performances: Brokeback Mountain (2005); The Devil Wears Prada (2006); Becoming Jane (nom); Rachel Getting Married (2008); The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Oscar recognition: Best Leading Actress for Rachel Getting Married (nom)
What's next? Audiences will hear Anne Hathaway singing this December in Tom Hooper's highly-antecipated and Oscar buzzy adaptation of the musical Les Misérables, in which Hathaway will play the tragic Fantine, sharing the screen with names like Hugh Jackman or Russell Crowe. She has no projects for 2013 right now, but with animated feature Rio sequel coming in 2014, it's expected that she gives her voice to Jewel once again. Plus, she has been attached to star a Judy Garland biopic for years and this one keeps in the "Projects In Development" section of her IMDb page.

14.

Carey Mulligan

Born: May 28, 1985 (age 27)

Breakthrough performance: Pride & Prejudice (2006)

Best performances: An Education (2009); The Greatest (2009); Never Let Me Go (2010); Drive (2011); Shame (2011)

Oscar recognition: Best Leading Actress for An Education (nom)
What's next? It was expected to see Mulligan this year, starring Baz Luhrman's adaptation of The Great Gatsby alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, but the movie release was delayed to 2013 Summer due to commercial interests, letting a lot of Oscar folks sad and wondering about its artistic quality. She will appear with Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman in the musical drama Inside Llewyn Lewis, written and directed by Coen brothers, set for a February 2013 release, but with a limited 2012 release. Mulligan is also attached to work with Nicolas Winding Refn for the second time in a project called I Walk with the Dead, that may have a 2013 or 2014 release.

15.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Born: December 19, 1980 (age 31)

Breakthrough performance: October Sky (1999)

Best performances: Donnie Darko (2001); Brokeback Mountain (2005); Jarhead (2005); Brothers (2009); Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actor for Brokeback Mountain (nom)
What's next? He will star End of Watch, directed by David Ayer (Training Day), a crime-drama coming this September, sharing the screen with Michael Peña and Anna Kendrick. In 2013, we will see Gyllenhaal playing the leading man in the thriller An Enemy, an adaptation of a José Saramago novel, being directed by Denis Villeneuve, director of Incendies. Then, he will work with Half Nelson's duo (Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden) in the drama Mississipi Grind, playing the promising role of a young gambling addict.

16.

Jennifer Lawrence

Born: August 15, 1990 (age 22)
Breakthrough performance: The Burning Plain (2008)
Best performances: The Burning Plain (2008); The Poker House (2008); Winter's Bone (2010); Like Crazy (2011); The Hunger Games (2012)
Oscar recognition: Best Leading Actress for Winter's Bone (nom)
What's next? Lawrence will be seen soon in the horror flick House at the End of the Street (to be released 21 September, 2012) and will share the screen with Bradley Cooper, Jacki Weaver and Robert De Niro in David O. Russell's antecipated comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook (coming this November). Next year, she will share the screen with Bradley Cooper once again, but in a Susanne Bier's drama called Serena, in which she plays a wife who can't bear children and it is set during the Depression-era, in North Carolina. Lawrence will reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which will hit the big screens worldwide in November 2013. For 2014, she will play Mystique for the second time in the X-Men: First Class sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

17.

Mia Wasikowska

Born: October 14, 1989 (age 22)

Breakthrough performance: That Evening Sun (2009)

Best performances: That Evening Sun (2009); Alice In Wonderland (2010); The Kids Are All Right (2010); Jane Eyre (2011); Restless (2011)

Oscar recognition: none
What's next? Late this year, she and Jesse Eisenberg will star the Richard Ayoade (director of Submarine) comedy The Double, centered on a man who is driven insane by the appearance of his doppleganger. In 2013, Mia Waiskowska will be seen in the 2012 delayed thriller-drama Stoker (starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode), in the vampire drama Only Lovers Left Alive (which she's currently shooting with Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Bill MurrayAnton Yelchin and John Hurt), in the upcoming The Painted Veil's director's drama Tracks (a "one woman show" about young woman goes on a 1,700 mile trek across the deserts of West Australia with her four camels and faithful dog), in the marital affair drama Madame Bovary, also featuring Paul Giamatti and Ezra Miller, and in the adaptation of the novel The Price of Salt, named Carol, which is directed by John Crowley.

18.

Elle Fanning

Born: April 9, 1998 (age 14)
Breakthrough performance: Babel (2006)
Best performances: Phoebe In Wonderland (2008); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008); Somewhere (2010); Super 8 (2011); We Bought a Zoo (2011)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? After impressive turns in 2011, Elle Fanning will be seen in 2012 playing the title role in Sally Potter directed drama Giner & Rosa, to be presented in this year's edition of Toronto International Film Festival. In 2013, she will play Cristina, an illegitimate daughter of a Venice courtesan who has Vivaldi as her music teacher in the upcoming biopic about the famous composer, Vivaldi. Fanning is currently shooting production designer's Robert Stromberg directorial debut, Maleficent (to be released in March 2014), an alternate perspective of the Sleeping Beauty tale, with Elle playing Princess Aurora and Angelina Jolie playing the evil Maleficent.

