The 2009 RyMickey Awards - Breakthrough Award

These folks really shot to "stardom" this year. The category is really for people I'd never heard of before this year. Sure, Mo'Nique had a breakthrough year, but she was in the public consciousness before 2009. A lot of the comments here are going to be rather short as many of these folks will be popping up elsewhere.

2009 Breakthroughs

Runner-up:
#7 - Sharlto Copley - District 9
#6 - Carey Mulligan - An Education, Brothers

#5 - Chris Messina - Julie & Julia, Away We Go, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
I'd like to forget the last flick above, but his role in Away We Go (which essentially amounts to all of a cameo) was heartwrenching.

#4 - Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
He's been around for a while, but I had no idea who he was prior to this flick.

#3 - Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man
Besides some Law and Order appearances, there isn't a whole lot on Stuhlbarg's resumé. Shows some great comedic timing along with strong dramatic chops.

#2 - Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Good Lord -- her first role and so emotionally charged.

#1 - Motion Capture Performances
Sure, mo-cap had been in use prior to 2009, but it was never so vividly captured as it was in Avatar. I remember writing that the performance captures in A Christmas Carol 3D were stunning and then a month-and-a-half later, Avatar blew it out of the water. Simply amazing stuff. Kudos to James Cameron and all the computer geeks who stepped up and pulled me in to this wholly computer-generated world.