11 Actors Who Are Poised To Have A Monster 2014

By

With Oscar season now complete, let’s draw our attention towards the upcoming year in movies — specifically, the actors who are poised to reach new heights in 2014.

1. Tony Revolori

You’ve probably seen this dude’s face a lot lately. The de facto poster (and lobby) boy of Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel, expect his career stock to skyrocket. Prior to nabbing this huge role, the 17 year-old has primarily played small guest spots on TV.

2. Aaron Paul 

I pass those Bushmills ads every day on the way to and from work. But if Need For Speed — the advertising campaign of which is really hyping up the Aaron Paul factor — does remotely well, Paul will likely move from the “very likeable dude with a ton of potential” rung to the “pretty much a movie star” rung. A few more, and he could be just as big an A-lister as any.

Later this December, Paul is also starring as Joshua alongside Christian Bale’s Moses in a Ridley Scott movie called Exodus, which is about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Hard not to think that won’t be in next year’s Academy Award conversation.

3. Chris Pratt 

2014 might end up being the year of Chris Pratt. He’s already helped the Lego Movie clean up (he voiced the hero Emmet Brickowski), and is set to star in what may be the summer’s premier blockbuster, Guardians Of The Galaxy. 

As a side to all that, he’ll continue to play the beloved role of Andy Dwyer on what’s slowly becoming one of the most memorable sitcoms of this generation.

4. Kaya Scodelario

You may know Kaya from her memorable role as Effie Stonem in the UK’s Skins — a role that, more impressively, was her first ever acting gig. While her big brother on Skins is well on his way to long-term Hollywood notoriety (see: the X-Men star who is dating Jennifer Lawrence), Effie will be playing a key role in a summer sci-fi thriller called The Maze Runner, and is starring in a British thriller called Tiger House, in which Scloderio plays an injured gymnast who must defend her boyfriend’s house from armed robbers.

5. Miles Teller 

I watched That Awkward Moment, and thought Miles Teller was by far the strongest of the rising acting trio that is Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and Zac Efron. Teller’s biggest moment of 2014 is certainly to come, and should be in the form of critical acclaim. Whiplash (the drummer movie pictured above) had a great reception at Sundance, and is being touted as the type of unforgettable movie that could make him a star.

6. Topher Grace

Eric Forman is now 35 years old. Which means that he’s entering another phase of his career, one that could be set up very nicely if all goes well in 2014.

Grace is has big roles in FOUR movies this year, including Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

7. Desiree Akhavan

Desiree Akhavan may end up being one of the most talked about new stars of 2014. The 29 year-old Persian-American has already made major waves with the Sundance premiere of the her film “Appropriate Behavior,” in which Akhavan stars as “Iranian-American bisexual Brooklynite in her 20s who is trying to get past a bad breakup with her girlfriend and struggling to find a job.” She’s already drawn quite a few comparisons to Lena Dunham.

8. Lizzy Caplan

Lizzy Caplan’s 2013 proved to be a major step in her career. Now, as the co-star of Showtime’s highly touted Masters Of Sex, she’s looking to capitalize.

Caplan will have her first starring movie role this summer, playing the female lead in a comedy with James Franco and Seth Rogen. Based on the way she treated the Mean Girls, Caplan will probably be able to hang and then some.

9. Emma Stone 

After a monster 2011-2012 stretch, Emma Stone had a quiet 2013 — only appearing on screen in last January’s Gangster Squad, the crime-based reprise of the Gosling-Stone pairing in Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Stone, though, will be all over the place in 2014. She’ll reprise her role has Gwen Stacy in the upcoming Spiderman movie, and is starring alongside Colin Firth in a Japan-based dramedy called Magic In The Moonlight. Magic is a Woody Allen movie though, so it will be very interesting to see whether the public discourse when the next Allen movie will negatively affect Stone.

Regardless of all that, she also has a lead role in a Cameron Crowe movie that’s supposed to come out later this year. She’ll be starring alongside Rachel McAdams, Bradley Cooper, Bill Murray, Jay Baruchel, and more, in a film that definitely could be a big one once the 2015 Oscars rolls around.

10. Corey Stoll 

For fans of Peter Russo, you’ll be happy to hear you’ll be seeing more of him in 2014. The House Of Cards star will be in a number of different things come 2014. He has a role in last weekend’s box-office winner Non-Stop, and has a lead role in three different films this fall, including Anesthesia, a story about the violent mugging of a Columbia University Philosophy Professor.

11. Jay Baruchel 

Jay Baruchel is probably the least well-known member of the Apatow-Rogen comedy troupe that all came together for last year’s This Is The End — which made it all the more pleasant that Baruchel really got to highlight his acting chops, given that the story was really about his friendship with now-Hollywood star Seth Rogen.

Baruchel is in a number of different film projects, including the aforementioned Interstellar and Cameron Crowe project, will voice the lead in How To Train Your Dragon 2, and is starring in upcoming TV pilot that may prove to be one of the year’s most quality TV shows — FXX’s Man Seeking Woman, which is based on the novel by young showbiz superstar writer Simon Rich. Rich, who is just hitting 30 year-old, is also the series showrunner.