There are a lot of reasons why Richard Linklater's Boyhood is one of the richest, most rewarding cinema experiences of the year. One of the biggest ones is Ellar Coltrane, who grows before our eyes from an unusually natural and un-mannered child actor into a compelling young leading man. His performance got us thinking both about the bright profesional future that doubtless now awaits him, and what other young actors will be there alongside him.
Our criteria were, if we're being brutally honest, a bit vague. Some of these actors are true newcomers, with only one or two credits to their name. Others have been around for a while, but for whatever reason just haven't broken out in the way they deserve yet. But they're all actors who aren't yet household names, and whose star is distinctly on the up.
Look through the gallery below to see Digital Spy's picks for the stars of tomorrow.
1-
Adam Driver
From his very first moments on screen in HBO's Girls, it was clear that Adam Driver had something rare. Even though his character was, at the time, a fairly one-note creep with some genuinely troubling predilections (Cabbage Patch Kids lunchbox, anyone?), his strange charisma saw him stick around and go from guest star to arguably the heart of the show.
In the two years since, he's showed up in a dizzying number of prestige projects including the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. And now he's been cast in JJ Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII.
But it's not the prospect of possibly playing a Sith lord that really solidifies Driver as a face to watch for the future, so much as the calibre of filmmakers who are lining up to work with him. He's already completed filming on Noah Baumbach's While We're Young and Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special, and will begin Martin Scorsese's Silence once he finishes his stint in a galaxy far, far away.
2-
Miles Teller
There was a shaky period where it looked as though Teller might be relegated to roles in subpar teen comedies like Project X and 21 & Over, but then The Spectacular Now came along and established him as Hollywood's most compelling 'angry young man'.
Teller's haunting turn in James Ponsoldt's coming-of-age drama as a seemingly confident, secretly crumbling high school senior was the kind that defines a career, while his indie drama Whiplash was possibly the best thing we saw at this year's Cannes.
He's now doubling down on blockbusters: he'll reprise his role as class bully Peter in Divergent's upcoming sequel, and he's current filming Fox's reportedly "gritty" Fantastic Four reboot, in which he plays the genius-cum-superhuman Mr Fantastic.
3-
Adele Exarchopoulos
Snce her remarkable debut in last year's Blue is the Warmest Colour, this 20-year-old French actress has already been nominated for a slew of awards, including the coveted César (essentially the French Oscars) for Most Promising Actress.
Her vivid, emotionally raw performance in Blue is nothing short of a tour de force: the camera is on her face almost continually, capturing every minute shift in clinical detail.
She's about to start filming The Last Place, Sean Penn's first self-directed film since 2007, which follows the love affair between two strong-minded aid workers in Liberia.
4-
John Boyega
Six months ago, almost nobody had heard of John Boyega - while his breakthrough role in Joe Cornish's alien invasion adventure Attack the Block turned a few heads back in 2011, he'd been flying largely below the radar since in TV supporting roles and little-seen indies.
Then, within a week, Boyega appeared in the first episode of Fox's much-anticpated 24: Live Another Day, and was cast in (stop us if you've heard this one) Star Wars: Episode VII. The latter, if the grapevine's to be believed, is a leading role, with an arc not unlike Luke Skywalker's in A New Hope.
While the finished Episode VII will be the real test of Boyega's star power, he's got tremendous presence and, at the tender age of 22, is already well-placed for a bright future.
5-
Lupita Nyong'o
We know what you're thinking. Surely winning an Oscar officially qualifies your star as "risen", not still on the up. But there's plenty of historical precedent to show that a gong is no guarantee of a fruitful ongoing career, even when it's earned for a performance as breathtaking as Lupita Nyong'o's in 12 Years a Slave.
Nyong'o was fresh out of the Yale School of Drama when she filmed McQueen's gruelling drama, in which she played abused slave Patsy with such haunting intensity that she frequently upstaged both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender.
There was a quiet period immediately following her Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress, where her only future project appeared to be a voice role in Jon Favreau's new Jungle Book. But then, some weeks after the main casting announcement, Lucasfilm confirmed that Nyong'o was also to play a key role in Star Wars: Episode VII. Yes, we could basically have included the entire cast in this list.
