Nicholas Hoult
Age: 23
Provenance: Berkshire, U.K.
Occupation: Actor
New projects: “Warm Bodies” (Feb. 1), “Jack the Giant Slayer” (March 1)
You may remember these blue eyes from 2002’s “About a Boy,” Hoult’s first appearance in a feature, but more recently he starred as Beast in 2011’s “X-Men: First Class.” This year, he gets two starring roles: first as the lovelorn zombie in “Warm Bodies” and then as the title character in a retelling of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” With a role in 2014’s reboot of “Mad Max,” we expect Hoult to stay in the headlines for quite a while.
Neill Blomkamp
Age: 33
Provenance: Johannesburg, South Africa
Occupation: Director
New project: “Elysium” (Aug. 9)
This up-and-comer knocked it out of the park with the critically acclaimed 2009 alien invasion thriller “District 9” — his first full-length film. That success is rewarded with an equally futuristic drama with plenty of star power and studio dollars behind it. Starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, “Elysium” imagines the world of 2159, when the elite have escaped to a man-made space station while the less privileged are left to fend for themselves on the ravaged Earth.
Rebel Wilson
Age: 26
Provenance: Sydney, Australia
Occupation: Actress
New projects: “Struck By Lightning” (in theaters), “Pain and Gain” (April 26)
Wilson has already started to make an impact with roles in “Bridesmaids,” “Pitch Perfect” and “Bachelorette.” In 2013 we’ll witness her continued climb to the top of Hollywood’s new class of funny ladies with her role in the Mark Wahlberg-fronted, Michael Bay thriller “Pain & Gain.” No doubt she’ll provide some much-needed comic relief to a drama about three body builders who get caught up in an extortion scheme.
AnnaSophia Robb
Age: 19
Provenance: Denver, Colo.
Occupation: Actress
New projects: Robb scored what was perhaps this year’s most coveted television role for a young actress: that of a 16-year-old Carrie Bradshaw. Starring in the “Sex and the City” prequel “The Carrie Diaries” on The CW, Robb has the wit and charm to pay homage to Sarah Jessica Parker’s iconic performance, yet make this Miss Bradshaw her own.
Notable reads of the new year
‘Red Moon’ by Benjamin Percy
Release date: May 7
An Advanced Reader Copy of “Red Moon” came to the Metro offices and we can’t put it down. A thriller with a literary bent, “Red Moon” is a mixture of a supernatural thriller (hello, werewolves!), a love story and a political allegory. It’s going to be your summer read. Trust us.
‘Tenth of December’ by George Saunders
Release date:
This has already been hailed by the New York Times as the “best book of the year” and it’s only January. Saunders, the literary darling and author behind the beloved, straight-up weird short story collection “Civil War Land in Bad Decline” returns to the form with this latest collection.
