Special Features - Ten Youngsters Destined to be the Next Big Thing

Danielle Shields looks at ten youngsters destined to be the next big thing...

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 bringing an end to the magical franchise, it is clear that just like its three main protagonists, thousands of children have grown up with the series and are now progressing into adulthood. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were a mere eleven years old when they were thrown head first into media chaos with being named the stars of the future. A decade later and it's now safe to say that the prediction has come true with one of the trio moving to stage, the other sticking with the big screen and the last moving into modelling. Now, it is time to meet the young actors and actresses who have taken their rightful place as the new rising stars. Some have already created a name for themselves and others are only deemed for more success...


1) Saoirse Ronan – Top of the list is a teenager who has already taken the film world by storm, acting flawlessly in a wide range of movies which has directors bowing at her feet and leaving critics speechless. This girl deserves top spot as she will continue surprising audiences all around the world.

Past: The role which launched her career was starring next to Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in the Oscar winning Atonement (2007). The film revolves around Ronan's character, Briony Tallis, who witnesses something she does not understand which results in a catalyst releasing a series of injustice. For a twelve year old, her performance was remarkable and created the base for another two actresses to portray Tallis as she grows in age and starts to realise the consequences of her actions.

Present: After also appearing as the main character in both The City of Ember (2008) and The Lovely Bones (2009) Ronan's latest leading role is in Hanna (2011), also directed by Atonement's Joe Wright. The Irish starlet portrays a trained assassin in the thriller where she is sent on a mission across Europe whilst having to deal with agents being dispatched to kill her.

Future: Ronan's next role is a biggie, playing Melanie Stryder in another book adaptation by the same author who brought us the extremely successful Twilight Saga. The Host (2012) shows an alien race called 'Souls' taking over Earth and its inhabitants, although Stryder rebels to cooperate as a host for the Soul, Wanderer.


2) Logan Lerman – This guy seems to pop up all over the place and it's clear we will be seeing much more of him as he doesn't want to just stick with acting, but to move into writing, directing and producing too.

Past: Logan's film debut was starring alongside Mel Gibson, at the tender age of eight. He played one of Gibson's children in The Patriot (2000) followed quickly by playing Mel's younger-self in the comedy, What Women Want (2000). He then went on to have larger roles in: The Butterfly Effect (2004), The Number 23 (2007), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), My One and Only (2009) and Gamer (2009), before being cast as the leading role in the fantasy adventure, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), which has highlighted his star potential.

Present: Logan's most recent role also gives him the chance to shine, depicting the main character of D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (2011), starring alongside Orlando Bloom.

Future: Three key films are lined up for this incredulously talented youngster. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) is a coming of age story about a freshman Charlie (Logan) who is helped by his two friends, Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) in discovering the world of sex, drugs and complex relationships. We will also see Logan reprise his role as Percy Jackson in The Sea of Monsters (2012), and the last sees Logan as a college graduate free in New York, however he finds complexities with his fathers partner in The Only Living Boy in New York (2013).


3) Chloe Grace Moretz – If this fourteen year old continues to work on intricate movies fuelled with passionate scripts she will become one of the greatest actresses of her generation.

Past: This girl has already thrived in a breathtaking amount of movie smashers that it almost seems to good to be true. Beginning her career in two episodes of The Guardian, Moretz went on to portray Chelsea Lutz in The Amityville Horror (2005) and Rachel in 500 Days of Summer (2009) before finally landing her most acclaimed role as superheroine Hit-Girl in the Matthew Vaughn dark comedy Kick-Ass. In 2010 she also played an ancient vampire, Abby, in the remake of Let Me In, which only emphasised the diverse roles she is capable of depicting.

Present: Moretz will shortly be seen in Texas Killing Fields (2011), about a cop from New York City and a Texas homicide detective who team up to investigate unsolved murders. Furthermore, she will be starring as Isabelle, alongside Jude Law, in Martin Scorsese's latest fantasy adventure, Hugo (2011).

Future: The Atlanta born actress already has many new films lined up, including: Tim Burton's gothic-horror Dark Shadows (2012), based on the cult TV show of the same name; The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (2012), playing a wisecracking girl who wants to build a raft to cross the Atlantic and the comic book adaptation of Emily the Strange (2013).


