The 12 names to watch out for this year

Tove Lo

Swedish singer Tove Lo (or to give her her full name, Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson) had a huge hit with her single, Habits, reaching 59 million views on YouTube and featuring lines such as “I eat my dinner in my bathtub/Then I go to sex clubs/Watching freaky people gettin’ it on”, earning fans including Ellie Goulding. Tove Lo writes songs for stars from Cher Lloyd to the Saturdays, but in 2015 she will fully emerge in her own right, displaying a smorgasbord of talent.

Jamie Dornan

Jamie may already be big, but he is going to be really, really big in 2015, and we don’t mean he’s piling on the pounds. In February, 50 Shades Of Grey will hit cinemas and more than a million pairs of lustful eyes will land on his beautiful face and chiselled body. Belfast-born Jamie was named a Rising Star at the 2014 Irish Film and Television Awards for his starring role in The Fall. By the end of 2015 his star will have risen so far you’ll need a telescope to see him.

Monica Bellucci

You’re never too old to be a Bond girl, and Monica – the oldest Bond girl (or should we say, woman) in history, at the grand age of 50 – will surely put her young rivals in the shade when she makes her 007 debut in the 24th instalment, Spectre. With more than three decades of modelling and acting experience, sultry screen siren Monica is famous in France and her native Italy, but relatively unknown in the US. Now Daniel Craig is 47 himself, is James Bond finally fancying ladies his own age? We can’t say we blame him.

John Boyega

The teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens begins with an empty expanse of desert. Then, bam! A sweaty man in a stormtrooper outfit appears. It’s John Boyega. John made his film debut in 2011’s Attack The Block, but a part as a lead character in the latest Star Wars film will be the career boost he needs to hit the big time.

Fifth Harmony

Some X Factor contestants have a brief moment in the spotlight and then quickly fade back into obscurity. Fifth Harmony, who came third on X Factor USA in 2012, have done no such thing. After the show they built up a steady following, and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has even joked about joining as a sixth member. In 2014 they headlined the MTV Artists To Watch concert, and their debut studio album drops in January.

Rixton

Having caught a break through the power of YouTube, this Manchester foursome – Jake Roche, Charley Bagnall, Lewi Morgan and Danny Wilkin – played Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball alongside Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Oh, and lead singer Jake is the son of EastEnders star Shane Richie and Loose Women panellist Coleen Nolan, who is a proud mother indeed. 2015 will bring a tour and an album, so you’ll be hearing a lot more about Rixton in the new year.

Desiree Akharan

Desiree has been called the “gay, Iranian Lena Dunham” and she once photoshopped her face into a picture of the Girls cast, which is funny because now she’s actually won a part in the next series of Girls. Keep your rivals close eh, Lena? Her film Appropriate Behaviour went down very well at the Sundance Film Festival, and (of course) focused on the life of a needy, socially-inappropriate Brooklynite dealing with heartbreak.

James Norton

Happy Valley star James seems to enjoy taking a turn in TV adaptations of classic novels: first Death Comes to Pemberley, now Lady Chatterley’s Lover, due on BBC One in 2015. Unfortunately he’s cast as passionless and vain Sir Clifford Chatterley instead of sexy gardener Mellors, but we’ll take it.

Hozier

In January 2014, Irish singer Andrew Hozier-Byrne headlined a gig in front of 100 in Earls Court. In January 2015, he’s only gone and sold out the Shepherd’s Bush Empire – capacity 2,000 – twice over. His powerful single, Take Me To Church, was Spotify’s most-shared song of the year and spent 48 weeks in its viral chart. He also performed at the Victoria’s Secret show in London. Hozier came from nowhere, but he’s going places.

Miles Teller

Miles has been been looking promising for years, but now he’s gathering serious momentum. There’s Oscar buzz around his 2014 film Whiplash, where he plays an ambitious drumming student opposite a formidable teacher in JK Simmons. He’s also landed the role of Mr Fantastic in the Fantastic Four. Fantastic news, you might say.

Bethany Mota

It’s been all about Zoella recently, but Zoe Suggs is far from the only YouTube star with an adoring fanbase. Bethany has been quietly building up a following since 2009, and now she’s entering the mainstream. Having started with “haul” videos (showing off the results of shopping sprees), she’s launched a fashion line, released a single and been on Dancing With The Stars. You’ll hear her name in 2015.

Jason Clarke

Jason will be everywhere you look, staring down at you from film posters on every corner. After a successful turn in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, a whole bunch of directors have seen his leading man potential. He’s in Child 44 with Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman, Everest with Keira Knightley and Jake Gyllenhaal, and Terminator Genisys as leading man John Connor. It would be Jason Clarke overload – if he wasn’t so good.