These 10 fresh faces — from Mia Wasikowska (“Alice in Wonderland'”) to Reeve Carney (the “Spider-Man” musical) — just might go from up-and-comers to household names in the next 12 months.
MIA WASIKOWSKA
Where you’ve seen her: The Aussie actress was still a teenager when she scored her first American role as a troubled gymnast on HBO’s “In Treatment” in 2008, and she recently appeared in this year’s Hilary Swank starrer “Amelia. ”
Big in 2010 because: She landed the lead role in one of next year’s most talked about projects, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” due next March. She’ll also appear in the indie comedy “The Kids Are All Right,” opposite Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.
GARRETT HEDLUND
Where you’ve seen him: Small parts in “Troy” (2004) and “Friday Night Lights” (2004) have lead to featured roles in 2005’s “Four Brothers” (as Mark Wahlberg’s youngest brother) and 2007’s “Georgia Rule” (as Lindsay Lohan’s small-town crush).
Big in 2010 because: The 25-year-old beat out countless hopefuls to land the lead in “Tron Legacy” (slated for December 2010), Disney’s $150 million sequel to 1982’s “Tron” — the eye-popping trailer alone caused a major stir at Comic-Con.
J. COLE Where you’ve seen him: Hanging around Jay-Z, who made Cole the first act on his brand new Roc Nation label, dueted with him on the Blueprint 3 track “A Star Is Born,” and then invited him along for the Blueprint 3 tour.
Big in 2010 because: With his hotly anticipated debut album out next year, Cole might just be the heir apparent to Hova’s hip-hop empire.
JAY BARUCHEL Where you’ve seen him: In a word? Everywhere. Since his first big break as the lead in Judd Apatow’s short-lived Fox comedy “Undeclared,” the 27-year-old has nailed stand-out supporting roles in a string of hit movies, including “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), “Knocked Up” (2007), “Tropic Thunder” (2008), and “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (2009).
Big in 2010 because: He’ll voice the lead character in Dreamworks’ 3-D animated adventure “How to Train Your Dragon” (out in March), and then play an average Joe dating a hottie in “She’s Out of My League” (also March) before co-starring with Nicolas Cage in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced live-action adaptation of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (July).
BRITT ROBERTSON Where you’ve seen her: On top of a long list of bit parts (“CSI,” “Law & Order: SVU”), Robertson played one of Steve Carell’s daughters in 2007’s “Dan in Real Life” and tough teen Samantha Saxton on CBS’s “Swingtown.”
Big in 2010 because: Critics are already raving about The CW’s mid-season dramedy “Life UneXpected,” starring Robertson as Lux, a 15-year-old foster kid who finally meets her biological parents. She’ll also be seen on the big-screen in the drama “Mother and Child,” opposite Naomi Watts and Annette Bening.
ALIA SHAWKATWhere you’ve seen her: Maybe you remember her as Maeby Fünke on Arrested Development? Shawkat also had memorable turns in Drew Barrymore’s “Whip It” and indies like “Bart Got a Room” (2008) and “Amreeka” (2009).
Big in 2010 because: Along with a supporting part in the rock biopic “The Runaways” (starring Twilight’s Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett), Shawkat is teaming with her “Whip It” co-stars Ellen Page and Sean Tillman (a.k.a. Har Mar Superstar) to write and executive produce the HBO comedy “Stich N’ Bitch,” about hipster girls who move to L.A. in the hope of becoming artists.
AARON JOHNSON Where you’ve seen him: If you lived in the U.K., you would’ve seen this Brit actor in various TV productions since 2001. Those of us in the U.S. might’ve grabbed a glimpse of him in 2006’s “The Illusionist” (playing the younger version of Edward Norton’s character) or in “Shanghai Knights” (2003) as Charlie Chaplin.
Big in 2010 because: Johnson stars as an ordinary kid who dresses up like a superhero to fight crime in “Kick-Ass,” an adaptation of the cult comic book series. Fans at Comic-Con went wild over footage, so expect plenty of online buzz to build in anticipation of the movie’s April 2010 release.
GABOUREY SIDIBE Where you’ve seen her: With just a single role on her résumé (that would be the lead in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”), the Brooklyn-born actress is already one of Hollywood’s most buzzed-about young stars.
Big in 2010 because: “Precious’” Oscar buzz will likely carry over into the new year, and in the meantime Sidibe costars in Showtime’s new comedy series “The C Word” as a student attending a summer school class taught by a suburban woman (Laura Linney) who has been diagnosed with cancer.
REEVE CARNEY
Where you’ve seen him: You probably haven’t — unless you've caught a live set by his band, Carney, or you remember his role as a young Ishmael Chambers in 1999’s “Snow Falling on Cedars.
Big in 2010 because: Where do we start? His debut album will be released by Interscope, he’ll co-star alongside Helen Mirren and Alfred Molina in Julie Taymor'’ sure-to-be-weird film of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” and he’ll also be donning a familiar red-and-blue suit in Taymor’s mega-budget Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” (scheduled to open in February).
GRACE GUMMER Where you've seen her: The 23-year old doesn’t have any screen credits yet. So why does that face look so familiar? Maybe it’s because Gummer bears an uncanny resemblance to her mom, a little-known character actress named ... Meryl Streep. (Her dad is sculptor Don Gummer).
Big in 2010 because: She’ll star on TeenNick’s new series “Gigantic,” playing a part that hits pretty close to home: A teenager growing up with famous parents. Fellow Hollywood kid Gia Mantegna (Joes daughter) will co-star.