2008 Faces to watch
![Zoe Kazan Thousands of young actresses move to New York and try to break into the grueling world of theater. Few of them, however, have the industry pedigree of Kazan, the 24-year-old granddaughter of Oscar-winning director Elia ("On the Waterfront") and the daughter of screenwriter Nicholas Kazan ("Reversal of Fortune") and screenwriter-director Robin Swicord ("The Jane Austen Book Club"). Following her stage debut last year opposite Cynthia Nixon in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," Kazan managed to land her first leading role in a feature, starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in next year's period drama "Revolutionary Road," director Sam Mendes' adaptation of Richard Yates' novel. "The prospect of being in L.A. and [being] one of the millions of people living there doing the same thing scares me much more than theater," says Kazan. "There's an anonymity to L.A. as a young actress, and I think it's much easier to get lazy because there's no connective tissue except for freeways. People get lost." It's difficult to imagine Kazan, who was brought up in L.A.'s Venice and graduated from Yale, disoriented. She's about to begin previews of Manhattan Theatre Club's "Come Back, Little Sheba," which will run through March, and she's in talks to costar in George Miller's superhero feature, "Justice League of America." -- Rebecca Ascher-Walsh](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/202a601/2147483647/strip/true/crop/285x425+0+0/resize/285x425!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb0%2Fa5%2Fc46147975792b0b2dace6fb35606%2Flat-kazan-jtdpvmnc20071228143710)
Zoe Kazan
Thousands of young actresses move to New York and try to break into the grueling world of theater. Few of them, however, have the industry pedigree of Kazan, the 24-year-old granddaughter of Oscar-winning director Elia (“On the Waterfront”) and the daughter of screenwriter Nicholas Kazan (“Reversal of Fortune”) and screenwriter-director Robin Swicord (“The Jane Austen Book Club”).
Following her stage debut last year opposite Cynthia Nixon in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Kazan managed to land her first leading role in a feature, starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in next year’s period drama “Revolutionary Road,” director Sam Mendes’ adaptation of Richard Yates’ novel.
“The prospect of being in L.A. and [being] one of the millions of people living there doing the same thing scares me much more than theater,” says Kazan. “There’s an anonymity to L.A. as a young actress, and I think it’s much easier to get lazy because there’s no connective tissue except for freeways. People get lost.”
It’s difficult to imagine Kazan, who was brought up in L.A.’s Venice and graduated from Yale, disoriented. She’s about to begin previews of Manhattan Theatre Club’s “Come Back, Little Sheba,” which will run through March, and she’s in talks to costar in George Miller’s superhero feature, “Justice League of America.”
-- Rebecca Ascher-Walsh
(Jim Spellman / WireImage.com) 
Inara George: Singer-songwriter has a voice worthy of trust
It’s hard to be the girl everyone loves. George has been a treasured presence in several notable L.A. bands (most recently, Merrick and the sweet-hot jazz duo the Bird and the Bee), and she’s forever popping up in interesting collaborations -- lately she been spotted duetting with actor John C. Reilly as part of his Dewey Cox act. But when she finds time, George can also stand on her own. Her songs are dreamy yet mod, pierced through with acerbic self-awareness; her voice conveys a clarity that makes you instantly trust her.
A 2005 solo album, “All Rise,” gained critical kudos, but George’s new project might be the one to put her in that solo spotlight she deserves. She’s in the studio with her late dad Lowell’s old pal Van Dyke Parks, whose last studio foray with an ascendant singer-songwriter was with Joanna Newsom, on the gorgeous, groundbreaking “Ys.” For George, this is the perfect time to fly.
--Ann Powers (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The Dream: R&B singer-songwriter aims high
Let’s hope Terius Nash isn’t spreading himself too thin. After blessing Rihanna with the year’s most shimmering single, “Umbrella,” the Atlanta-based writer came up with the definitive slow jam for fall: J. Holiday’s “Bed.” Now, under his stage name, The-Dream, Nash has released “Love/Hate,” a solo album full of cunning beats and Prince references that has sinewy-voiced Nash warbling his way toward ecstasy.
The-Dream reinvigorates love-man clichés by showing some genuine sensitivity without compromising the raunch that the genre pretty much demands. His hit paean to a favorite working girl, “Shawty Is a 10,” is one high point on an album-length exploration of carnality that’s as sonically smooth as late-period Marvin Gaye and almost as odd as R. Kelly. Nash’s falsetto sometimes turns into a tic, but it’s luscious enough to still please. Hey, maybe those high notes could replace T-Pain’s vocoder croon as the track decoration of ’08.
-- Ann Powers (Jim Cooper / AP)
Mia Wasikowska: Dancer turning to drama
U.S. audiences may soon discover Mia Wasikowska, 18, a dancer who started acting three years ago in small Australian films. She landed two high-profile roles in the U.S. this year, showcasing her talent and a face Vermeer would love.
In HBO’s drama “In Treatment” (starting Jan. 28), Wasikowska plays Sophie, a bright, suicidal gymnast and client of a psychologist played by Gabriel Byrne.
“It’s such an actor’s dream to play a role so dense, with two people talking for 30 minutes,” she said, adding that she researched the role by talking to the writer and the director, and getting on-the-job coaching from Byrne.
Next year, she’ll appear as a Jewish refugee in “Defiance,” a film starring Daniel Craig expected later in 2008.
The writers strike makes her next move uncertain. But she hopes, she said, “to find projects that stimulate and challenge me and make me think.”
-- Lynn Smith (Patrick Riviere / Getty Images)
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Jonny Lee Miller: Actor taking on a title role
After his last experience working on an American television series -- CBS’ “Smith,” yanked off the air early in its freshman season last year -- British actor Jonny Lee Miller was wary about committing to another one.
“I was like, no way do I want to do serialized television again right now,” said Miller, best known for his roles in films such as “Trainspotting” and “The Flying Scotsman.”
But he couldn’t resist when he was offered the lead role in “Eli Stone,” an ABC drama that premieres Jan. 31. In it, he plays Stone, a cutthroat lawyer who begins having hallucinations. He’s diagnosed with an inoperable brain aneurysm but starts thinking that his visions have a larger meaning -- and perhaps are even prophetic.
Just before the holidays, “Eli Stone” wrapped production on all of its 13 episodes.
As for future acting projects, he’s playing it by ear.
“The whole thing about the way I approach work is to be surprised by an opportunity when it comes up,” Miller said.
-- Matea Gold (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)
