Up-and-coming hunks*Shia LaBeoufBrawn factor, on a barbell...

Up-and-coming hunks

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Shia LaBeouf

Brawn factor, on a barbell scale of one to five

Resume

Star of the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens,” performed sketch comedy on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” appeared in tween fare “Holes” and “The Greatest Game Ever Played” and in the edgier “I, Robot” and “Constantine.” Upcoming films include “Transformers,” “Surf’s Up” and the fourth “Indiana Jones.” In April, LaBeouf, 20, was named ShoWest’s male star of tomorrow.

Spiritual forefather

Tom Hanks. Genuinely funny.

The scoop

At this moment, LaBeouf is the only break-out star of the new generation, someone who in the wake of “Disturbia” can actually get movies greenlighted on the basis of his own mojo.

Emile Hirsch

Hirsch, 22, spent his youth playing vulnerable adolescents in such films as “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys” and “The Emperor’s Club” before going edgy and playing troubled anti-heroes in “Alpha Dog,” based on the notorious Jesse James Hollywood case, and the skateboard movie “Lords of Dogtown.” Stars in Sean Penn’s upcoming directorial effort, “Into the Wild,” based on the bestselling book by Jon

Krakauer.

River Phoenix. Would love to be Sean Penn.

Hirsch’s films haven’t yet connected with audiences, although he’s landed the commercial role of a lifetime in the upcoming Wachowski brothers’ (“The Matrix” trilogy) PG version of “Speed Racer,” based on the 1960s cartoon.

Sam Worthington

Virtually unknown in America until he was cast as the lead of James Cameron’s upcoming “Avatar.” Previously starred in Australian TV and movies, with bit parts in the little-seen American war films “The Great Raid” and “Hart’s War.” Upcoming, Worthington, 30, plays the lead character in a gangland retelling of “Macbeth” from director Geoffrey Wright, the man who unleashed Russell Crowe on the world.

Russell Crowe. The latest in Australian superhunks.

The rugged Worthington was the runner-up in the race to become the new James Bond, ultimately losing out to Daniel Craig.

James McAvoy

A staple of British TV, starring in such series as “Shameless” and “State of Play” before capturing Hollywood’s attention playing the faun Mr. Tumnus in “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Career went into overdrive when he held his own opposite Forest Whitaker’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.” McAvoy, 28, has already picked up the British equivalent of an Oscar for best supporting actor and rising star.

Michael Caine

A Glasgow native with a thick brogue, McAvoy has acting chops and a kicky insouciance but hasn’t been tested in the box office arena. In the comic book adaptation “Wanted,” he plays opposite Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman as a young man enlisted into a secret organization of assassins.

Channing Tatum

A former model whose big break came in Ricky Martin’s video “She Bangs.” Tatum, 27, starred opposite teen star Amanda Bynes in “She’s the Man” and headlined Disney’s dance movie “Step Up,” which cost $20 million and made $100 million worldwide.

Marlon Brando and Burt Lancaster. A man’s man.

Though his movies haven’t yet demanded any acting range, his charisma has wowed insiders. He reportedly break-danced for Kimberly Peirce at his audition for the Iraq veteran drama “Stop Loss,” one of the most anticipated Oscar-hopeful projects of the fall. Already fielding offers for new action-adventure pics.

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Source: Rachel Abramowitz, Times staff writer