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Mila Kunis
Breakout: Funny how the smallest of roles often have the greatest impact.
Ms Kunis’ appearance in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall was notable as one of the best things about an otherwise middling comedy. Her easy charm and inherent likability meant that she instantly made fans of scriptwriter Jason Segel (“she made me look like a good writer”) and Darren Aronofsky (“she electrified me and made the screen sizzle”).
The latter is one of the reasons Kunis made this list. She’s currently shooting Aronofsky’s Black Swan alongside Natalie Portman. With whom she’s rumoured to share a smooch. “Nat is like every guy’s dream,” the actress shrugs. “She’s a nerd’s idea of heaven. The whole thing is silly, but I can see why people care.”
Also up in 2010, Kunis is starring in Tina Fey’s farcical Date Night , as well as the currently showing Book of Eli opposite Denzel Washington. And if her dulcet tones sound oddly familiar, it’s because she voices Meg in Family Guy .
Busy girl. And she’s only going to get busier.
Damaged Goods? Previous stabs at the film scene include the underwhelming likes of Max Payne and American Psycho II: All American Girl .
The New: Selma Blair
Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe
Breakout: Plucked from utter obscurity to play the lead in Lee Daniels’ hard-hitting Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Saphire , Gabby Sidibe better start picking out frocks, because we predict the awards are gonna come a-knocking.
Having garnered positive reactions from a whole host of critics and awards bodies – including nominations for this year’s Golden Globes – Gabby ain’t resting easy on her success.
She’s currently involved in Yelling to the Sky , a drama from Victoria Mahoney in which she co-stars with Tim Blake Nelson and Zoe Kravitz. And she’s rumoured to be appearing alongside Laura Linney in Bill Condon’s The C Word .
Gabby can also hold her own where it matters. Talking to Harpers Bazaar magazine recently about Precious , she said:
“[The character] is an overweight black girl who is illiterate and pregnant by her father. Look, I am black. I’m also overweight, but that’s not the point of the story.
"The point is the abuse and her bravery. This stuff happens to skinny people, to white people, to so many different people that they’ve missed the point if they say it’s about a fat girl."
Damaged Goods? Instant fame comes at a price, and Precious could be a tough act to follow.
The New: Jennifer Hudson
Carey Mulligan
Breakout: You know you’ve made waves when you get a phone call from Oliver Stone.
Having earned herself unanimous plaudits for ‘60s drama An Education (in which she plays a character ten years her junior), Carey Mulligan has a packed 2010 ahead of her.
Firstly, she’s bagged herself a role in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps , and photos of her straddling co-star Shia LaBeouf on a motorbike have hit the press (don’t worry, they’re just from the film).
“It's been a real challenge because I'm playing an American and I'm playing an adult, which is rare,” the actress laughs.
Then there’s Never Let Me Go , alongside old chum Keira Knightley, as well as Sally Hawkins and Andrea Riseborough (both sadly didn’t fit this list). It’s a dark thriller adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel.
As if that wasn’t enough, Mulligan’s also starring alongside Helen Mirren and John Hurt in Brighton Rock .
Love, we think you’ve made it.
Damaged Goods? Could the Wall Street sequel be a damp squib?
The New: Keira Knightley
Amanda Seyfried
Breakout: A TV stalwart, having appeared in season one of underrated teen mystery Veronica Mars , as well as soaps As The World Turns and All My Children , Seyfried is on the cusp of superstardom.
She’s already made good with her kooky-dumb-girl in the excellent Mean Girls , and caught our attention with Mamma Mia! and Jennifer’s Body .
But 2010 really is her year. First up it’s the war-themed romance John Dear , which pairs her with Channing Tatum, and offers her the chance to flex a bit of dramatic muscle. She’s reading letters again with Vanessa Redgrave in Letters to Juliet .
And then she stars in erotic thriller Chloe , holding her own against Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson.
Damaged Goods? She was in Mamma Mia! . ‘Nuff said.
The New: Lindsay Lohan (minus the attitude)
Amber Heard
Breakout: Ms Heard has had a fair crack at the movie-verse before. She was the unattainable beauty in horror flick All the Boys Love Mandy Lane , appeared in Pineapple Express and Alpha Dog , and had a memorably gruesome cameo in last year’s goreific Zombieland .
But it’s in 2010 that she’s going to break some ground proper.
With four films all set for release this year, The Rum Diary looks like her most promising. Starring opposite Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart, it’s adapted from Hunter S Thompson’s novel of the same name. Heard plays Chenault, who will be tempting Depp’s journalist in 1950s Puerto Rico.
There’s also John Carpenter’s The Ward , about a mental patient who is haunted by a ghost, and The River Why , a ponderous little drama about a city high-flyer who enters the wild.