6-
Stacy Martin
Filming a four-hour erotic epic with Lars Von Trier is pretty much the definition of a baptism of fire as far as acting debuts go, but British actress Stacy Martin rose to the challenge and then some in Nymphomaniac.
Part One is the superior half of Von Trier's sometimes masterful, sometimes infuriating latest, and that's thanks in large part to Martin's quiet, self-possessed and endlessly intriguing performance.
She'll next be seen amidst the spectacular cast of Ben Wheatley's JG Ballard adaptation High Rise, which follows the gradual fracturing of an isolated community within a luxury tower block.
7-
Ellar Coltrane
While it's not a baptism of fire on the same level as Martin's, starring in a movie that was filmed over the span of twelve years is an unusual introduction to acting. All the more so when that film – Richard Linklater's Boyhood – is being touted as one of the best of the decade.
It's not clear yet whether Coltrane will continue acting, although he has mentioned a desire to do so in several interviews. On the basis of his subtle, natural performance as the subject of Boyhood's "human time lapse photography", we can only hope so.
8-
Michael B Jordan
Jordan's been around for a number of years, in many guest spots and recurring small-screen roles, but his real breakthrough was in Sundance smash Fruitvale Station. Jordan played the ill-fated Oscar Grant, an unarmed teenager who was shot and killed by San Francisco police, with both dignity and complexity. He's an immensely likeable presence without ever begging for the audience's sympathy, or sugarcoating his character's flaws.
And Hollywood took notice. He's been cast in upcoming Rocky spinoff Creed, which Fruitvale director Ryan Coogler is currently in line to helm.
He'll also appear alongside Miles Teller in Fox's The Fantastic Four, playing the Human Torch. Skeptical though we are about this particular reboot, the stellar cast is making it really tough to hold onto our misgivings.
9-
Leighton Meester
Gossip Girl was not the kind of series that could be described as an acting showcase for many of its young cast, and as the writing became increasingly ham-fisted and lacklustre, some actors' lack of enthusiasm for the material was clear in their performances.
But Meester was a consistently compelling and believable presence, turning spoiled, petty rich girl Blair Waldorf into the show's most nuanced and vulnerable character. While Blake Lively initially seemed poised to be the show's breakout star, Meester has always struck us as the real one to watch. But she made a string of such terrible choices – That's My Boy, The Roommate, Monte Carlo – that any prospect of a Hollywood career looked shaky once the show came to an end.
We're including her here, though, because her next few projects actually look promising. There's rom-com Life Partners, which co-stars Gillian Jacobs and has earned very strong early buzz from Tribeca, and the Robert Downey Jr drama The Judge. Just say no to Adam Sandler movies, Leighton.
10-
Brie Larson
Many people first became aware of Larson as Jonah Hill's sweet but somewhat under-used love interest in 21 Jump Street, although she'd also been doing strong work for several seasons as Toni Collette's troubled teenage daughter on The United States of Tara.
But 2013 was the year Larson really turned heads, with a strong supporting turn in The Spectacular Now, and a heartbreaking leading one in Short Term 12. In the latter she played Grace, a supervisor in a group home for troubled teens who finds her own issues creeping into her work, and it's the kind of performance that would have got awards recognition if such things were truly based on merit.
Among her upcoming credits are Judd Apatow comedy Trainwreck (which also stars Daniel Radcliffe) and Rupert Wyatt's The Gambler, which will be his first film since 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
11-
Imogen Poots
This is a classic case of good actor, terrible material. On the basis of her 2014 slate so far, Poots needs to have a stern word with her agent – between That Awkward Moment, A Long Way Down and Need For Speed, it's been a potential career-killer of a year so far.
But even with consistently sub-par material, Poots stands out. She's the best thing in A Long Way Down by a long stretch, giving a vibrant and vivid performance that almost (almost) makes up for the wholly unconvincing and borderline offensive film unfolding around her.
And things are looking up, thankfully. Poots will next be seen in Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups (assuming she makes it past his notoriously brutal cutting room process), and is about to begin filming Patricia Highsmith adaptation The Blunderer.
