The Internet Movie DataBase website has a feature that ranks the popularity of the celebrities on its website, not by financial or critical success of their films, but rather it tracks and ranks based on the popularity of web searches, page visits and news references to a particular celeb.
So this year IMDB lists a breakdown of its 25 most popular celebrities of 2010 according to their StarMeter rank:
25. Scarlett Johansson – The lovely star nabbed the part of the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (as well as the upcoming The Avengers), but ended the year on a sad note for fans by separating from equally gorgeous husband Ryan Reynolds.
24. Emma Stone – The Zombieland star surged as one of this year’s It Girls with her turn in smart teen comedy Easy A, which earned her just that from moviegoers as well as a surprise Golden Globe nod.
23. Sandra Bullock – It was the year of Sandra, from her Academy Award for The Blind Side to the tabloid sensation of her split with Jesse James directly after, and surprise adoption of son Louis, who we imagine replaced Oscar as the top man in her life.
22. Mila Kunis – After turns in The Book of Eli and Date Night, the Family Guy star earned raves and award nominations galore for Black Swan, which may make her the first That 70’s Show alumnus to earn an Oscar nod.
21. Rachel McAdams – Canada’s sweetheart won the hearts if not dollars of many moviegoers with her bright-eyed turn in TV-workplace comedy Morning Glory. Note to the former mean girl: please make more movies, we miss you
20. Natalie Portman – She was famous and fashionable before, but Portman ascended to A-list status with her breathtaking turn in Black Swan, earning her tons of accolades and the role of Woman To Beat at the Oscars.
19. Bruce Willis – Some things never go out of style, and Willis appears to be one of them; even though he graced the less-than-stellar Cop Out, he was back on top by year’s end with surprise fave Red.
18. Dakota Fanning – Yes, she’s one of the Volturi, but Fanning stole scenes from fellow Twilight-er Kristin Stewart in rock drama The Runaways, and was named her high school’s homecoming queen to boot.
17. Nicolas Cage – Even though he’s plagued by notorious financial scandals, the actor kept his head high this year, going from expensive flop The Sorcerer’s Apprentice to fan favorite action-comedy Kick-Ass.
16. Matt Damon – After scoring an Oscar nod for Invictus, the ubiquitous star moved from the Green Zone to the Hereafter with True Grit, and even played Liz Lemon’s new airline pilot boyfriend on 30 Rock.
14. Taylor Lautner – Team Jacob took a tumble this year even though the star more than held his own in the summer hit Eclipse, and rode the tabloid waves thanks to his brief romance with Valentine’s Day co-star Taylor Swift.
13. Ryan Reynolds – The Sexiest Man Alive found himself trapped in a box in thriller Buried while making a splash at Comic-Con in the highly-anticipated Green Lantern. PS: Give us a call now that you and wife Scarlett are separated!
12. Tom Cruise – Knight & Day sure could describe the mega-star’s relationship with the moviegoing public these days, who haven’t quite warmed back to the Cruise of yore, but made the action flick the #1 hit for Fox studio.
11. Angelina Jolie – It’s hard to imagine life without Angelina anymore, as the superstar was worth her Salt at the box office this summer, even if The Tourist landed with a resounding thud — the fall was cushioned with a Golden Globe nod!
10. Zoe Saldana – A star was made of the actress known as Lt. Uhura with the one-two punch of biggest-movie-of-all-time Avatar and a stunning turn on the red carpet at the Academy Awards.
9. Megan Fox – Oh Megan, Megan, Megan… Don’t badmouth your director, even if it is Michael Bay! Thanks to some choice words, the beauteous star was dropped from the next Transformers flick — talk about a (Jonah) Hex!
8. Gerard Butler – Once the King of Sparta, Butler now seems like the Prince of Bad Movies (The Bounty Hunter, anyone?), though we did enjoy his nice voice turn in How to Train Your Dragon
7. Christian Bale – The man who will be Batman once again in The Dark Knight Rises found himself cruising towards a potential Oscar nomination for his Method turn in boxing drama The Fighter.
6. Robert Downey Jr. – After snagging a Golden Globe for Sherlock Holmes, the star scored big-time once again with Iron Man 2, and helped turn comedy Due Date into an almost-$100 million hit as well.
5. Brad Pitt – Oh you inglourious, Inglourious Basterd! After Tarantino’s hit propelled him into the next year, the photogenic star lent his voice as Megamind’s nemesis, and never found a camera that didn’t love him.
4. Leonardo DiCaprio – After turning the delayed Shutter Island into an early-year box office hit, DiCaprio was the master of ceremonies for the mind-bending summer blockbuster Inception. Up next: a biopic of J. Edgar Hoover.
3. Robert Pattinson – Our favorite sparkly vampire tumbled from the top spot this year, even as Eclipse escalated Twilight fever to unforeseen heights. Don’t worry, Edward — Remember Me, we don’t.
2. Kristen Stewart – Depp and Pattison did a do-si-do around Ms. Stewart, who holds steady at number two thanks to continued Twilight frenzy, while also expanding her acting horizon in The Runaways and Welcome to the Rileys.
1. Johnny Depp – Mr. Depp regains his STARmeter title this year, wresting the crown away from last year’s winner, Robert Pattinson. It’s the sixth year in which he has won the title. Unlike some previous years, Depp even had movie projects released this year — two, in fact! He reteamed with Tim Burton as the Mad Hatter in the hit adaptation Alice in Wonderland, and set moviegoers’ hopes high by teaming with fellow supernova Angelina Jolie in The Tourist, which alas disappointed in the extreme. Never you mind, though, as both parts earned him dual Golden Globe nominations!
Now that is quite the list, and really puts a snapshot on who was popular last year. Granted there are many reasons someone can be popular – from talent like Leonardo DiCaprio, gossip buzz of Sandra Bullock, and franchise hearthrobs on the fingertips of tween keyboards everywhere.
I was not surprised by any name on that list, and even moreso that Twilight still has the internet buzz going for it. (and you wonder why they are splitting the fourth movie into two films? Not artistic integrity – that’s for sure!)
And Depp is always a big winner. He dances so delicatly and absurdly from one film to another always keeping his name popular.
Is there anyone you are surprised to see on this list? Or surprised they are not?
