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Hollywood's brightest stars of last year

As with every year, Hollywood churned out more stars than The Big Bang, but not too many will have captured our attention to warrant a "watch this space" gold star. Here's the better performers from 2011.

Jennifer Lawrence
With her Oscar-nominated role in Winter's Bone, Lawrence went from being an actress mainly known for television to one of the most highly-sought young actresses in Hollywood. She turned her blonde beauty blue to play Mystique in the summer blockbuster X-Men: First Class. With three movies set to showcase Lawrence's talents in 2012 - The Silver Linings Playbook, House at the End of the Street, and she also won the prized role of Katniss Everdeen in the big-screen adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is set to be one the biggest movies of this year - those who aren't already aware of the young Kentuckian, won't be too long forgetting her after this mammoth year.

Tom Hardy
Hardy, the breakout star of 2010's Inception, continued to dazzle audiences into 2011 in two highly disparate films: the sober, gray-soaked adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and the bloody, sweaty, muscular mixed-martial arts drama Warrior. But the role that got Hardy the most headlines this year was that of the evil Bane, the nemesis to Christian Bale's Batman in next year's The Dark Knight Rises.

Michael Fassbender
The Irish actor stole scenes in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, and wowed audiences and critics alike in four films released in 2011: Jane Eyre, as the mysterious and dashing Rochester; X-Men: First Class, playing the young Magneto; A Dangerous Mind, where he played Carl Jung; and the addiction drama Shame, which raised eyebrows with and may bring him into the Oscar race.

Henry Cavill
The British actor, known on mainly for his role in the Showtime cable series The Tudors, became an instant favorite in 2011 with his role as Theseus in the 300-style action flick Immortals. But it was his surprise casting as Superman in the upcoming Man of Steel that won him an already-devoted following and tons of advance coverage during filming.

Alex Pettyfer
Pegged as the next-big-thing, Pettyfer turned his good looks inside out for the Beauty and the Beast update Beastly opposite Vanessa Hudgens, ran from intergalactic bounty hunters in I Am Number Four, and found time to appear in the sci-fi thriller In Time. Next year, he's one of many lads who'll take it all off for Steven Soderbergh's male-stripper flick Magic Mike.

Saoirse Ronan
At the age of 13, Irish gal Ronan garnered an Oscar nomination for 2004's Atonement, a heady milestone in a career that's only begun its trajectory. After high profile roles in dramas The Lovely Bones and The Way Back, she took on the surprising mantle of action heroine with the kinetic drama Hanna. Initially a surprising choice, Ronan turned down a role in the highly anticipated The Hobbit, but her reasoning behind it soon became evident. Cast in one of the lead roles in Neil Jordan's vampire thriller Byzantium, and also scooping the lead in the high-profile adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's The Host, coming in 2013.

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