Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
Providing a healthy dose of comedy and empathy for not one, but two Icelandic wedding comedies this year, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson was instantly on my radar after this years edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. But Ólafsson has been in a host of Icelandic productions, including last years Oscar Foreign Language submission, Börn, (and its sequel, Foreldrar) as well as an international co-production with Canada, Beowulf & Grendel. His large 6 foot 5 frame makes him a fearsome viking, but where he really shines is when he is making mischief or lending a hand. Consider him a more joyous counterpart to Denmark's Nicolas Bro. With the success of Baltasar Kormákur's White Night Wedding, in no small part due to Ólafsson's role as hell-raising groomsman in desperate need of alcohol and shoes, here is hoping that many more films are forthcoming. Currently, he has ship-set drama Brim coming out in 2009 along with (hopefully) international releases of both White Night Wedding and Country Wedding.

Rinko Kikuchi
While not really a stranger to North American audiences, she's got an Oscar nomination under her belt at 25 playing a disturbed mute schoolgirl in Alejandro González Iñárritu's underrated (yes, underrated) Babel. That her dialogue free portion of the film is as (or more memorable) than her much higher profile co-stars in that film speaks volumes. Currently, she has a much more fun and goofy turn as a kitsch-fashion demolition expert in Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom. While that film doesn't entirely hold together as a satisfying whole, Kikuchi adds a certain haughty spark, one difficult to pull off in an already quirky film. This may not come as too great a surprise considering the versatile actress has already done work with several of Japan's most experimental filmmakers such as Gen "Survive Style 5+" Sekiguchi and particular genius of Katsuhito Ishii. Furthermore, her voice work in Mamorou Oshii's The Sky Crawlers and omnibus collection Genius Party (Shinichirô Watanabe's most restrained segment) makes her pretty well rounded. This is also a chance to re-state that The Sky Crawlers was completely and unfairly dismissed, it is a nearly pitch-perfect film.

Michael Shannon
Currently stealing scenes in Hollywood Oscar-bait Revolutionary Road, Michael Shannon has had a nice bit of profile boost over the past few years. He absolutely knocked it out of the park with his completely unhinged, yet strangely charismatic mystery man in William Friedkin's Bug, and his supporting turn as 'intimidating boyfriend' in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead made the most of such a small part. Shotgun Stories, from earlier this year, got far less exposure than it really deserves, especially if you like your David Gordon Green hick-stylings with a little bit (OK, a lot) of family feud. Yes, if you want intense and 'kinda out there' Shannon is your man.

Stephen McHattie
When Maple Pictures puts 'semiotic zombie flick' Pontypool into the cinema in early 2009, I am hoping that some measure of success comes the films way. It is smart, funny entertainment which favours the grey-matter over the blood and gore (although there is a wee bit of the red stuff). It also has prolific character actor Stephen McHattie front and center as radio DJ Grant Mazzy - a rare starring role. His gravelly-smooth voice is a magnificent thing to behold, particularly in the films opening monologue. But he has always been around offering quality support to a number of interesting and high profile films (usually ones filmed up here in Canada; he is a Nova Scotia native). Having well over 100 film and TV (From Beauty and the Beast to Star Trek) credits, most recently as the murderous Leland in the opening moments of David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, and as the Grand Inquisitor in Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, Bruce McDonald's film gives him the rare chance front and center and he nails it. (And with that voice, why isn't McHattie also doing trailer voice over work?) Look for him also in Watchmen next year.

Nina Hoss
Luminous German actress Nina Hoss came to my attention from a recent one-two cinematic punch from Christian Petzold. Yella, in which she plays a somewhat aloof, somewhat damaged, woman looking for employment in corporate Germany and the recent Jerichow which has her playing something quite opposite, a femme fatale in the most unpredictable sense. In both films (themselves creative homages to other films; the former Carnival of Souls, the latter The Postman Always Rings Twice - which can make a performance a bit of an uphill battle) Hoss is a magnetic force whether she is holding everything in or letting it all out. She has a very enigmatic quality to what she shows up on screen. Take her turn as a European woman integrating herself into harsh nomadic Masai desert life after falling in love with a Kenyan warrior in Die Weisse Massai. She has a very expressive face which can show thoughts, fears, desires dancing along the surface without appearing to be 'acting'. She seems content to continue making films within the German film community, rather than her higher profile counterparts Franka Potente or Diana Kruger who moved into international and Hollywood film circles. This is all and well for the German film industry (where Hoss has a collection of awards statuettes), but a little more recognition on this side of the pond would be a nice thing.