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Breakout Stars of 2009
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Zoe Kravitz
Who knew the byproduct of Lenny Kravitz and little Denise Huxtable, aka Lisa Bonet, would be poised before a banner year? Their 20-year-old daughter debuted onscreen in the sugary-sweet No Reservations last year, and currently co-stars with another one-to-watch, Johnny Simmons, in The Greatest, which was picked up at Sundance and should arrive in theaters shortly. Don’t be surprised if a record deal is scored soon—she also guested on Will.i.am’s popular video “We Are the Ones” in support of Barack Obama.
MORE: Zoe in the LA Times
Tammie Arroyo / AP Photo
Olivia Wilde
Fans of so-bad-it’s-good and actually good television will recognize Olivia Wilde from The O.C. and House, where her guest-starring appearances have always been…unique, to say the least. (The good doctor's nickname for her is Thirteen.) She's the funny female counterpart to Michael Cera and Jack Black in The Year One, released this summer, and will soon be filming TRON 2.0, the sequel to…well, you know.
MORE: Q&A with Olivia
Bryan Bedder / Getty Images
Johnny Simmons
Every actor has his creative missteps (the upcoming cheesefest Hotel for Dogs...tsk, tsk) but at 22, little John-John is spry enough to execute a perfect rebound, and his role as the son of grieving parents Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan in Sundance’s weeper The Greatest was a splendid start for 2009. In September, Simmons stars in the Diablo Cody-penned Jennifer’s Body, a comedy/horror (horredy?) flick about a possessed cheerleader who goes bananas and kills her classmates. Unfortunately his character’s name is Chip Dove, which is a smidge too cutesy to bode well for staying alive. Death by co-star Megan Fox? He could do worse.
MORE: Review of The Greatest
Paul Smith, Featureflash / Retna
Melanie Lynskey
This New Zealand born actress is recognizable for her (non-titular) role stalking Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, but she’s ditching living rooms and bit parts for big roles in 2009. She’s supporting in Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant, with Matt Damon as government informant Mark Whitacre, and also shares the screen with Edward Norton in the not-a-Walt-Whitman biopic Leaves of Grass. A part in Sam Mendes’ Away We Go this summer—a buzzy comedy written by Dave Eggers, starring John Krasinski of The Office, and chronicling a couple’s cross-country trip in search of a good place to raise a family—makes this year a trifecta for the actress.
MORE: Melanie at IMDB
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overdue
If it's all about the company you keep (and your resume, of course) then my money's on very few of these kids "breaking out" in the near future.
AlbertoGonzales
zzzzzz
d-fergus
I can see many of these kids "breaking out" in the near future. Fortunately, Proactive and Neutrogena will be there to help them with that.
GreyNord
Charlyne Yi is 33 (born Jan. 4, 1976).
xox101
Charlyne Yi is positively 22 or 23, she graduated 2004 high school with my best friend.
stuartnz
I'm wondering why Melanie Lynskey, who still has NZ citizenship, came back here to get married, and still maintains strong ties to this country, is described as a "New Zealand born actress" while Rachael Taylor is an "Aussie actress". Why is Lynskey not simply, and accurately described as a "New Zealand actress"?
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