Fresh Faces at the Academy Awards

This year's class of Oscar nominees includes more than a few talents who've been down the red carpet on Hollywood's biggest night before, whether as honored nominees or as ecstatic winners. Annette Bening, for one example, has earned her fourth nomination for "The Kids Are All Right." Geoffrey Rush, meanwhile, is seeing if he'll take home his second Oscar, with his work in "The King's Speech" as his fourth nomination. Of the first-time nominees this year, James Franco and Christian Bale are already established fixtures as both stars and actors: Franco's making a game out of his fame, while it's hard to see the man who redeemed Batman, to the ringing of record-breaking box-office, as a newcomer.
But many of this year's Oscar first-timers are lesser-known -- or new stars in incendiary debuts, or long-established talents from here or from abroad finally catching Hollywood's eye. With that in mind, here's a quick guide to the fresh-faced first-time nominees of the 2010 Oscars, telling you where you can find their earlier work and where you're going to see them next

Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg
Where you've seen him before: While Eisenberg's enjoying his first Oscar nomination, the young actor's been ceaselessly busy since his debut in 1999 as a bit player on the TV show "Get Real." Standout parts include his work opposite Campbell Scott in "Roger Dodger," a part in Noah Baumbach's '70s New York saga "The Squid and the Whale" and as a neurotic survivor of the apocalypse in "Zombieland." Eisenberg's nerdy, nervy persona has always been part of his appeal, but in "The Social Network" it reached its highest, best point.

What's next: The next time Eisenberg's on the big screen, we won't be seeing him: He's voicing the domesticated tropical bird who lights out for South America from the heartland in the animated film "Rio." After that, Eisenberg's reuniting with "Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer for "30 Minutes or Less," a comedic take on the less-than-hilarious true story of a man fitted with an explosive collar by criminals who instructed him to rob a bank -- or else. And, of course, the box-office success of the low-budget, high-concept "Zombieland" makes a sequel inevitable ... if, of course, Eisenberg's post-Oscar-nomination prestige, and prestige paycheck, don't kill that project before it even comes, ahem, alive.

John Hawkes

John Hawkes
Where you've seen him before: Considering that Hawkes' work as an actor began in 1985 -- in the awesomely named, horrible-sounding "Future Kill" -- the better question might be where you haven't. Hawkes logged time as a supporting character on two acclaimed HBO shows -- "Deadwood" and "Eastbound and Down" -- in the past decade, as well as a memorable, if short, stint as the peaceful-but-scary "Lennon" in fifth and final season of "Lost." Hawkes also has a list of blink-and-you'll-miss-them credits in larger films: "Identity," "Miracle at Saint Anna," "Miami Vice" and "The Perfect Storm" among them. Ironically, "Winter's Bone" wasn't Hawkes' first Sundance standout: The actor also played a nice-guy-nebbish romantic lead in Miranda July's "Me and You and Everyone We Know."
What's next: Hawkes' upcoming films have the same mix of indie cred and big-budget sprawl as the rest of his résumé. He's one of the many actors in Steven Soderbergh's disease thriller "Contagion," alongside Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, but he's also earning praise for his hypnotic work as a cult leader in the breakout Sundance thriller "Martha Marcy May Marlene," which was picked up for distribution just two weeks ago by Fox Searchlight. 

Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo
Where you've seen him before: Of all this year's first-time nominees, Ruffalo may be tied with Bale for the dubious honor of having deserved an Oscar nomination the longest before finally getting one this year. Ruffalo's done award-worthy work in a number of indie dramas -- "You Can Count on Me," "We Don't Live Here Anymore," "Reservation Road" -- plus critically acclaimed studio pictures like "Zodiac" and last year's "Shutter Island."
What's next: In one of Oscar's most time-honored traditions -- insiders call it "The Halle Berry Effect" -- Ruffalo's turned an Oscar-buzz role into a part in a big, brassy superhero film. Ruffalo's signed on to the upcoming Marvel crossover "The Avengers," and he'll be the third actor in nine years to play Bruce Banner (and, via the "miracle" of motion-capture, the first actor to also play Banner's green alter-ego, The Hulk) in a Marvel Comics adaptation. Here's hoping the paycheck is worth the risk. On a slightly more prestigious level, Ruffalo's also one of the names rumored to be circling "Cogan's Trade," a crime saga from Andrew Dominik ("The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford") with Brad Pitt in the lead.

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence
Where you've seen her before: Before "Winter's Bone" became the toast of Sundance back in 2010, Lawrence's biggest credit was as a regular player on stand-up comedian Bill Engvall's self-titled "The Bill Engvall Show." Along with Hailee Steinfeld, Lawrence is this year's example of how a young actress can parlay one electric role into possible Oscar glory.
What's next: Between the January 2010 unveiling of "Winter's Bone" and now, Lawrence may be the nominee most likely to have struck while the iron is hot. She'll be seen in Jodie Foster's controversial Mel Gibson comedy-drama "The Beaver," as well as in a supporting part in the Sundance 2011 Grand Jury Dramatic prize winner "Like Crazy," which Paramount picked up for distribution. Much like Ruffalo, Lawrence is also turning indie cred into studio cash in the name of comic-book action: She's stepping into Rebecca Romijn's shoes -- or, rather, makeup -- as the blue-hued shape-shifter Mystique in Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class" alongside James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

Hailee Steinfeld

Hailee Steinfeld
Where you've seen her before: Of all this year's nominees, Steinfeld's story is the one that most follows the classic Hollywood "out of nowhere" arc. Steinfeld, 13 at the time of the movie's filming, had a handful of shorts and bit parts to her name before she was plucked from thousands of possible candidates by directors Joel and Ethan Coen to play Mattie Ross. Steinfeld found herself in the role of a lifetime at a precociously early age -- and, yes, that Kmart "Blingitude" commercial she did as part of her earliest acting jobs is incongruously funny yet oddly endearing.
What's next: Steinfeld doesn't have any firm roles booked -- and yet, in our age of showbiz news fueled by rumor and supposition, there's plenty of hypothesizing going around that Steinfeld's one of the leading choices to take the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in Gary Ross' adaptation of dystopian kid-lit adventure saga "The Hunger Games." If Steinfeld does land the role, it'll mean a three-film deal ... and a franchise with a fan base waiting to see her thrill and kill in the saga's grisly gladiatorial action. Only time will tell if Steinfeld's career path is going to be like that of Anna Paquin or Jodie Foster (a winner at age 11 and a nominee at 14, respectively) or more of a flash-and-fade like Keisha Castle-Hughes (nominated at 13 for "Whale Rider").

Jacki Weaver