Citizen Andrew
Profile of young actor Andrew Garfield
by Jed Medina

“I was very bored at school, like a lot of kids are, and I didn’t have much passion or drive for anything. I was very introverted and introspective. I really just fell into acting, and I wasn’t that excited by that either. I didn’t realize how much I loved it until much later on,” admits Andrew Garfield.

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The 23-year-old actor made the successful transition from British theatre to Hollywood films via Robert Redford’s upcoming Lions for Lambs. The film is a gripping drama featuring three pairs of characters - a political science professor (Redford) struggling to connect with a disillusioned student (Garfield), a senator (Cruise) trying to market a new military strategy to a journalist (Streep), and two friends who went to Afghanistan to fight the war.

Read my Lips!
The newcomer from London is brilliant and unassuming, let's take a closer look at Eddie Redmayne!
by Jed Medina

The Good Shepherd may be the film that introduced Eddie Redmayne to American audiences, but this young British actor, who went to school with Prince William, has been making head way in the acting department ever since he started in the theatre about 4 years ago.

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"To be honest, I got into acting because I loved theater. It's embarrassing how little I know (about film)" says Redmayne.

Growing up in a family that deals with business and high finance, acting seems to be quite a departure. But analyzing balance sheets and giving financial advice to British millionaires is not the destiny of this young man. Even his choice of studies shows an inclination towards a more aesthetic flavor. After earning a degree in art history at Cambridge, Redmayne decided it was time to test the waters and auditioned for roles in theatre.

Billy Elliot Grows up!
tMF takes a close look at award winning young actor Jamie Bell!
by Jed Medina

Determined to portray unconventional characters while collaborating with cutting edge filmmakers, Jamie Bell has more than departed from his most famous role as an aspiring ballet dancer in Billy Elliot.

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Mora than just a Pretty Boy
tMF profiles one of Canada’s most talented and appealing young actors, Kevin Zegers.
By Jed Medina

With more than 50 film and TV roles to his credit, 19-year-old Kevin Zegers was about to call it quits and say goodbye to acting. Sounds unbelievable right? How can someone as young as he have done so much work? Well, if you know that Kevin Zegers started acting at the age of seven, then you won’t be surprised at all.

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"It wasn't that I'd had enough. But I sort of said, it's going to get a lot more difficult now that I'm older, now that I'm the age I am - in my early 20s," he says. Then I did Transamerica and it just sort of changed the way I looked at my career. That's when I made the decision - okay, this is what I'm good at, this is what excites me."

Now aged 23, the young actor continues to pursue his acting career, having proven he has what it takes.

Fearless
Profile of young actor Kostja Ullmann
by Jed Medina

“It’s not bad to be naked on a film set, but it’s not the physical nakedness that I felt so much as being mentally stripped. It is already a strange feeling to lie naked on a sofa and be flogged, I needed to somehow find a way to adjust to that and still make the scene look natural and real. Once I study and absorb a character, it grows in me; there is this blur between what’s real and what’s not. It’s only when I suddenly hear ‘Cut!’ that I’m back in reality.” says Kostja Ullmann.

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The young German actor was talking about his role in the award-winning film Verfolgt (Hounded, also known as Punish Me), where he played Jan, a young juvenile delinquent who gets involved with a much older woman. With its unique take on relationships and it’s rather dark theme of bondage, critics agree that instead of delivering the usual “cheap psychological analysis, it tells the facts without interference through photography and editing and allowing the audience to draw its own conclusions.”

Hollywood's Indie Kid
tMF profiles the award winning young actor Lou Taylor Pucci!
by Jed Medina & Kathleen Sydenham

With his breakthrough film, Thumbsucker, for which he won the Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival and a special jury prize at Sundance, Lou Taylor Pucci is fast becoming a young actor to be reckoned with. Acting since he was just 10 years old, Pucci has been seen in memorable roles in The Go-Getter, Fast Food Nation, The Chumbscrubber, Empire Falls, Southland Tales and Personal Velocity.

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Born and raised in New Jersey, he has an accomplished musician for a father and a fashion model for a mother. Rumor has it that he was geared towards the entertainment scene from an early age, starting with his parent's choice of his name. Says Lou in a recent interview:

" I always knew I was going to be in entertainment, but no one was really making me be there. Like my parents kinda named me Lou Taylor Pucci because they thought it was a good stage name."

