8. Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Jennifer Lawrence is pretty much on top of her game career wise. The star of a massively popular young adult film franchise, coming off her first Oscar victory for her fantastic performance in Silver Linings Playbook, and all this at the tender age of 22 years-old, it's hard to think of another actor or actress who achieved this level of success this early in their career. If you think though that this was a fluke, that her star is burning too bright too fast, or that her career is bound to take a pause now, it appears you would be sadly mistaken. Ms. Lawrence has a number of big films lined up for release this year, including the sequel to The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, as well as another reteaming with her Silver Linings Playbook costar, Bradley Cooper, in Serena, directed by Oscar-winner Susanne Bier. Her best shot though at back-to-back Oscar glory (which would make her the first actress to do so) will most likely come with her collaboration with the director who just helped her win her first Oscar, David O. Russell, in his newest feature film, American Hustle. If you haven't heard of American Hustle (formerly known by the more colorful title, American Bullshit) the film chronicles the true story of the FBI's ABSCAM operation. The purpose of the operation, which took place in the late 1970's in the New York/New Jersey area, was to expose and prosecute corrupt politicians. The operation proved fairly successful, leading to the conviction of one United States Senator, as well as five members of the House of Representatives, but in order to successfully "scam the scammers", the FBI had to employ a husband and wife team of con artists, which is where Jennifer Lawrence comes in. Ms. Lawrence plays the wife to Christian Bale's husband. The duo of flimflammers forced to work for the FBI make for what will undoubtedly an interesting cinematic couple that both actors will likely be all too eager to dig their teeth into, and both thespians have reaped the Oscar rewards of Mr. O. Russell's direction already, so this appears to have Oscar written all over it. In fact, the biggest obstacle to Ms. Lawrence's chances may be the film itself. Chalk full of big name actors, such as Bradley Cooper (yet again), Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Robert De Niro, Michael Pena and Louis C.K., the main worry I have for Lawrence's chances is that if the film is full of a myriad of terrific performances, she might have a hard time standing out enough to merit a nomination in the eyes of some Academy members. The only other factor that could work against Ms. Lawrence is jealousy, because it is very likely at the age of 23 she will already be a three-time Oscar nominee.