Peter Coonan
Ah, you know the guy we mean! He’s yer man, you know. From that ad? The insurance one? With the bad suit? Who breaks up with yer one… Ah, what’s his name? Ummm, it’s... Peter Coonan!
Yeah, well, you’d better remember it this time, because you’re going to be hearing it a lot more often. Apart from being on your telly every ad break, the UCD graduate has appeared in some of the most exciting Irish dramas of recent years. Last year Coonan played a manic inner-city headcase in Mark O’Connor’s impressively gritty crime film Between The Canals, a low-budget debut that impressed critics hugely. Slightly terrifying characters are Coonan’s forte – 2011 saw him taking on another intimidating role as gangster Fran in RTÉ’s best show in years, the hard-hitting drama Love/Hate. Holding his own against brilliant Irish actors Aiden Gillen and Robert Sheehan, Coonan’s performance was widely acclaimed. He’s now set to again work with Mark O’Connor in The King Of The Travellers, where he plays a rough-and-ready character, the gold-toothed Micky ‘The Bags’. He’d better be careful with all these bullying roles. People might start giving him a wide berth him down the pub – except that he is known to be certifiably lovely into the bargain. Swoon!

Killian Scott
Proving RTÉ really got it right with Love/Hate, our next hot tip for 2012 is another alumnus of the gritty series. Playing the endearingly vulnerable yet stoic Tommya, Scott’s charisma managed to shine through; even more impressively, his handsome leading-man looks also managed to shine through that, umm, very odd haircut. Give the man his dues! He’s been keeping busy since series two of Love/Hate ended, and is currently working on the second of the popular Jack Taylor movies, which will be aired on TV3 this year. He’s also set to star alongside Raw’s Marcella Plunkett in the upcoming feature The Rafters. Not to put too fine a point on it, his blend of good looks and damn fine acting skills look set to see him follow in the footsteps of The Rite’s Colin O’Donoghue by heading for Hollywood. Where, of course, he’ll put us all up when we come to visit.

Terry McMahon
Never one to follow convention, outspoken Irish writer and director Terry McMahon became frustrated when his script Charlie Casanova was repeatedly rejected by the Irish Film Board, who, in his own words “absolutely hated” his dark, abrasive examination of the Celtic Tiger mentality that he felt was infecting the nation. But if Mohammad won’t come to the mountain… Posting a plea on Facebook for actors and crew, McMahon quickly assembled a group of (slightly crazy) volunteers including one of last year’s Hot Press ‘Ones to Watch’, Hollyoaks’ Emmet Scanlon, who took the lead role as a sociopathic killer. The rest, as they say, is history. Charlie Casanova has achieved international acclaim, winning ‘Best Film’ at both the Galway Film Fleadh and Washington’s DMV Festival. After which, the Irish Film Board had a change of heart, and McMahon’s film is set for release early this year. With two other scripts in development, something tells us that he is on his way to the top...

Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Antonia Campbell-Hughes has long been a Hot Press favourite. Acting since 2004, she got her big break playing the daughter of Rick Spleen (Jack Dee) in BBC’s popular comedy series Lead Balloon. She then went on to star in a variety of comedy shows on British television alongside the likes of Jennifer Saunders and Alex McQueen, before performing in her own one (wo)man show Bluebell Welch for MTV. Over the past year, Campbell-Hughes’ develoing talent has really caught the critics’ attention, with a stellar performance in Lotus Eaters by director Alexandra McGuinness, in which she played an ex-model trying to find her place in a hedonistic London. She has just finished filming Kieran Evans’ Kelly+Victor. And to top if off, the young actress is up for a myriad of awards for her role in the psychological thriller The Other Side Of Sleep, which premiered at Cannes in 2011. Among other accolades, her intense and impressive performance has earned her a European Film Promotion ‘Shooting Star Award.’ We were right all along: hugely talented and distinctive looking, she has the kind of star quality that endures.
Kirsten Sheridan
As Peaches, Pixie and Paris have all suggested, having successful parents is no guarantee that you have what it takes. We’re glad to say that Kirsten Sheridan bucks this trend. The daughter of the great Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, Kirsten isn’t exactly a new kid on the block, having achieved an Academy Award nomination for co-writing the gorgeous In America with her dad, and garnering great praise for her highly stylized debut Disco Pigs. But this year Sheridan is ready to return to the limelight, having written and directed the Dublin-set drama Dollhouse. A raw, wild and largely improvised film about several Dublin teenagers (played by the freshest of Irish acting talent) who break into a house, this emotional and naturalistic feature is garnering great word-of-mouth, and has been critically acclaimed at festivals, most recently being selected for the Panorama ‘Special’ section of the International Berlin Film Festival. It could be the Irish movie success of 2012.

