The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Who do you think is today's most promising young actor? Strike back with your thoughts below, or e-mail us at saltystix@gmail.com and we'll post the best responses.