4) Emma Stone – This young woman has only got bigger and bigger. Beginning in TV shows, she then headed off down the comedy route, starring alongside some of the greatest comedy stars in the business, and now she will be the word on everyone’s lips when entering the Marvel universe.

Past: Emma started in a range of TV shows, from Disney's popular The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, to the supernatural thriller Medium and the road race action Drive. Furthermore, her consistency of appearing in very successful comedies should be credited. The list includes: Superbad (2007), The Rocker (2008), The House Bunny (2008), Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), Paper Man (2009), Zombieland (2009) and Friends with Benefits (2011). The scarlet took the leading role in teen comedy Easy A (2010), which brought her the attention she truly deserves.

Present: Her current role is alongside The Office star Steve Carell in Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011). In August she can also be seen playing the leading role in the book adaptation of The Help. Set in the early 1960's, Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan (Emma) is a recent collage graduate who investigates the disappearance of a maid who helped to raise her.

Future: The second adaptation of comic book classic The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) will see Emma play Peter Parker's love interest, Gwen, before the famous Mary Jane Watson came onto the scene. From comedy pro to Marvel heroine, is there anything this girl can't do?


5) Jennifer Lawrence – Just like Emma, Jennifer too began on TV shows, but instead of going on to star in comedy she chose more dramatic roles. After recently appearing in a superhero blockbuster smash, she is now portraying the leading lady in one of the most anticipated book adaptations.

Past: Jennifer's first role was when she was fifteen, appearing in the 2006 TV movie Company Town. She then went on to act in various TV shows, with her most successful being The Bill Engvall Show, which won her a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Performers in a TV Series. Her most successful role to date and the one which professionally launched her career was depicting Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone (2010), winning far too many awards to possibly list.

Present: 2011 has been a good year for Jennifer with starring in The Beaver alongside Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster and in the American drama Like Crazy. But, her greatest known role this year is playing Raven Darkholme in the superhero prequel summer blockbuster X-Men: First Class.

Future: The Hunger Games (2012) is the first book in a trilogy which is set for adaptation and luckily for Jennifer; she has been cast as the main character, Katniss Everdeen. Jennifer bet a lot of competition for the role, including many of the rising stars on the list, such as Saoirse Ronan, Chloe Moretz and Hailee Steinfeld. The book, written by Suzanne Collins, has already gathered a huge fan-base and is claimed to be the next Harry Potter or Twilight: thus, it's clear Jennifer is in for a bright future.


6) Jamie Campbell Bower – This lad has only been on the scene since 2007, but unlike most of the rising stars, he has strived straight into the film industry and has already performed in two of the greatest franchises of this generation. Although we have yet to see much of this young actor only time will tell if he can find his feet partying with the big boys.

Past: The English actor started out in the TV movie The Dinner Party (2007) and went straight on to act alongside Johnny Depp in the horror musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). This was followed by a small part in RocknRolla (2008) and a contrasting major role in the Dutch WW2 film Winter in Wartime (2008). He gained mainstream appreciation for portraying the ancient evil vampire Caius Volturi in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, closely followed by appearing in the fan-driven Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, where he met future fiancée, Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley).

Present: Jamie can currently be seen acting as King Arthur on the historical fantasy TV series Camelot, and in the political thriller Anonymous (2011), where he portrays the Earl of Oxford, who has been scrutinised for centuries as penning Shakespeare's world famous plays.

Future: Jamie reprises his role as Caius for the final Twilight book adaptation, Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2. After The Hunger Games, the next most anticipated series of books to be projected onto the big screen next year is The Mortal Instruments and unsurprisingly this young actor has found himself the leading role of Jace Wayland.


7) Elle Fanning – Following in her older sister Dakota Fanning’s footsteps, Elle proves that she has what it takes to become one of Hollywood's leading ladies.

Past: The thirteen year old began her career by playing a younger version of Dakota for both the movie I Am Sam (2001) and the mini-series Taken (2002). Since then she has stepped away from her sister’s limelight by acting in such films as Deja Vu (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Somewhere (2010).

