15 EW Entertainers of the Year

Even with parents like Will Smith and Jada Pinket Smith, Jaden, 12, and Willow, 10, were surprised that their early forays into acting (his turn in The Karate Kid) and singing (her ''Whip My Hair'' single) were so successful. ''I kind of knew that Willow was going to be big,'' says Jaden. ''But she took a little bit longer to realize that.''

To read more on this entry, pick up our 2010 Entertainers of the Year issue.

Scott Porter, Matt Czuchry, Alan Cumming, Chris Noth, Josh Charles, and Michael Ealy
In the second season of The Good Wife, the complicated men take center stage. ''They always say that behind every powerful man is a strong woman,'' says costar Julianna Margulies, ''but truly, The Good Wife doesn't exist without these men. It just wouldn't happen.''

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Despite criticism of the kid-on-kid violence in her bestselling Hunger Games trilogy, Collins, 48, believes the books pack a powerful antiwar message. ''My dad was career Air Force, a Vietnam vet, and a doctor of political science,'' she explains. ''He felt very strongly about educating his children about war. And in turn, I feel drawn to creating stories for kids that might help them understand it.''

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The 38-year-old actor-turned-director created one of the tensest and tightest films of the year, The Town. The high-stakes parallels between Affleck's Charlestown bank robber trying to turn his life around and Affleck's own life isn't lost on him. ''I was all in,'' he says.

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With nearly 13 million viewers weekly in its second season, chart-topping albums, a sold-out tour, and 19 Emmy nominations, even Glee's co-creator Ryan Murphy has to admit that the show ''is huge. The thing that is crazy for me is the appetite for it internationally has become big as well.'' So much so that the cast will stage its blockbuster tour next summer in London, Manchester, and Dublin.

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This was the year that Larsson's Millennium Trilogy evolved from a publishing phenomenon into a cultural one, when you couldn't go 20 feet without seeing one of those brightly colored covers at a coffee shop or tucked into a friend's bag.

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The 26-year-old singer was often at the center of the pop culture universe this year with a blockbuster album (fueled by the success of her summer anthem ''California Gurls''), a romance with a British bad boy, and a scandalous run-in with Elmo.

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This actor, artist, student, soap star, and writer is so hot he's not only getting Oscar buzz for his performance in 127 Hours, he's been picked to co-host the awards show with Anne Hathaway. The 32-year-old says his transformation into a Renaissance man began around five years ago. ''I was 27, 28, and that's a time in a lot of people's lives when they start assessing themselves,'' he says.

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The hits just keep coming for Lady Gaga off of The Fame Monster, which just got an Album of the Year Grammy nomination. She's currently making headlines on her Monster Ball tour but everything Lady Gaga does is news. The 24-year-old can't reach one billion YouTube views, take in an afternoon Mets game, or even step out in a nice dress made of raw slabs of bovine flesh without the media and her fans (call them Little Monsters, won't you?) rushing to the blogosphere to dissect her every move.

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including Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Jesse Eisenberg
The Social Network's young cast all seem poised to storm Hollywood. Twenty-seven-year-old Jesse Eisenberg's take on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has positioned him for a shot at an Oscar. British actor Andrew Garfield, 27, surprised audiences with his compelling turn as Zuckerberg's best friend, Eduardo Saverin. Though his TV prowess is already legendary (SNL), Justin Timberlake's, 29, seductively slick Sean Parker proves the singer-actor is ready for the big screen. Armie Hammer, 24, turned out a nuanced performance as both Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. And Rooney Mara's few short but memorable scenes landed her the lead in David Fincher's upcoming Dragon Tattoo, which she's filming in Stockholm.

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Rico Rodriguez, Ariel Winter, Sarah Hyland, Ella/Jaden Hiller, and Nolan Gould
Every once in a while, TV gives us youngsters who deftly avoid cliché and deliver something really funny. ABC's Modern Family has managed the rare feat of finding an entire cast of them.

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People can't stop talking about his mindbending thriller Inception — or asking him if that top ever stopped spinning. ''I've been asked that more than any other question about any other film I've made,'' says Nolan, 40. ''What's funny is that people actually expect me to answer it.''

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We love to love him — and to laugh at him. This year the 33-year-old Grammy winner gave us plenty of reasons to do both with his singular mix of artistic brilliance (we can't get enough of his fifth and possibly best album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), and outlandish antics (brand-new diamond teeth, anyone?).

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''2010: What a mathematically round, accessible number,'' says Hamm, 39, whose Don Draper has transcended Mad Men and led him to host SNL (twice), reprise a role on 30 Rock, dance at the Emmys, and play an FBI agent in The Town. ''2010 was supposed to be 'the year we make contact' (wrong again, Arthur C. Clarke), but for me 2010 was just a tremendously exciting, rewarding year.''

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From a No. 2 single debut (''Today Was a Fairytale'') to a hit movie (Valentine's Day) to four Grammy wins to jaw-dropping first-week sales of her third record (Speak Now), there's no question that 2010 was a great year for Taylor Swift. That last record-setting stat (1,047,000 units in one week) may have some saying she's saved the music business but Swift's not paying attention to that. ''I write music about my life and love and relationships, and I hope that people like it enough to bring it into their world and make it about their life and their love and their relationships. That's where I have to draw the line as far as what I am and what I am not,'' says Swift, 20, our youngest-ever Entertainer of the Year.

To read more on this entry, pick up our 2010 Entertainers of the Year issue.