With movies such as Kick Ass, Inception, The Social Network and Crazy Heart being just the some of the critical and commercial successes of 2010 it seems like it’s the actors who have been having all the fun and getting their teeth in to some great roles.
But as 2010 draws to a close we take a look back over the last twelve months to see which actors have really stood out.
Jeff Bridges
No round-up of 2010 would be complete without mentioning Jeff Bridges’ turn in Crazy Heart earlier this year, a role which saw him pick up an Oscar.
The movie saw the actor take on the role of faded country star Bad Blake who is battling with his own demons as he tries to make a musical return.
Going into the Oscar ceremony there was only one actor who was going to walk away with the big prize on the night after Bridges had dominated the award circuit.
And he is back on the big screen this month as he returns to the role of Kevin Flynn in Tron: Legacy, which comes twenty eight years after the original in 1982.
Bridges continues to chop and change his roles as he goes from visually stunning sci-fi to the western in 2011 as he stars in True Grit.
True Grit is the latest project from Oscar winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen as Bridges stars alongside Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leo may not have appeared in a movie since 2008’s Revolutionary Road and then two great ones come along at once in the form of Shutter Island and Inception.
Shutter Island saw him reunite with filmmaker Martin Scorsese for the first time since the success of The Departed back in 2006.
The psychological thriller also starred Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo and was a psychological thriller that delivered on every level.
But in 2010 DiCaprio will be remembered for his performance in the mind-blowing Inception which, for me, is the best movie of the year by a country mile.
Inception saw him team up with visionary filmmaker Christopher Nolan for the very first time as this sci-fi epic offered cinema go-ers something different to the big budget blockbusters that grace the big screen in the summer months.
The movie was a monster critical and commercial hit as Nolan brought together an impressive cast of DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotillard.
Inception went on to take in excess $823 million worldwide to be one of the biggest grossing movies of the year.
And while there are no 2011 releases for DiCaprio Hoover and The Devil In The White City are in the pipeline.
The Social Network Boys
Yes you can’t really pick out of The Social Network stars as Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake have all had a very good year.
Off the back of the likes of Zombieland and Adventureland in 2009 Eisenberg found himself nominated for an Orange Rising Star Bafta, losing out to co-star Kristen Stewart.
But that hasn’t prevented Eisenberg from having another great year as he continued to mix and match his roles.
First up he starred alongside Michael Douglas in Solitary Man before going onto The Social Network, in which he played founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg.
The movie was a mammoth success as it topped the U.S. box office and had he critics raving. Andrew Garfield has also done well from this release and there could be the chance of a Best Supporting Oscar nod for the actor in the new year.
The Social Network and the role of Eduardo Saverin was the first movie from the Brit since The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and has propelled him to fame in the U.S.
He landed the role of Spider Man, as the franchise gets a reboot next year, and he is back on the big screen in January with Never Let Me Go, which is already winning over the critics.
The final of the Network trio to have a good year on the big screen is Justin Timberlake who seems to have made an easy transition from singing superstar to thespian.
He took on the role of Sean Parker in The Social Network and is rumoured to be starting his own campaign for an Oscar nomination in the new year.
He has already competed work on Yogi Bear, in which he lends his voice to the character of Boo Boo, as well as Bad Teacher, which also stars Cameron Diaz and Friends with Benefits with Mila Kunis.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Leonardo DiCaprio Jeff Bridges