I know that face

Stephen Graham

Best known for his turn as the vicious racist Combo in Shane Meadows' This is England, Liverpool-born Graham has popped up in a surprising number of Hollywood films (Gangs of New York, Inkheart and Goal 2) and now counts Leo DeCaprio as one of his best mates. The down-to-earth likeable actor should have a big future ahead of him.

Catch him this month in: Michael Mann's Public Enemies, in which he plays Baby Face Nelson, one of the gang of Johnny Depp's Dillinger.

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Monica Bellucci

Like a latter-day Sophia Loren, Monica Bellucci is one of the world's most beautiful actresses thanks to her tempestuous Italian looks. The former model is now a huge star in both Italy and France, where she is one half of the country's equivalent of Brangelina (see below). But she has appeared in many well-known films, from The Matrix sequels, opposite Clive Owen in Shoot 'Em Up as well as playing Mary Magdalen in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.

Catch her this month in: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, with Winona Ryder and Alan Arkin.

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Vincent Cassel

Vincent Cassel may be Europe's luckiest man, as he is also known as Mr Monica Bellucci (above). Cassel is a hugely famous star in France and has slowly built a career in English-language films such as Eastern Promises and Ocean's 12 and 13. Onscreen he is charming, wild, unpredictable and often very funny.

Catch him this month in: Mesrine, a biopic of one of France's most notorious criminals.

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Sam Rockwell

It feels like Sam Rockwell has been around forever, usually making a lot out of a supporting role. He was in the Jesse James biopic with Brad Pitt, Frost/Nixon, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. A pal of George Clooney, he is likely to remain one of Hollywood's most dependable performers.

Catch him this month in: Moon, an astronaut saga picking up good reviews (and directed by Duncan Jones, son of one David Bowie).

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Melissa Leo

A classic American indie actress, Melissa Leo crept along by stealth until she exploded this year with an Oscar-nominated turn in Frozen River. Arguably best-known as Benicio Del Toro's wife in the dowdy 21 Grams.

Catch her this month in: Frozen River, a well-regarded people-smuggling drama.

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Ryan Reynolds

How did the man who played Van Wilder become one of Hollywood's hottest properties? By sheer hard work it seems. For a while it seemed like there was nothing Ryan Reynolds wouldn't say no to: awful horrors such as The Amityville Horror, failed capers such as Smokin Aces, and pointless sequels such as Blade: Trinity. But Reynolds is remarkably thick-skinned as well as talented, with a sly humour pervading many of his lighter roles. He's also Mr Scarlett Johansson, having married the actress last year, and is rumoured to be the lead in the next X-Men spin-off.

Catch him this month in: The Proposal (he's the only good thing in it)

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Luis Guzman

Another example of hard work making good: Guzman played sundry unnamed Mexicans for a number of years before being picked by Paul Thomas Anderson to appear in Boogie Nights. Since then his career has blown up, deflated and blown up again, with roles in Traffic, Anger Management and The Bone Collector.

Catch him this month in: The Taking of Pelham 123, with John Travolta and Denzel Washington.

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