Ellen Page leads the pack for her notable performance in Juno. Keira Knightley, Soairse Ronan and Romola Garai did quite well (terrific actually!) in Atonement. Kristen Stewart is beginning to show why she is a big contender for the ‘awesome actress of the future’ award. Abbie Cornish did well in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

For 2007, we considered 2 actors for their breakthrough performances: Andrew Garfield in Boy A and Alexander Fehling in And Along Came Tourist.

tMF’s top 10 best performances in 2007

#10. Elio Germano- My Brother is an Only Child. Italy's most exciting and talented young actor, Elio Germano is simply amazing in this coming of age drama. Germano is Accio Benassi, the younger of the two brothers and the main focus of the film.

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Taken from the novel "Il fasciocomunista", the movie is about Italy from the eyes of two brothers who are, in a way, rivals in many ways... Says Variety critic Jay Weissberg:

The role of Accio, all nervous energy bundled around a winning warmth, is tailor-made for Germano ("Napoleon and Me"), who's never been so appealing. He's perfectly cast against reigning heartthrob Scamarcio, who puts his bedroom eyes to effective use and proves he can combine sex-symbol status with something more serious. Their semi-playful fights as kids suggest the dueling of tiger cubs -- useful training exercises to prepare them for their positions later in life.

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# 9 Ryan Philippe- Breach: After walking in the shadow of his more famous and now divorced wife Reese Witherspoon, tMF is certain that we shall be seeing more of this actor in thought-provoking films. Philippe recently completed work on Kimberly Peirce’s Stop Loss for Paramount Pictures. He also recently completed production on two independent features - Five Fingers, co-starring Laurence Fishburne, and Chaos, about two cops in pursuit of an accomplished bank robber. [ read more of Philippe's performance in Breach in the series' part 1 ]

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#8 Michael Angarano- Man in the Chair, Black Irish. Man in the Chair, which was released in the last week of December is another film that showcase the talents of Angarano, says the young actor:

“When I first read the script, I noticed it had a very old Hollywood feel which
interested me,” says Angarano. “Cameron is a kid who has problems but takes it all in stride. He has a respect for what people have done before and he’s like a sponge – he takes everything in and that separates him from others. It’s what makes him special.”

According to director Michael Schroeder, it’s clear that Agarano’s character isn’t the only one that had something special to offer. “As soon as I met Michael, I knew he was the kid,” says Schroeder. “I really responded to his nature and he was the most natural actor I’ve ever seen. He has a real cinematic charm and is going to be a big star.”

Co-star Christopher Plummer echoes Schroeder’s sentiments. “Michael is unbelievably talented,” Plummer adds. “He packs a wallop and is so ahead of his age as an actor.”

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#7. Jake Gyllenhaal- Zodiac: Jake Gyllenhaal, one of the most watched and talked about young actors in Hollywood, makes quite an impression in Zodiac. After the brouhaha surrounding his role in Brokeback Mountain, Jake has proved he can take on any serious role and come up with a mature, intelligent performance. Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, an awkward editorial cartoonist and a man possessed: “Alternately repulsed by the Zodiac as a mass murderer but at the same time fascinated by his facility with the obscure language of codes, symbols and puzzles and his seemingly insatiable, preening desire for celebrity.” [ read more from part 1 of this series ]

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#6. Ryan Gosling- Lars and the Real Girl: Lars is one of the two films Gosling made in 2007 ( the other one is Fracture, where he pitted talents with Anthony Hopkins).

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Ryan received nominations for his role in this dark comedy, among them a Golden Globe best actor (Comedy or Musical). Reports on the set of Lars shows how dedicated Gosling was on his role:

Gosling had taken to sleeping in the apartment in the garage in order to connect with his character, but the emptiness soon took its toll. “I got scared. I started sleeping with the light on. Then one morning I woke up and there were two voices in my head talking to me. I was terrified - until I realized it was two effects guys doing prep on the set,” laughs the actor. “They started banging on the door to wake me up. They brought me coffee and doughnuts.”

That Gosling should take up residence in his character’s apartment was admired by his cast mates and indicative of the commitment that permeated Gosling’s performance. Despite the intensity, however, Gosling retained his usual affable and charming demeanour. “He went in really deep,” laughs Emily Mortimer. “I don’t know whether it was method acting but if it were, then he’s the least irritating method actor I’ve ever met. He does it with such charm. And he didn’t make heavy weather of it. He immersed himself fully in this character without making us feel alienated from him.”

“Ryan is just extraordinary. He works really hard and is completely devoted. He watches himself on the monitor after each take. I admire how much responsibility he takes for his performance. Me, I avoid all those people in video village, the producers and the writers and everybody that’s watching me do my thing. I wish I were as brave as him.”