Eve Hewson
Another fruit of famous loins, Eve Hewson is the daughter of the very quiet, unassuming and low-key Paul Hewson and his wife Ali. Though there was speculation that the 19 year-old beauty might follow in her rock star dad’s footsteps, it seems her ambition is to be in front of a camera rather than a microphone. The young actress stars alongside Sean Penn and Francis McDormand in the impressively quirky This Must Be The Place – not a bad gig for your debut! Focused on the mid-life crisis of an eccentric rock star (Sean Penn channelling Robert Smith), the David Byrne-scored film sees Eve play a free spirit who tries to shake the past-it punk out of his torper. Hewson gives an incredibly comfortable and beguiling performance in a film that was warmly received in Cannes last year. We’re sure that following its release early in 2012, more offers will be rolling in for the young starlet. Here’s hoping Bono’s house is big enough to accommodate yet another success story.

Sam Keeley
Sam Keeley’s career may have just begun, but he’s already worked with two of our ‘Hot For 2012’ picks. Acting alongside Antonia Campbell Hughes in The Other Side Of Sleep, Keeley amazed director Rebecca Daly with his naturalistic acting, his ability to tap into intense, raw emotions and his penchant for incredible physical transformations. Daly wasn’t the only one to sit up and take notice – as well as appearing in an episode of Misfits alongside Robert Sheehan, Keeley then found himself appearing with Eve Hewson on This Must Be The Place, shot largely on location in Dublin. Keeping things close to home, Keeley is also starring in series three of RAW on RTÉ, and most recently wrapped Lenny Abrahamson’s film What Richard Did, where he plays the lead role of Conor. Frankly, we don’t know where the 20 year-old gets the time for all these high-profile jobs, but the important thing is that he does them with great panache.

David Gilna
Ireland’s most promising playwright, David Gilna, may just be about to go supernova. Previously known for his work on the Dublin theatre scene and Fair City – and for his short film My Happiness – Gilna has now been given the chance of a lifetime by signing a contract with World Picture Films in London to have his play The Gift Of Lightning turned into a feature film. What is even more fascinating about this story is that David’s play was based on his own experience of having been struck by lightning while on a J1 visa to Boston in 2004. This is generally not considered to be an enviable event, but Gilna has turned it into his pathway to success. As part of his rehabilitation, the young scribe began writing a dark comedy about the event, and The Gift Of Lightning was born. First staged in the New Theatre in Temple Bar, Dublin and the Axis Theatre in Ballymun, the play then became a roaring success in London, catching the eye of World Picture Films. The sky is now the limit for this startling literary talent.

Michael Fassbender
Okay, he’s hardly a new up and comer – but no ‘Hot For 2012’ list would be complete without the Golden Boy of Hollywood. This year alone the Irish-German actor will be starring in Steven Soderbergh’s action flick Haywire, David Cronenberg’s psychological drama A Dangerous Method, and Ridley Scott’s epic sister film to Alien, the big-budget sci-fi film Prometheus which is set for release late this year. And of course he’s also in this months’ Shame, where his raw, intense and literally revealing performance is bound to get him an Oscar nomination, if not a win for Best Actor (while the lengthy waist-down shots of him are bound to win him the favour of women the world over.) He’s also been linked to pretty much every major release for the next few years, including Twelve Years A Slave, which will mark his third collaboration with Shame’s director Steve McQueen. Not to mention we’re personally petitioning for him to be the next James Bond. Whether that comes to pass or not, Fassbinder is this year’s man. And probably next year’s too...