Michael Angarano: Making His Own Luck
tMF profiles the talented & charming young actor, New Yorker Michael Angarano
By Jed Medina

Not many people are blessed with the opportunity to enter a deeply rewarding and exciting career. In the case of Michael Angarano, it has been like that since he was 5 years old. As a young model, he was exposed early to the hustle and bustle of a glam job. Not surprisingly, he began his successful transition into acting a couple of years later.

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Considered as one of the most sought-after young actors today, Angarano is in the same league as Jamie Bell, Emile Hirsch and Paul Dano. With the reputation as no-nonsense actors, these guys belong to the A-list of young performers many of today’s most innovative filmmakers sought after. While many of their contemporaries settle for the usual no-brainer teen movies, these guys collaborate with award-winning filmmakers & portray a wide range of characters that challenge their acting skills. They are not afraid to tackle controversial roles either.

More than just skin deep
The young daredevil Nicholas Hoult in tMF profile!
by Jed Medina

He charmed his way into our hearts in ‘About A Boy’, and we watched him grow up in films such as Wah-Wah and The Weather Man. But while his roles in those films revealed a charming young boy who experienced his share of ups and downs, we were not prepared (and were perhaps even surprised) to see him as a manipulative and selfish young teen in Skins.

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“When I read the script I didn't really think I'd like Tony at all. But I got lucky to be playing a very different character from myself – it's fun playing someone else, “ says Hoult of his role in an interview with Alaina Vieru.

Created by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, Skins is a British TV series that depicts teens in a more realistic, in-your-face style. Unlike its US contemporaries such as the OC and, to a certain extent One Tree Hill, Skins tries to go beyond the usual clichés of teen angst, relationships and marathon partying. The show may be described as a comedy-drama, but it deals with controversial topics including drugs, homosexuality and sex.

The Young Philosopher
There Will Be Blood's Paul Dano gets better and better! Get to know more of this awesome young talent!
by Jed Medina

Impressive in his portrayals in coming of age films such as L.I.E, The Emperor's Club, and The Girl Next Door, Paul Dano has distinguished himself as a promising young actor with a knack for choosing the right roles and for showing dedication to his craft. With the success of Little Miss Sunshine and Fast Food Nation, Paul Dano remains one of the most credible young actors today. The buzz nowadays is his impressive portrayal of preacher Eli Sunday in the acclaimed There Will Be Blood.

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A native of Connecticut, Dano is also studying for a degree in English. Although he has had many diverse offers to play roles as a teen, he has opted to specialize in independent productions.

In Total Control
Profile of young actor Sam Riley
by Jed Medina

For those who have already seen the film Control, majority have considered Sam Riley's performance as Ian Curtis, as nothing short of extra-ordinary. Let's go back to the story of how he got the part. It seems it was not an easy process...

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Sam Riley is Ian Curtis: If the film’s foundations were built on good intent, the single most influential factor to maintain its authenticity was undoubtedly the actual casting of Ian Curtis. While it was never the filmmaker’s intention to simply make a look-a-like bio-pic, the actor chosen would have to both resemble the singer and carry the spirit of the man.

Making his Mark
Profile of young actor Sebastian Urzendowsky
by Jed Medina

“I’m a fan of French cinema and French culture in general. I like François Ozon a lot, especially Under the Sand, but I wouldn’t dare say I’d like to work with him. That seems so unreal to me, “ says Sebastian Urzendowsky.

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The rising young German star began to make a name for himself in German cinema five years ago with Kai S. Pieck’s The Child I Never Was. This controversial film is about a fifteen-year-old boy named Jurgen Bartsch who tortured, murdered, and then sexually molested four young German boys. Urzendowsky played the main character to critical acclaim. The actual killings were not depicted in the film, but the way the story was told provided the viewers with a mesmerizing tale of guilt, sexual repression and murder. While the success of the film is not credited solely to Urzendowsky’s performance, it nevertheless paved the way for the young actor to secure more challenging roles working with some of Germany’s cutting-edge filmmakers.

A Brilliant Mind
tMF celebrates the talent and charm of Tom Sturridge!
by Jed Medina

Born into a family of artists, Tom Sturridge started acting at the age of 10, playing Tom Gulliver in the TV-adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels. What made his participation even more unique and memorable is that his father (Charles Sturridge) directed it. His mother is actress Phoebe Nicholls and he is the grandson of thespian Anthony Nicholls.

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While it may have been easy for the young Tom to pursue acting as a child, he subsequenty disappeared from the scene to get an education. He studied at Winchester College in England and did not get involved in any further film projects until much later.