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#5. Paul Dano- There will be Blood: Playing one of the major roles in PT Anderson's epic There Will Be Blood, the young actor relished the opportunity to act opposite acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis, who is known for his dedication to his roles and is quite intense on the set, is a big challenge for some, and many are reported to have been quite intimidated by him. [ read more from our previous spotlight of the week article ]

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#4. Sam Riley- Control: Sam Riley rocks! “A bravura performance’ sounds like far too alien a remark for someone as cool as Sam Riley. But many moviegoers have said that as Ian Curtis in Control, he was simply superb. Critics also seem to agree:

"British actor Sam Riley is causing a sensation in Cannes with his portrayal of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in a film which couldn't get any British backers," reports the Manchester Evening News. "Dutch director Anton Corbijn plucked former warehouseman Riley, 27, from obscurity to play the iconic singer, who suffered from epileptic fits and couldn't handle the band's success as his personal life unraveled following an affair."

It's a great rags to riches story, which conveniently ignores the fact that Riley had a small part as Mark E Smith in 24 Hour Party People a few years ago, so has obviously been having a crack at this acting lark for a while now. But never mind that, right now Sam Riley is the new kid in town. And luckily for him, that town happens to be Cannes rather than Macclesfield.”

For more of Sam Riley and Control [ read our articles ]

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#3. Emile Hirsch- Into the Wild: It's about time Emile Hirsch got the kind of role he deserves. In Sean Penn's Into the Wild, the young actor really shines! Says Emile:

I think probably the ultimate reason why I got the part had nothing to do with me being good at reading lines or anything like that. I think Sean knew that I responded to the story so strongly that I was going to be ready to commit to it in the way that he was committed to it. That I was going to be ready to go through a lot of dangerous stuff, to do all the physical requirements. I wasn't going to shortchange what we both thought could be a really special story. [ read more from the Telegraph ]

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#2. James McAvoy- Atonement: His time is actually now in terms of hotness and while he was not included in the final list of nominees for the Oscars, McAvoy certainly deserved all the nominations he received for his role in Atonement. Says the actor of his role:

He is completely innocent, isn't he? He's a proper victim. I think in terms of playing 'When is it real, and when is it not? When is it a figment, and when is it not?' -- I think, as an actor, you ask those questions and you wonder when you play with reality -- but the decision was taken for us, I think. Because we all had to do it, so it was important that every actor have the same idea of what we were aiming for. So the decision was taken for us by the director (Joe Wright), who told us to play it all as if it was real. The characters, in the created figment of imagination by Briony, had no idea that they were a mere creation, so we just played it for truth, really. But yeah; it was a strange one; it was difficult; but I actually think there's only one scene in which he's a complete creation, and that's the one where he lambastes her and all but kills her -- and I wish he had killed her. I'm of the opinion that she (Briony) should burn in hell. [ read more ]

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Best of the Year: Casey Affleck- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone: What a year for Casey Affleck! In one of his most impressive performances yet, Affleck shines as the young detective in Gone Baby Gone. Directed by his brother Ben Affleck, Casey did more than justice to the role, his acting was subtle yet it was powerful and convincing.

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In an interview related to Jesse James, here’s what Casey has to say about his role as Robert Ford:

Q. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Ford is how famous he became after shooting Jesse James. What did you know about that?

Casey Affleck: That’s such an incredible piece of history and I don’t know why that story hasn’t been told before. It’s just fascinating that he becomes almost a hero, he does these shows re-enacting the murder. Then the country turns on him like that [snaps fingers] which must be devastating I imagine; he has everything he wants and then gets the rug pulled from under him. Then he can’t run away from it wherever he goes. He finds himself in some tiny mining town up in the Rockies and still people are hanging dead cats from his door and calling him a traitor; he’d build up a business and they’d burn it down. They’d run him out of town, he’d go somewhere else and it would happen again. You got to hand it to him he never backed down, he never gave in. He just kept going, he was relentless.

Q. Is there a parallel there for modern celebrity culture?

Casey Affleck: Definitely. You can read into the movie a lot of things and modern celebrity culture is definitely a parallel. To me it was more about what happens when you really want something and you pursue it and you have these blinders on and it’s not really what you want when you get it. I thought that was interesting. I didn’t think too much about trying to create those allusions to celebrity culture, I really left that to Andrew.

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[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ]

Photo Credits: Movie stills featured courtesy of Warner Bros., Sydney Kimmel Entertainment, Cattleya Films, Studio Canal.

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Comments (4)

CASEY

so glad Casey is number 1 ...he deserves it hands down after two great performances..

dimichele305 , February 15, 2008

Casey deserved it!

yeah, he was simply amazing. I dunno which one is my fave, coz I like both Jesse James & Gone Baby Gone almost equally, though I find James to be a much better film. I should have updated my top 10 list

jedmed , February 15, 2008

...

You always do list about actors, where is the actress??

Audrey , October 05, 2008

tMF focus...read the info at the top right column

Our focus in on emerging talents- actors. Our features on up and coming actresses depends on our interest on them and we reserve the right to feature what we like: Keira Knigthley, Romola Garai, Natalie Portman and a host of up and coming ones.

jed , October 05, 2008

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