Faces To Watch 2008

BEN BARNES

ACTOR WHO'S A PRINCE OF A GUY IN THE NEXT 'NARNIA'

BARNES' starring moment is still five months away, but already more than 33,000 people have checked out a website devoted to the man who would be king, playing Prince Caspian in Andrew Adamson's "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," due for release in May.

"It's terrifying," says the 26-year-old British actor. "Everyone has been warning me about what I'm in for, but I think I still don't understand the half of it."

He's not being falsely modest. Even his fan site is lean on details about its icon, and for good reason. Until Barnes landed the starring part in the sequel to the international blockbuster "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," his greatest claim to fame was a run in the West End production of "The History Boys" and a part in Matthew Vaughn's fantasy "Stardust." Then casting came calling, looking, Barnes says, for "a piratey-swarthy-everyman kind of prince," and three weeks later, the markedly un-piratey, un-swarthy actor was sitting astride a horse on the set in New Zealand.

Since completing production this fall, Barnes has been busy reading scripts and fantasizing about his future, even if he won't be free to take another role until 2009: He's signed up for the third "Narnia" installment, which will begin production next year, and is likely to star in a British comedy, "Easy Virtue," beforehand.

"I'm not being offered roles left and right," Barnes says, "but the difference between before 'Narnia' and now is dramatic. It's unbelievably exciting that it's happened in one year. I think about it all the time, saying to myself, 'You lucky . . . how did you manage this?' I don't know that I necessarily deserve it," he adds, "but I guess we'll find out."

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ZOE KAZAN

ACTRESS WHO COMES FROM A FAMILY OF HIGH ACHIEVERS

THOUSANDS of young actresses move to New York, find a cheap apartment in Brooklyn and try to break into the grueling world of theater. Few of them, however, have the industry pedigree of Kazan, the 24-year-old granddaughter of Oscar-winning director Elia ("On the Waterfront") and the daughter of screenwriter Nicholas Kazan ("Reversal of Fortune") and screenwriter-director Robin Swicord ("The Jane Austen Book Club").