Breakout TV Stars of 2007

Each year, there are performances that make us stand up and take notice. Often, these are new faces, and we have a few of those this year. However, 2007 seems to have been a year of comebacks, as many of the year's standout performances came from actors and actresses who have had previous success in movies and/or TV, but have been out of the public eye for a little while.

Film.com Photo Gallery: The Breakout TV Stars of 2007

The New Kids

Jon Hamm: As Mad Men's man of mystery, he lit up our screens with the masculinity of Humphrey Bogart crossed with the sophistication of Cary Grant. I was surprised to look at his IMDb.com entry and see that he has had regular roles on several other shows. If I didn't know better, I would think AMC had brought him back from 1960 in a time machine.

Lee Pace and Anna Friel: Has there been a more adorable couple on TV since, well, ever? These two ensure that the pie is not the sweetest thing on Pushing Daisies, and they both look darn cute doing it.

Blake Lively: The least famous of the Traveling Pants Sisterhood hit it big this year with another teen lit adaptation on Gossip Girl.

Christopher Gorham: Speaking of the Traveling Pants, America Ferrera has been stealing our hearts for a season and a half on Ugly Betty. Finding a guy who would be able to match her adorable dorkiness sounds like an impossible task, but Chris Gorham is up to the challenge, horn-rimmed glasses and all. Is it wrong that I think he's one of the sexiest things on TV?

Zeljiko Ivanek: He's been kicking around in character roles for years, but Zeljiko Ivanek really shot to our notice with his performance this year as guilt-tortured (for good reason) attorney Ray Fiske on Damages.

The Comeback Kids

Dana Delaney: She generated buzz with Pasadena and last year's prematurely canceled Kidnapped, but Dana Delaney has really come back this year with her performance as Katherine Mayfair on Desperate Housewives. She's revived both her career and the show in one fell swoop with her portrayal of the secret-keeping control freak.

Christina Applegate: She attempted to break out with her own sitcom in the late '90s with Jesse, but apparently it took a trip to Broadway (she was nominated for a Tony for Sweet Charity), for Christina Applegate to be ready to anchor her own show. The right material and supporting cast don't hurt either. Samantha Who? is much more suited to her comedy talents, and her scenes with Jean Smart (who is only not listed in this column because she already came back in 2006 as Martha Logan on 24) are pure gold.

Michael C. Hall: Who knew little David Fisher had it in him? On Dexter, Michael C. Hall does the near impossible: playing a homicidal sociopath while making the audience love him -- or at the very least fascinating them.

Swoosie Kurtz: As the acerbic Lily Charles on Pushing Daisies, Swoosie Kurtz makes eye patches and cheese loving seem cool. Plus, Lily's recent pie-induced revelation that she's Chuck's mother means that she's got much meatier story lines in her future.

Judith Light: Things have been rough for Judith Light since the final days of Who's the Boss. First, it suddenly became cool to hawk Proactiv in infomercials, so she lost that gig to the likes of Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan. Then, nobody really noticed her occasional turns as the ADA on Law & Order: SVU. She's finally found her niche as the boozy, prison bound mother to those crazy Meade kids on Ugly Betty. Hopefully she's still using the Proactiv, though, because those orange jumpsuits aren't flattering to the complexion.

Donald Sutherland: As the Darling family patriarch on Dirty Sexy Money, Sutherland's Tripp is crucial to the central mystery of the show. One might say he is the central mystery of the show. Is he really trying to help Nick find out who killed his dad, or is he trying to guide his investigation away from the truth--because he is the killer? The way Sutherland plays it, it could go either way. He is so good at playing Tripp as alternatively wounded and calculating that we can't make up our minds where he stands.

Marie Osmond: Okay, the giant doll dance was just completely on crack, there's no arguing that. But before Marie Osmond resurrected my scary clown nightmares on the Dancing with the Stars finale, she charmed us for (most of) a whole season, and paved the way for the Osmond Renaissance of 2007.

Skeet Ulrich: First heralded as the second coming of Johnny Depp in Scream, Ulrich languished in a passel of minor movie roles, and the critically acclaimed but little seen series, Miracles. He found his own niche this year, out of Johnny's pirate-shaped shadow, anchoring the excellent ensemble drama, Jericho.

Vincent Kartheiser: Last seen absolutely creeping me out on Angel with his wildly inappropriate and skeezy relationship with Charisma Carpenter's character, Kartheiser broke out with his role as the smarmy, ambitious Pete on Mad Men. I'm really looking forward to next year's season, when Pete will (presumably) have to deal with being the father to Peggy's illegitimate child.

Minnie Driver: Best known for Circle of Friends and for being dumped by Matt Damon on Oprah, Minnie Driver was absolutely a revelation on The Riches. Her performance as Dahlia gave her the chance to shine with comedy, as she and her family run cons on unsuspecting "buffers," and also with drama, as she dealt with her release from prison, meth addiction, and torn loyalties between her husband and kids and her extended "traveler" family.

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Amy Kane spends as much quality time with her television as possible, when she's not busy at her day job as a cube dweller.

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