Damaged Goods? She looked pretty damaged after Zombieland .
The New: Brittany Murphy.
Blake Lively
Breakout: For almost three years now, Blake Lively has been steaming up our tellies with Gossip Girl , which, if you didn’t know, follows the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite.
All that changed this week when she was cast in the high profile superhero flick Green Lantern as Carol Ferris. Playing opposite beefcake Ryan Reynolds as his love interest, this bit of surprise casting could be just the boost that Lively needs to further an in-progress movie career (see: Private Lives of Pippa Lee and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ).
Okay, so we might be jumping the gun a little bit. Green Lantern doesn’t technically come out ‘til 2011. That said, Lively will also be appearing in Ben Affleck’s next directing gig The Town , out later this year.
Now if we could just convince DC that Leighton Meester, Lively’s Gossip Girl co-star, would make the perfect cinematic Wonder Woman we’d be happy little film-bunnies.
Damaged Goods? The rushed production of Green Lantern might do her a disservice.
The New: Reese Witherspoon
Rooney Mara
Breakout: Three reasons Rooney Mara is going to make it big in 2010.
1) She plays the kind-of-sort-of girlfriend of loveable geek-of-the-moment Michael Cera in Youth in Revolt . Like their relationship, the film’s a bit off-on, but Mara is great as a French-loving elusive teen who doesn’t know what she wants.
2) She’s been cast as the lead in slasher remake A Nightmare on Elm Street . Which means that even if the film’s bollocks, she’ll have made all eyes turn in her direction. And if it’s a franchise starter, endless sequels could prove very profitable.
3) She's co-starring with Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network . Yeah, the Facebook movie. It could be good. It could be bad. Either way, she’s making friends.
Damaged Goods? Her debut role was in the diabolical Urban Legends 3: Bloody Mary . Let’s hope Elm Street fares better.
The New: Nancy Thompson
Mia Wasikowska
Breakout: A former ballet dancer, this Australian 20-year-old headed up Variety ’s Top Ten Actors to Watch back in 2008.
It’s now 2010, and she’s really somebody to watch . As if you didn’t know already, you can catch Mia as the eponymous Alice in Tim Burtin’s creepy, CGI-heavy Alice in Wonderland (out in March), a sort-of sequel to Lewis Carroll’s original tale.
You may not know already that she’s also tipped for an Independent Spirit Award with indie drama That Evening Sun , which sees her as part of a farming family where dark secrets dwell.
As well as that, her comedy The Kids Are All Right will be bowing at Sundance 2010, and she’s also attached to Gus Van Sant’s untitled hush-hush new film, which apparently deals with mortality. (Yeah, we still don’t know what that means.)
Damaged Goods? Does guest starring in TV psych-drama In Treatment mean she’s damaged for real? Probably not.
The New: Melissa George
Chloe Moretz
Breakout: Just look at her. Could something that sweet and innocent really have the potty mouth required for a film called Kick-Ass ?
You bet your bottom she does. As adolescent assassin Hit Girl, Moretz shoots guns and whoops bad guys like a little, hyper-violent whirling dervish. The trailer for Kick-Ass already made a memorably gargantuan impact at Comic Con last year, and the film (released in April) looks set to be a bit of a cult classic.
Other than that, Moretz is also shooting Let Me In , the English-speaking remake of Swedish vamp flick Let The Right One In . The title change is still baffling, but as one of the first new films produced under the re-vamped (ahem) Hammer Horror studios, this should be one to watch.
Damaged Goods? Moretz is also attached to Diary of a Wimpy Kid , which is directed by Thor Freudenthal. He directed Hotel for Dogs ...
The New: Christina Ricci
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Breakout: Chances are you recognise her face, but you’re not entirely sure where from. Well, if we say “ Death Proof ” and “ Live Free or Die Hard ”, would that help?
Back in 2007, Ms Winstead was given roles by both Tarantino and Len Wiseman. She then made a harmless dance flick in ’08 ( Make it Happen ) before promptly vanishing into the ether.
Well, there’s nothing like a killer comeback, and Winstead’s is a doozy.
Yep, in 2010, she will be appearing in the one and only Scott Pilgrim vs. the World . Based on the graphic novel ‘Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life’, the film casts Winstead as Ramona Flowers.
When she becomes the object of Pilgrim’s desires, the unemployed wannabe rock star has to fight his way through seven of her evil ex-boyfriends before he can take her out on a date. It's directed by Edgar Wright. It looks awesome.
Damaged Goods? A slew of embarrassing horrors litter her closet, including the terrible Black Christmas remake and The Ring Two .
The New: Angelina Jolie (if she kicks ass in Scott Pilgrim , which we can but hope for)