Present: In her most recent role Elle finds herself being abducted by aliens in J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 (2011). It's 1979 and whilst Alice (Elle) and a group of her friends are filming their own movie they witness a train, which is transporting something from Nevada’s Area 51 to another security facility, detach from the rails which releases a series of sinister events in the town.

Future: Similar to Moretz, Fanning too has many films on the go with three releases later this year. Twist sees a writer approached by a mysterious ghost, V (Elle) and gets caught up in a murder mystery; We Bought A Zoo stars Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, who move his family to California where they try to open a struggling zoo; and finally Vivaldi, a biography about the young priest, Antonio Vivaldi (Max Irons), who becomes a music teacher at the Ospedale Della Pieta and finds himself forming a very successful chamber orchestra made up from the courtesans' illegitimate daughters.


8) Hailee Steinfeld - Already nominated for a BAFTA and an Academy Award for her remarkable performance in True Grit, there’s no doubt that this teen is a star in the making.

Past: The aspiring actress’ first appearance was on one episode of the series Back To You. She then went on to portray a cute school girl for the short film She's A Fox (2009), and in Without Wings (2010) she watched as her best friend, Sarah tried to deal with the grief of her father leaving her family as the relationship with her mum deteriorates.

Present: With its DVD release last month, the movie which is still on everyone's lips is none other than the Western True Grit (2010). The second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel shows a fourteen year old Mattie (Steinfeld) trying to hunt down the killer of her father with the help of a US Marshal.

Future: Hailee's latest role has been under much controversy when it was claimed she will have to appear naked in the latest film adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Set for release in 2012, Hailee will play Juliet Capulet, which was previously portrayed by Claire Danes in the 1996 movie starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.


9) Josh Hutcherson – This teenager began small but his journey has finally paid off as last year he won the Breakthrough Actor in Film Award and he is now set to be the leading actor in one of the most talked about film releases of next year.

Past: In his early years Josh appeared in many minor film and television roles including: Becoming Glen (2002), ER, American Splendor (2003) and Wilder Days (2003). He then started to gain more recognition in such films as Little Manhattan (2005), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) and RV: Runaway Vacation (2006). It wasn't until 2007 when he finally received his breakthrough role in the book-based children’s fantasy Bridge to Terabithia, following this with more success in Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) and The Kids Are All Right (2010).

Present: Josh can currently be seen in the comedy horror film Detention (2011), for which he was also executive producer, even though he is the mere age of eighteen. Furthermore, Hutcherson also stars in the remake of the 1984 war film Red Dawn (2011).

Future: Next year Josh will be acting in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, where he depicts Sean Anderson; a teenager who joins forces with his mum’s partner to track down his grandfather who is lost on a mythical island. More importantly, he also has a leading role alongside Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games, in which children are forced to compete to survive by killing fellow children on live television.


10) Jaden Smith – The Smiths’ family genes must be the most sought out in Hollywood. Dad, Will (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Men in Black, etc.); mum, Jada Pinkett (The Matrix Reloaded, Madagascar, etc.); and singing daughter, Willow, mixed together create a domination of coolness and pure talent. Jaden is also a part of this unstoppable family, but his performances excuse the idea that he is just successful because of his connections as it is clear he is one gifted young boy.

Past: Jaden began his acting career by appearing in six episodes of All of Us. He then went on to star alongside his dad in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), playing his on-screen son which rightfully won him the MTV Best Breakthrough Performance, and he starred in the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still alongside Keanu Reeves.

Present: Most recently Jaden portrayed Dre Parker in the remake of The Karate Kid (2010), starring alongside Jackie Chan. When Dre and his lone mother move to China he ends up being picked on, resulting in the maintenance man, Mr. Han (Chan), teaching him kung fu to fight against the school bully.

Future: Jaden is currently set to star in the graphic novel series adaptation Amulet (2012), along with Willow, who will conveniently play his sister. A few years after their father tragically dies, Emily (Willow) and Navin (Jaden) move to their great grandfather’s house where they discover an alternative version of Earth in the basement.

Is there anyone else deserving of a place on this list? Let us know in the comments...

Danielle Shields (follow me on Twitter)