Aaron Eckhart, Thank You for Smoking

Ever since his blond, square-jawed good looks and nasty character made In the Company of Men a surprise 1997 hit (and established writer-director Neil LaBute as the Nasty-Nastiest Chronicler of the Battle of the Sexes), Aaron Eckhart has been an actor in search of an appropriate follow-up. It's taken nine years - and many bad movies - but as tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor in the politically incorrect satire Thank You For Smoking, another surprising indie hit, Eckhart once again basks in the glow of critical appreciation and popular acceptance.



After good but supporting work in Erin Brockovich, LaBute's Your Friends & Neighbors (where he gained 30 pounds) and Oliver Stone's football classic Any Given Sunday, Eckhart's attempts to be Hollywood's next Harrison Ford stumbled badly. Now he seems to be on track, co-starring in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia with Josh Hartnett, Hilary Swank and Scarlett Johansson and the American remake of the German hit Mostly Martha with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

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