19.

Dakota Fanning

Born: February 23, 1994 (age 18)
Breakthrough performance: I Am Sam (2001)
Best performances: I Am Sam (2001); War of the Worlds (2005); Charlotte's Web (2006); The Secret Life of Bees (2008); The Runaways (2010)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? Dakota Fanning will appear as Jane once again in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, to be released worldwide November 2012 (thank God this franchise ends!). She also has a couple of projects coming this year: the drama Now Is Good (in which she plays a girl dying of leukemia) and The Motel Life (also starring Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff), but both project didn't get a USA release date yet. She will deliver an highly-antecipated portray of Effie Gray in the Emma Thompson-written drama Effie, about the relationship between John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray, and the movie has a March 2013 UK release (no USA release date at the moment). In the same year, Dakota will star the comedy Very Good Girls alongside Elizabeth Olsen, the thriller Furious Angel (in which she'll play a seventeen year old assassin) and a drama called Night Moves by Wendy & Lucy's director.

20.

Andrew Garfield

Born: August 20, 1983 (age 29)
Breakthrough performance: Boy A (2007)
Best performances: Boy A (2007); The Social Network (2010); Never Let Me Go (2010); The Amazing Spider-Man (2011)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? Andrew Garfield was very busy this year, playing Biff Loman in 2012's Broadway revival of The Death of a Salesman, that earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, so he is only attached to one project, right now: The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in which he will reprise his role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. His lack of future movies is due to his. 

21.

Keira Knightley

Born: March 26, 1985 (age 27)
Breakthrough performance: Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Best performances: Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003); Pride & Prejudice (2005); Atonement (2007); The Duchess (2008); A Dangerous Method (2011)
Oscar recognition: Best Leading Actress for Pride & Prejudice (nom)
What's next? The world is waiting for her third work with Joe Wright to be released, Anna Karenina, which comes this November and it is expected to made an impression during awards season (the trailer makes the movie looking beautiful and visionary). In 2013, Knightley will be the leading lady of Once's director upcoming musical drama Can A Song Save Your Life? (also starring Mark Ruffalo) and she will appear in Jack Ryan, an action/thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Chris Pine and Kevin Costner.

22.

Emily Blunt

Born: February 23, 1983 (age 29)
Breakthrough performance: My Summer of Love (2004)
Best performances: My Summer of Love (2004); The Devil Wears Prada (2006); Sunshine Cleaning (2008); Young Victoria (2009); Your Sister's Sister (2012)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? 2012's Looper, with Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Dano, which comes in September, and the Colin Firth-starred comedy-drama Arthur Newman, about two people trying to escape their past move into an abandoned house together. In 2013, Miss Blunt will be seen alongside Tom Cruise in the action/sci-fi movie All You Need Is Kill, which it's centered on a soldier fighting in a war with aliens and it is directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity).

23.

James McAvoy

Born: April 21, 1979 (age 33)
Breakthrough performance: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Best performances: The Last King of Scotland (2006); Atonement (2007); Wanted (2008); The Last Station (2009); X-Men: First Class (2011)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? He has the promising meaty leading role in the adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel Filth, a comedy-drama that also stars Jamie Bell, on the way for a 2013 UK release, but with a possible 2012 US release. McAvoy is currently filming The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His, both also starring Jessica Chastain, both directed by debut director Ned Benson and both tell the same story of a New York couple, but from different points of view, having a 2013 release date. Besides Eleanor Rigby, McAvoy will appear in 2013 in Welcome to the Punch and in Danny Boyle's Trance (a thriller centered around a botched art heist that pits two men against one another, though they both develop unusual relationships with the same woman). For 2014, will play Charles Xavier for the second time in the X-Men: First Class sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, with Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence.

24.

Rebecca Hall

Born: May 3, 1982 (age 30)
Breakthrough performance: The Prestige (2006)
Best performances: The Prestige (2006); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008); The Town (2010); Please Give (2010)
Oscar recognition:  none
What's next? Miss Hall is currently shooting Marvel's Iron Man 3, in which she plays Maya Hansen, being directed by Shane Black and starring alongside Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow. She also already ended shooting an untitled thriller starring Eric Bana to be released next year and she will be in Patrice Leconte's promising drama A Promise, set in Germany just before WWI, in which she portrays a married woman who falls in love with her husband's teacher.

25.

