The Rundown: Actors to Watch

Last week, The Rundown featured my list of five actresses I think will make a serious name for themselves in 2009.

This week, we change it up and look at the fella who'll be making waves on the silver screen.

Top 5 Breakout Actors 2009

5. Chiwetel Ejiofor
This guy is one of my personal favorites and has been for some time. He's been great as a second banana in a number of films and killed the starring role in David Mamet's jiu-jitsu movie Redbelt. But somehow, Ejiofor has escaped critical acclaim and true star status. That could change 2009 with his lead turn in Toussaint, the true story of one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution.

4. Anton Yelchin
A bit of an easy pick as the kid is already a critical darling after quality performances in House of D, Alpha Dog and Charlie Bartlett, but 2009 is the year his names goes into, well, space actually, as Yelchin will portray Chekov in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

3. Andrew Garfield
The Terry Gilliam film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is going to receive a great deal of attention as it stands as Heath Ledger's final film. Seeing as many eyes will be watching, the chances of Andrew Garfield shining in his role as Anton, a sleight of hand expert in the traveling troupe that has a deal with the Devil. See, now you're interested.

2. Ben Whishaw
If you saw Perfume - and you should have, it was solid - you know Whishaw. I first became fond of the young Englishman in Layer Cake, where his portrayal of young, wannabe gangster Sidney stole scenes from Daniel Craig and Sienna Miller. This year, he stars in Jan Campion's Bright Star as poet John Keats.

1. Sam Riley
I had never heard of Riley. I had to look up his credits on IMDB this afternoon. So why do I put him at the top of my list? Simple: he's portraying Ian Curtis, the lead singer and founder of legendary British band Joy Division who hung himself in the film adaptation of Control. If he can bring half of Curtis' tortured soul to life of the screen, people will be talking about Riley a great deal... and you can say you heard about him first at iBlog.