With 2011 drawing to a close and major movie award season around the corner, Hollywood is gearing up for the next pack of stars that will be taking over magazine covers, red carpets and Twitter feeds.
More importantly, these are the stars that will be taking over the silver screen -- some in the form of a sequel or the beginning of a trilogy.
Others on this list already had breakout films that came out in 2011 (Elizabeth Olsen with Martha Marcy May Marlene, or Brit Marling with Another Earth).
The average age of the stars on this list is 25, with Tom Hiddleston clocking in at 30 and Josh Hutcherson as the youngest of the bunch at just 19 years old.
Two on the list appear in the first of a trilogy of films based on popular novels (Hutcherson in The Hunger Games, Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). One has a small role in the final chapter of a trilogy (Juno Temple in The Dark Knight Rises), while another is about to start a new franchise (Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man).
Four hail from the UK (Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Temple, Jeremy Irvine) while two have British-American citizenships (Garfield, Collins).
Here is a bit more about the 10 stars to watch in 2012.
With the release of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” in December, Rooney Mara, has come a long way from her “Social Network” days (playing Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend in the film’s first five minutes). The first of the trilogy has already placed Mara on the radar of several critics’ circles, including the National Board of Review, which awarded the 26-year-old with a Breakthrough Performance award.Fashion houses and designers will surely be lining up to dress Mara for her appearance at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards in January -- she is nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) for her lead role as Lisbeth Salander.REUTERSWhile Mary Kate and Ashley’s little sister dominated 2011 with the psychological thriller “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” Elizabeth Olsen is gearing up for at least three projects in the New Year, opposite co-stars that include Robert de Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener.Already a best actress winner in several critics’ circles (including the Indiana Film Critics Association, Phoenix Film Critics Society) and a nominee for the Independent Spirit Award, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and others, don’t be surprised if Olsen’s name comes up when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces its nominees for the 84th Academy Awards.REUTERSTom Hiddleston plays Loki, Thors adoptive brother and nemesis. Loki comes to Earth to subjugate it, and be a king for the human race. REUTERSIn 2011, Felicity Jones appeared in a whopping six films, including the Sundance favorite “Like Crazy,” which earned the 28-year-old a breakout performance prize at the January festival. International brands will have to line up for the Jones’ fresh face -- Dolce & Gabbana recently locked up the Brit in a contract for its Make Up collection. Before D&G, Jones belonged to Burberry.With these beauty and fashion campaigns on her plate, Jones will be taking things easy in the New Year, with only one film lined up so far: the comedy-drama “Cheerful Weather for the Wedding” opposite Elizabeth McGovern.REUTERSWhile “The Hunger Games” will no doubt elevate Jennifer Lawrence to superstardom for her role as Katniss Everdeen, the film franchise’s other big name will be Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark. Hutcherson, 19, already has a dozen or so films on his resume, but 2012 is shaping up to be his biggest year yet.In addition to “Hunger Games,” he will also appear in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (a sequel to the 2008 3D adventure film with Brendan Fraser), “Carmel” with Lauren Bacall and Alfred Molina and the war drama “Red Dawn” with Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck.LionsgateLily Collins speaks up about Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen StewartREUTERS22-year-old Juno Temple has been acting for more than a decade, appearing in films like “Atonement,” “The Other Boleyn Girl,” “Kaboom” and the recent flop “The Three Musketeers” with Orlando Bloom. But her next film is almost guaranteed to be a blockbuster hit: Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” out in July 2012.In the final chapter of the Batman trilogy, Temple plays a “street-smart Gotham girl.” REUTERS2012 will be the year of Andrew Garfield, at least, that’s what Columbia and Marvel are hoping for in the reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise. “The Amazing Spider-Man,” out in July, will be Garfield’s first starring role, after a slew of supporting roles like Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Network,” opposite Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg.Garfield will also star in the Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman,” opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman. The play opens in New York on Feb. 13, 2012.Columbia PicturesOnce in a while, a young star comes around and proves that being a triple threat does not necessarily require the ability to sing, act and dance. In fact, for Brit Marling, the extra talent is in writing, producing and directing. Earlier this year, the 27-year-old Georgetown alumni wrote, produced and starred in the sci-fi drama “Another Earth,” which landed Marling a Best Actress award from the San Diego Film Critics Society and the film the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance.
Marling’s next film is a financial drama called “Arbitrage,” opposite Richard Gere.REUTERSAfter being hand-picked to star in Steven Spielberg’s World War I drama “War Horse,” 21-year-old Jeremy Irvine has been filling his schedule with everything from a “Great Expectations” remake with Helena Bonham Carter to “The Railway Man” with Colin Firth. Both films are scheduled for a 2012 release.Expect Irvine to be locked into more big films -- even though most will find it hard to follow Mr. Spielberg.REUTERS
