IMDB Announces the Top 25 Stars of the Year for 2005

The Internet Movie Database ranks celebrities each year using their trademarked STARmeter tracking system, and the IMDB has just released this past year’s list. The STARmeter rankings are not based on reviews or box-office take of the celebs’ movies, but rather on how many times their names were searched on IMDB’s website. The results are a final tally of the weekly STARmeter rankings published on the subscription version of IMDB, IMDbPro.com. Here are the stars that IMDB site visitor searches have determined to be the most notable of 2005:

25. Keanu Reeves, whose "Bill and Ted" adventures are just a dim memory now. Reeves starred last year in the comic book adaptation Constantine and was an orthodontist in the independent film Thumbsucker.

24. Tom Hanks, the charming conductor of The Polar Express, which is destined to become a perennial holiday favorite of children. Hanks will star next as hero Robert Langdon in The DaVinci Code.

23. Kirsten Dunst, Spiderman’s gal pal who starred in the Cameron Crowe flop Elizabethtown.

22. Eva Longoria, who quickly became a household name with her sultry performance on Desperate Housewives.

21. Robert DeNiro, the legendary actor who continued honing his new career as a comedian with Meet the Fockers.

20. Vin Diesel, the action star who stopped slugging bad guys long enough to babysit wise-cracking kids in the unexpected hit The Pacifier.

19. Jon Heder, whom nobody had heard of prior to 2005, when he starred in the surprise indie blockbuster Napolean Dynamite.

18. Daniel Radcliffe, better known as Harry Potter, who began the adventure known as adolescence in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

17. Rachel McAdams, the latest Julia Roberts wannabe who appeared in three movies last year, Wedding Crashers, Red Eye, and The Family Stone.

16. Nicole Kidman, the classy Oscar winner who played both sides of the field last year with the thriller The Interpreter and the comedy Bewitched.

15. Emma Watson, another teen star of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where she showed off her advance into womanhood in a fabulous ball gown that turned Harry and Ron into blithering idiots.

14. Christian Bale, undoubtedly the best superhero in a long time with Batman Begins, his excellent take on the role that has been so horrifically miscast in previous versions.

13. Scarlett Johansson, nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Match Point despite being panned for the poor performance of The Island earlier in the year.

12. Jennifer Aniston, whose teary face appeared on every tabloid in the supermarket after her breakup with her cad of a husband, yet managed to dish out terrific performances in Derailed and Rumor Has It.

11. Orlando Bloom, who surprisingly had two spectacular flops last year in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven and Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown.

10. Hilary Duff, whose popularity among IMDB visitors may have more to do with her feud with Lindsay Lohan than with her performance in the dismal box office failure The Perfect Man.

9. Natalie Portman said her final farewell to Star Wars in the film Revenge of the Sith and celebrated by shaving her head in preparation for next year’s V for Vendetta by the Wachowski brothers.

8. Keira Knightley, who stole the hearts of viewers and movie critics alike as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

7. Tom Cruise. No explanation necessary.

6. Jessica Alba, the highest-debuting star in the list with three blockbuster hits in 2005, Sin City, Fantastic Four, and Into the Blue.

5. Paris Hilton, the camera ham who showed the world her scantily clad body in a commercial for Carl’s Jr. and showed the world her lack of acting chops in House of Wax.

4. Lindsay Lohan, who made headlines all year long for one thing after another, while her film Herbie: Fully Loaded took in a startling $66 million at the box office.

3. Brad Pitt, the golden boy with the tarnished image due to splitting with wife Jennifer Aniston after heating things up with Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

2. Angelina Jolie, the aforementioned homewrecker who adopted a new baby girl and continued her work for the United Nations while playing a contract killer in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

1. Johnny Depp, who took top spot for the second year in a row with his Oscar nomination for Finding Neverland and his bizarrely entertaining turn as Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.