tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

tMF picks some names among the current roster of young talents as the next set of top Leading Men! Who among Jim Sturgess, Emile Hirsch, Robert Pattinson and Shia LaBeouf do you think is leading man material?

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There's a definition over @wikipedia about what makes a Leading Man, and I quote:

I don't agree with the definition 100%. For starters, someone playing a quirky character can be considered a leading man or someone playing gay can be considered a leading man too. That definition is too conservative for my liking, but what the heck!

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One of the biggest and most talked about topics among fans is: Who among the current batch of young actors will become the next future leading men? The most successful leading men of the last two decades are getting older- Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, Edward Norton, Tom Cruise, and to a certain extent Christian Bale, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon and Tobey Maguire to name a few.

Just a few weeks ago, an article stated that the young movie audiences of today want to identify with their own Top Gun hero, not Tom Cruise--who is already 46 years old--or gush over someone with such gorgeous, long mane, as Brad Pitt sported in Legends of the Fall. Brad will soon celebrate his 45th birthday come December 18th. Even best friends Leo and Tobey are now 34 and 33 respectively. If I may add, how tragic it is to have lost Heath Ledger when he could have done so much more…

I’m not saying we need to replace them already. Of course not! The point is, are there anyone worthy of becoming someone like them? I believed there are and here are tMF’s top choices:

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Waiting for a star to fall- The four most poised to become cinema’s foremost leading men. Well, most of them are already playing the leads anyway so here goes…

1. James McAvoy (29): Even before he did The Last King of Scotland with Forest Whitaker, McAvoy was already making a name for himself in UK television. While recent script choices are not that spectacular (Wanted and Penelope), his work remains solid- Starter for Ten, Atonement, even Becoming Jane. Some fans may say, he’s not really that attractive, but hey, it’s not all about the looks that really matters today. Moviegoers love to see someone playing the lead and feel the connection. That’s what James brings to the screen- this image of an ordinary looking guy who can be heroic at times, clumsy the next and even tragic in the end…

2. Joseph Gordon Levitt (27): Imagine seven projects coming up! What makes 2008 Joe Levitt’s year is that he has managed to capture plum roles in both mainstream and indie productions. (See our top 10 list of actors with the most anticipated roles). His previous work speaks for itself- Mysterious Skin, Brick, and Stop-Loss.

3. Ryan Gosling (28): Not much this year. I don’t know if he’s in a semi-hiatus of sorts, but what makes him a talent to reckon with is the fact that he got this seemingly boundless energy about him, and the intensity of his acting. He’s not your usual leading man too- he likes to play dark, even disturbed characters, but when he gets into that romantic role, you just know fans will swoon over him. If you’ve not seen any of his work yet, then you’re missing a lot- pick any of these three films and tell me I suck: Half Nelson, The Believer, and The Notebook.

4. Jake Gyllenhaal (28): just like Gosling, he’s already been nominated for the Oscars. The public loves him and fans are clamoring for more of Jake. He got four new exciting roles to come, among them a great acting piece with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman called Brothers. Among the four, he’s the one who got that leading man material (following the old Hollywood formula of course!). Best roles to date: Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko and Jarhead.

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The Dark Horses-The four most likely to follow in the footsteps of those above in the next few months or so…Some of them are just taking stock and solidifying their hold actually…

1. Robert Pattinson (22): Is there anyone else who has captured the adulation of fans than this young Brit has done is so short a time? I don’t think so. Why is that you may ask? While many fans simply ride the wave, and gush over some pretty face with little talent, Pattinson has captured quite a wide range of admirers to say the least. These are not your ordinary young screaming fans. These are the kind of fans that goes to theater to admire actors playing the classics; these are the fans that devour books that’s on the NY Times best seller list. In other words, these are not your ordinary fans.

Will that matter in the end? I would have to say so… While fans have no say on who gets to play the leading role and who gets to choose the best scripts, they are the ones who’ll pay the ticket and when they come to watch a movie in droves, that’s when you’ll realize who this Robert Pattinson is. Coming up: Little Ashes, How To Be and Parts Per Billion.

2. Jim Sturgess (27): He’s currently making a lot of noise at the Festival circuit with the release of the controversial and explosive Fifty Dead Men Walking, but long before that dramatic thriller even hit the screen, he was already converting moviegoers because of his ability to act really good and sing quite well in Taymor’s Across The universe. That’s already a double treat for you, don’t you think? Also coming up for Jim: Heartless and Crossing Over.

3. Shia LaBeouf (22): He admitted with such candor and honesty that he may not have that Hollywood good looks expected of a leading man, but there are leading men who have captured the imagination of the movie going public without having to be too good-looking or too gorgeous or too sexy. Why would Steven Spielberg take him under his wings if he got no talent? That would be a good question to ask, wouldn’t you say so?

In the case of Shia, what we’re looking at is someone perhaps in the league of Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks who can get the most beautiful girl to fall in love with them and lead a movie into box office success as well. Up next: Eagle Eye and New York, I Love You.

4. Emile Hirsch (23): While he has yet to give us another performance similar, if not better, than his role in Sean Penn’s Into The Wild, the stage is already set for Emile Hirsch to take up some of the roles reserved for more established actors. His work in Lords of Dogtown, Alpha Dog, The Mudge Boy and Imaginary Heroes is already proof of Hirsch's ability to bring in something different and exciting into roles that would appear flat and boring if given to a lesser talented actor. Also coming up for Hirsch is Milk.

Also in the running: Daniel Radcliffe, Jamie Bell, Kevin Zegers, Ben Barnes, Gaspard Ulliel and Zac Efron.

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What's on your mind? Do you have some other young actors that should have been on the list?

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