Age: 35
Occupation: Actor
The Irish-German actor had a huge year, mixing mainstream fare (X Men: First Class) with independent cinema (Jane Eyre, A Dangerous Method and Shame). And it was his teaming up again with British director Steve McQueen in Shame (they'd worked on Hunger in 2008) that received the most attention, because of Fassbender's portrayal of sex addict Brandon. His recent performance in Stephen Soderbergh's action flick Haywire might point the way to a future gig: he's been mentioned as a potential James Bond when Daniel Craig decides to call it a day.