1. Elizabeth Olsen: The Olsen twins’ younger sister got a head start in 2011 with her impressive performance in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and she’ll continue the momentum with “Liberal Arts,” written and directed by Josh Radnor. She’ll also appear in the horror flick “Silent House” (March 9) and paranormal thriller “Red Lights.”
2. Gina Carano: How does a mixed martial arts fighter end up as the lead in the Steven Soderbergh spy thriller, “Haywire”? She kicks ass, obviously.
3. Lily Collins: The spawn of “Sussudio” impresario Phil Collins already had her coming-out party in 2011 with roles in “Abduction” and “Priest.” This year the 22-year-old has a starring role in Tarsem Singh’s lighthearted take on the Snow White fairy tale in “Mirror Mirror” (March 16).
5. Taylor Schilling: Though she may’ve been the lead in failed TV show “Mercy” and dead-on-arrival “Atlas Shrugged: Part One,” somebody in Hollywood must have faith in this 27-year-old in order to cast her opposite Zac Efron in the romantic drama “The Lucky One” (April 20). Schilling will also star in Ben Affleck-directed political thriller “Argo.”
6. Josh Hutcherson: This 19- year-old actor has been working steadily, but it’ll be the March 23 release of “The Hunger Games” that makes him a star. While we can’t promise he’ll be the next Robert Pattinson — RPatz will always have a special vampire lair in our hearts — the series’ rabid fan base will give Hutcherson a fast-pass to megastardom.
7. Michael Fassbender: We’re not going to hide our partiality to this 34-year-old Irish-German export. His upcoming spy flick, “Haywire” (Jan. 20), combined with all the awards season buzz he’s been getting for his performance in 2011’s “Shame” will propel Fassbender to A-List by the time his sci-fi film “Prometheus” is released on June 8.
8. Chris Diamantopoulos: We finally learned how to spell Galifianakis, so it’s about time another comedic actor with an impossibly lengthy Greek last name take the scene by storm. The “Up All Night” actor will soon star in “The Three Stooges” (April 13), in which he plays Moe, the only Stooge with a passable haircut.
9. Taylor Kitsch: The “Friday Night Lights” star appears in two huge movies this summer: the sci-fi epic “John Carter,” set on Mars, and “Battleship,” a live-action version of the popular board game.
10. Douglas Booth: Could the role of Romeo in the latest “Ro-meo and Juliet” turn Booth into another Leonardo DiCaprio? With a second starring role alongside Disney princess-turned-stoner Miley Cyrus in “LOL...,” well, we may have found our RPatz replace-ment after all.