James Franco

Born: April 19, 1978 (age 34)
Breakthrough Performance: City by the Sea (2002)
Best Performances: City by the Sea (2002); Pineapple Express (2008); Milk (2008); Howl (2010); 127 Hours (2010)
Oscar recognition: Best Leading Actor for 127 Hours (nom)
What's next? This year, James Franco will be in Maladies, Tar (centered on C.K. Williams' life over the course of 40 years), The Iceman, Lovelace (porn star Linda Lovelace's biopic starring Amanda Seyfried as Lovelace) and Black Dog, Red Dog.  In 2013, Franco will release his directorial debut, the drama Child of God (also starring James Franco himself), he will play Oz in Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful (a prequel of the 1939's classic The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland), he will be in the comedy The End of the World and in the action movie Homefront, starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. For 2014, he's attached to star True Story, a drama about relationship between journalist Michael Finkel and an FBI Most Wanted List murderer who lived outside the U.S. under Finkel's name for years, Christian Longo (played by Franco).

25.

Paul Dano

Born: June 19, 1984 (age 28)
Breakthrough performance: L.I.E. (2001)
Best performances: L.I.E. (2001); Little Miss Sunshine (2006); There Will Be Blood (2007); Ruby Sparks (2012)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? This September, Dano will share the same screen with Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt in Rian Johnson's sci-fi action movie Looper. Right now, he's filming the highly-antecipated and Oscary-looking Steve McQueen's Twelve Years a Slave, a drama set in the mid-1800s, featuring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adepero Oduye and Paul Giamatti, and it is expected to get a 2013 release date.

26.

Emma Stone

Born: November 6, 1988 (age 23)
Breakthrough performance: Superbad (2007)
Best performances: Zombieland (2009); Paper Man (2009); Easy A (2010); The Help (2011); The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? Stone will be seen in the Ruben Fleischer directed crime-drama Gangster Squad, alongside names like Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie or Giovanni Ribisi, released January, 2013. In the same year, she will also appear in the comedy Movie 43 and she will give her voice to Eep in the animated feature The Croods. She's currently attached to star in a Cameron Crowe directed movie (Deep Tiki), but it seems the director decided to take another project instead, which may delay the project for a long time. Once a sequel of The Amazing Spider-Man was announced for 2014, it is expected to see Emma Stone reprising her role as Gwen Stacy alongside Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

28.

Anna Paquin

Born: July 24, 1982 (age 30)
Breakthrough performance: The Piano (1993)
Best performances: The Piano (1993); Fly Away Home (1996); A Walk On the Moon (1999); 25th Hour (2002); Margaret (2011)
Oscar recognition: Best Supporting Actress for The Piano (win)
What's next? It seems that she will have some time before begin shooting True Blood season 6 (you know... pregnancy!), but Paquin has a couple of movie projects for 2012: Straight A's a comedy-drama about a former addict who hits the road, starring Ryan Phillippe, and the drama Free Ride, centered on a single mom caught up in the Florida drug trade during the late 1970s. In 2013, she will star with Tom Hiddleston and Elijah Wood in the crime-drama Black Wings Has My Angel, in which she will reportedly play Virginia, a call girl who mets an ex-con.

29.
Kodi Smit-McPhee

Born: June 13, 1996 (age 16)
Breakthrough performance: Romulus, My Father (2007)
Best performances: Romulus, My Father (2007); The Road (2009); Matching Jack (2010); Let Me In (2010)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? He has a supporting part in this year's Dead Europe, a movie, directed by Tony Krawitz, that competed at Sydney Film Festival and it has no release date, yet. For 2013, Smit-McPhee has will star the comedy A Birder's Guide to Everything with Ben Kingsley, he will share the screen with Paul Giamatti and Robin Wright in The Congress and, finally, he'll play Benvolio in Carlo Carlei's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, starring Hailee Steinfeld (Juliet) and Douglas Blooth (Romeo).

30.

Léa Seydoux

Born: July 1, 1985 (age 27)
Breakthrough performance: The Beautiful Person (2008)
Best performances: The Beautiful Person (2008); Plein sud (2009); Mysteries of Lisbon (2010); Belle Épine (2010); Farewell, My Queen (2012)
Oscar recognition: none
What's next? Seydoux can currently being seen in some big screens around the world in the limited release of the well-received Ursula Meier drama, Sister. Then, she will work with Abdellatif Kechiche (director of La graine et le mulet and Venus Noir) in a drama called Blue Is a Hot Color, that should be released in 2013. In the same year, she will voice a character named Sasha for the French animated feature Tout en Haut du Monde. Léa Seydoux is attached to play Belle in the announced French adaptation of the classic The Beauty and the Beast, with Vincent Cassel and Gérar Depardieu also involved in the project.


Male honorable mentions (alphabetic order):

• Jesse Eisenberg, for his work in The Social Network
• Emile Hirsch, for his work in Into the Wild
• Aaron Johnson, for his work in Nowhere Boy
• Anton Yelchin, for his work in Like Crazy

Female honorable mentions (alphabetic order):

• Abbie Cornish, for her work in Bright Star
• Felicity Jones, for her work in Like Crazy
• Mélanie Laurent, for her work in Inglorious Basterds
• Ellen Page, for her work in Juno