Chiwetel Ejiofor

Image credit: Chiwetel Ejiofor: Fabrice Trombert/Retna

WHERE YOU KNOW HIM FROM Dirty Pretty Things (2002), where he's the immigrant doctor-turned-porter who uncovers a grisly mystery in a London hotel

WHERE ELSE? He's a heavy in Serenity (2005), a Detroit crime boss in Four Brothers (2005) and Keira Knightley's bridegroom in Love Actually (2003).

MUST-SEE ROLE He's composer/pianist Ellis Moonsong, who romances Radha Mitchell's title character in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda (2005).

WHY HE SHOULD BE A STAR He's handsome, suave, and charming, qualities that serve him equally well in heroic, villainous, and romantic roles.

NEXT He costars with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster as a cop in Spike Lee's Inside Man, due in the spring.