Bright Young Things - page 2

17-09-2008 16:16

But it's her recent role in The Duchess as Bess Foster, the live in mistress to the Duke of Devonshire, that has really propelled her to fame. The Duchess was a critical and commercial hit in the UK as well as wining over audiences at the Toronto Film Festival.

She returns to the period drama next month with her role in the big screen adaptation of Brideshead Revisited with her role as Julia Flyte.

Atwell's Brideshead co-star Matthew Goode's profile is also on the rise when he landed the lead role in the film as Charles Ryder, which also stars Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon.

And he will move swiftly on from period drama to big budget blockbuster in Zack Snyder's Watchmen.

A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, "Watchmen" is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight.

Already gaining a cult following Watchmen looks set to be one of the big films of 2009.

Gemma Arterton burst onto the scene last Christmas as part of the St Trinians cast that enjoyed some major box office success during the festive period.

But her career looks set to soar next month when she stars as Agent Fields in new Bond film Quantum of Solace.

Despite being a surprise choice to be one of Daniel Craig's Bond girls she will have more big budget success in 2010 with her role in the silver screen version of computer game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Making a name for himself in the British film industry is director Paul Andrew Williams who had major critical, if not commercial, success with his gritty movie From London to Brighton.

This year he stayed with British film with The Cottage, which starred Andy Serkis and Jennifer Ellison. His next project is as a writer on The Day a horror film about a relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw