Abbie Cornish
The Exciting Actor: The Aussie actress who memorably kicked booty in Sucker Punch before all-but disappearing. She's back in 2014 with the RoboCop reboot, playing Joel Kinnaman's wife.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: RoboCop looks set to be huge, and with the film apparently focussing a lot on the titular cop's family life, it's a big canvas for Cornish to show her stuff. It could be a launching pad for more exciting things.
Mark Wahlberg
The Exciting Actor: The Happening, Max Payne and The Lovely Bones a lmost buried him at one point, but Wahlberg's impressive comeback with films like The Fighter, The Other Guys and Ted has marked him as one to watch no matter what the genre.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: Diving head-first into his first ever franchise film ( Planet Of The Apes doesn't count for obvious reasons), Wahlberg's going up against giant robots in Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Which is pretty much as big as it gets.
Jennifer Garner
The Exciting Actor: One-time Elektra and wife of Ben Affleck, Garner's only appeared in four films in the past four years, but 2014 sees her making a much-anticipated return to cinemas.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: Garner makes a comeback in The Dallas Buyers Club , easily holding her own against a never-better Matthew McConaughey. It's an unshowy turn that proves Garner's still got it.
Rebecca Hall
The Exciting Actor: Golden Globe-nommed Brit who's worked with everybody from Woody Allen to Christopher Nolan.
Won a BAFTA for her role in Channel 4's Red Riding and recently teamed up with Iron Man.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: Hall's big flick this year is Transcendence , a thought-provoking sci-fi in which she plays a scientist who transfers a dying Johnny Depp's consciousness into a computer. Expect head-scratching.
Johnny Depp
The Exciting Actor: Sure, he's best known now for raiding the dress-up box, but Depp's still got heft in movie-land, as evident in his impressive list of flicks due out in 2014.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: The Lone Ranger flopped spectacularly, but Depp's heading into surer territory with Transcendence , the directorial debut of Wally Pfister and a fascinating-looking paranoid sci-fi drama.
There's also Disney pic Into The Woods and book adap Mortdecai …
Sullivan Stapleton
The Exciting Actor: It's been four years since he wowed us in Animal Kingdom, but Aussie actor Sullivan Stapleton's back with a vengeance in 2014, starring alongside the likes of Eva Green and Simon Pegg.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: As if starring opposite Pegg in Kill Me Three Times wasn't big enough, Stapleton's filling a Gerard Butler-sized hole in 300: Rise Of An Empire. An action star could be born…
Dane DeHaan
The Exciting Actor: Chronicle announced his arrival as a serious Hollywood contender, and DeHaan's quickly established himself as one of the most interesting young actors working in the movies today - not least with his recent turn in Kill Your Darlings.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: He's starring opposite Robert Pattinson in James Dean biopic Life and Anna Kendrick in Life After Beth , but it's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that we're getting our knickers in a twist over, not least because DeHaan plays Harry Osborn himself…
Bradley Cooper
The Exciting Actor : With the Hangover films (thankfully) now behind him, Bradley Cooper's wasting no time pulling a McConaughey and attaching himself to some of the most exciting projects floating around Hollywood.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: Cooper's diverse list of 2014 films has something for everyone - he's back with David O. Russell (and in curlers) for American Hustle , and playing opposite Jennifer Lawrence for a third time in Serena .
And then, of course, he's voicing Rocket Raccoon in Guardians Of The Galaxy…
Meryl Streep
The Exciting Actor: Can Streep finally match Katharine Hepburn and nab a fourth Oscar? It's looking good with August: Osage County , in which she plays the alcoholic matriarch of an Oklahoma family…
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: There's been huge buzz around Streep's performance in August , but that's not her only project this year.
There's also The Homesman (directed by Tommy Lee Jones), Phillip Noyce sci-f i The Giver - and she's playing an old witch in Into The Woods . How's that for diversity?
Zoe Saldana
The Exciting Actor: Often the best thing in the films on her CV, Saldana knows how to do drama and kick a little booty, which is exactly what she'll be doing in 2014.
Why 2014 Could Be Their Year: Guardians Of The Galaxy looks set to be one of the biggest films of the year, and Saldana's right there in the thick of it as a kick-ass green-skinned alien (well, she can't do blue AGAIN).
She'll also be getting gritty with Out Of The Furnace and playing Nina Simone in Cynthia Mort's biopic.
