Meet the award season’s freshman class
By Emily Christianson, Los Angeles Times
How she got here: Stone’s first gig, a 2007 TV show called “Drive,” ran out of gas after just four episodes. But the setback didn’t keep her off the career fast track. Soon after, she co-starred in “Superbad” as Jonah Hill’s love interest and then played backup to Anna Faris in the nerd makeover movie “House Bunny.” Her undead road-trip comedy “Zombieland” became an instant cult classic, but it wasn’t until her turn as a virgin who pretends to sleep with her high school classmates in “Easy A” that she gained major recognition. The rising star nabbed a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a comedy or musical.
Where she’s headed: There’s a lot of romance in Stone’s future, at least on the big screen. Her most high-profile fling? As Spidey’s girlfriend in the new “
What she has to say: “I pushed pretty hard to be the first audition,” Stone says of “Easy A.” “I was like, ‘Please? Can I just go?’
It’s such a great part. And it’s so rare that you find that well written and that well formed of a character as a girl in a comedy.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
How he got here: The understated Eisenberg started gaining traction in 2005 with two high-profile gigs: Wes Craven’s thriller “Cursed” and the well-received indie flick “The Squid and the Whale.” Roles kept coming his way, and by 2009 he reached leading-man status in the 1980s coming-of-age story “Adventureland” and the horror-comedy “Zombieland” (with Emma Stone). Now, he’s a front-runner for best actor at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network.” Pundits predict he will receive an Oscar nod too come January.
Where hes headed: Eisenberg will reunite with “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer for the action thriller “30 Minutes or Less.” This time he’ll play a pizza delivery guy who is kidnapped and then forced to rob a bank. The native New Yorker will also voice a macaw named Blu in the upcoming animated film “Rio.”
What he has to say: “The classes I’ve taken in anthropology have been far more helpful for acting than the acting classes I’ve taken,” Eisenberg explains. “The way other cultures think, people’s emotional inner lives, [studying anthropology] has informed far more what I do in a way that is more interesting to me.” (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
How she got here: Ukrainian-born Kunis made a name for herself as the sweet but superficial Jackie Burkhart on “That ‘70s Show” when she was just 15. As she ventured into film, her performances met mixed results, with praise for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and criticism for “The Book of Eli.” It wasn’t until her turn as the dark and seductive ballerina Lily in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” that she began garnering serious recognition, including Golden Globe and SAG nominations.
Where shes headed: Next, Kunis will pair with Justin Timberlake in “Friends With Benefits,” the story of two friends who want to sleep together without getting romantic.
What she has to say: For Kunis, the media focus on her love scene with Natalie Portman over the film itself is frustrating. “How people walk away from a movie like this and the first question out of their mouth is ‘Is it uncomfortable making out with your friend Natalie?’ -- it’s unfortunate,” she says. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
How she got here: Despite a role on the TBS comedy “The Bill Engvall Show” as daughter Lauren, Jennifer Lawrence didn’t land her big breakout role until the Sundance hit “Winter’s Bone.” She plays Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old caring for her siblings and their mentally ill mother in the rural Ozarks. Now, she’s an award season favorite with accolades and nominations from festivals and critics groups alike, including Golden Globe and SAG nominations this month.
Where shes headed: Lawrence will be looking a little blue in 2011. Not because of the January release date of her new movie “The Beaver” starring Mel Gibson. Rather, it’s because she’s taking on the role of Mystique in “X-Men: First Class.” The blue super-villain, played by Rebecca Romijn in the previous films, is known for helping the X-Men’s nemesis Magneto.
What she has to say: “She has a strength that I could never possess, and she doesn’t take no for an answer,” Lawrence says of her “Winter’s Bone” character. “You just find yourself fascinated with the life that she has and the attitude that she has toward it.” (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
How he got here: Garfield made a slow and steady rise to fame with roles in “Lions for Lambs” and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” However, it wasn’t until “Never Let Me Go,” about teen clones, and “The Social Network,” the back story to Facebook, that the industry really started to take notice. So far, his portrayal of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has landed him on the Golden Globe nominees list, and he could be looking at an Oscar nod in January.
Where hes headed: Garfield had Marvel fans buzzing in July when Sony announced him as the new Peter Parker in the “Spider-Man” reboot. The 2011 film will act as an origin story, with Parker as a high school student developing his new skills.
What he has to say: “No one knows who Eduardo Saverin is, and I don’t either,” Garfield says of his work in “The Social Network.” “Of course, the fact [that] he’s a real-life human being, breathing on this Earth somewhere, creates a whole new dimension to my approach because you feel a greater sense of responsibility. But not that much greater because [for] any character you feel a sense of responsibility as if they were a real person.” (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
How she got here: The Coen brothers plucked Steinfeld from showbiz obscurity, including appearances on short-lived shows such as “Back to You” and “The Sons of Tucson,” for their remake of the John Wayne western “True Grit.” Cast as a teenage girl seeking to avenge her father’s death, she held her own alongside Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon and earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination for best supporting actress.
Where shes headed: The sky’s the limit for 14-year-old Steinfeld, who hasn’t announced her next move.
What she has to say about it: “Honestly, no,” Steinfeld says she didn’t imagine ever being nominated for her first major role. “I immediately think back to the day I was sitting in my room waiting for the call for True Grit, and I thought, whoever gets this job -- its like winning the lottery, because its such an incredible cast and film.” (Matt Sayles / Associated Press)
