People of 2009: Actors

Bradley Cooper

Like Worthington actor Bradley Cooper has been building his career at a steady pace with The Wedding Crashers and Failure to Launch under his belt.

But this summer saw him shoot to super stardom as his movie The Hangover became one of the surprise hit of the summer.

They planned a Vegas bachelor party that they would never forget. Now they really need to remember what exactly went down! A baby? A tiger? Why is one of them missing a tooth? And most of all, where is the groom?!

What the guys did while partying can't compare to what they must do sober in an outrageous caper that has them piecing together all their bad decisions from the night before - one hazy clue at a time.

The movie has grossed over $459 million at the global box office, as well as being a critical hit, easily making back it's $35 million budget.

The film has gone on to be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture -Musical/Comedy while Cooper has been nominated for Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance.

And the actor has a very busy 2010 ahead of him with All About Steve, Case 39 and Valentine's Day.

He is currently filming the big screen adaptation of hit TV show A-Team in which he will play Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck.

Jeremy Renner

To say that war on terror movies haven't been popular at the box office would be a little bit of an understatement so the fact that The Hurt Locker could just be Jeremy Renner's meal ticket was a little expected.

But it's proving to be the role that will propel his career forward as he took on the role of Staff Sergeant William James, a bomb disposal expert.

In the summer of 2004, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) of Bravo Company are at the volatile centre of the war, part of a small counterforce specifically trained to handle the homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), that account for more than half of American hostile deaths and have killed thousands of Iraqis. A high-pressure, high-stakes assignment, the job leaves no room for mistakes, as they learn when they lose their team leader on a mission.

When Staff Sergeant William James (Renner) takes over the team, Sanborn and Eldridge are shocked by what seems like his reckless disregard for military protocol and basic safety measures. And yet, in the fog of war, appearances are never reliable for long.

Is James really a swaggering cowboy who lives for peak experiences and the moments when the margin of error is zero or is he a consummate professional who has honed his esoteric craft to high-wire precision?

As the fiery chaos of Baghdad swirls around them, the men struggle to understand and contain their new leader long enough for them to make it home.

They have only 38 days left in their tour of Iraq, but with each new mission comes another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time before disaster will strike.

The movie is the personal perspective of James, Sanborn and Eldridge as they face the horrors of modern warfare mixed with the adrenaline buzz of there task in Iraq.

And the central characters all beautifully contrast with one another James is reckless with the rules going about the job in his own way regardless of the safety of those around him. Sanborn on the other hand likes missions to go by the book in a bid to get everyone out alive and Eldridge is haunted by the decisions that he made that caused the death of a friend.

But the three pull together to survive their time in Iraq until a reckless decision by James puts lives on the line. And it’s a great performance from virtual unknown Jeremy Renner as the troubled James who struggles with life in the real world and gets off on the thrill of his highly dangerous job.

And Renner has caught the eye of Hollywood with his performance bagging Best Actor awards at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards as well as being recognised at Best Breakthrough Performance by the National Board of Review.

And more award success could come his way with nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Satellite Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

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