12 Stars In 2012: From Kristen Stewart To Jennifer Lawrence The 6 Ladies Who Lit Up Movies This Year

2012 has been a great year for movies, there's been 'Skyfall', 'The Avengers', 'The Dark Knight Rises' and the end of the 'Twilight' franchise. Some amazing smaller films (and large ones too) are also set to make 2013's awards races one of the tightest in history.

We all know though that often it's the glittering stars we head to the cinema for, so to celebrate a great year we're nominating our 12 movie stars of 2012, six ladies, six gents, and as ever it's ladies first, so here's the girls who've amazed us on screen this year.

1. Jennifer Lawrence: 2012 was the year of Jennifer Lawrence, as she achieved the seemingly rare feat of being the major star of a blockbusting franchise ('The Hunger Games') and winning critical acclaim for her role in the bittersweet comedy 'Silver Linings Playbook'. Also named the most desirable woman in the world by Askmen.com, she's now an Oscar favourite and is currently filming the follow-up to 'The Hunger Games', 'Catching Fire'.

2. Anne Hathaway: One actress anchoring a box-office blockbuster and stopping critics hearts in award contending performance is rare, but three stars managed it this year, as Anne went from Catwoman in 'The Dark Knight Rises' to Fantine in 'Les Miserables' in a year where the actress firmly established herself as Hollywood royalty. Praise has been so high for her performance in the musical that not even the wardrobe malfunction to end all wardrobe malfunctions could spoil 2012 for her.

Anne Hathaway, one of our 6 ladies in our 12 in 2012 (Photo:WENN)

3. Scarlett Johannsson: No major awards nominations so far this year for Scarlett, but she was the lead feminine part in the biggest movie of the year 'The Avengers', taking on the role of The Black Widow in the superhero movie. Her other role this year, although not out until 2013 in the UK, saw her as screen legend Janet Leigh in 'Hitchcock', a film that has earned Helen Mirren another awards nomination.

4. Marion Cotillard: Another 'Dark Knight Rises' star who also found love from the critics this year, as a movie in her native French 'Rust and Bone' wowed film festival audiences before becoming talked about as a contender for a major prize itself, starring alongside Matthias Schoenaerts as a disabled Orca trainer. Playing opposite Hathaway in 'The Dark Knight Rises' she formed a formidable female air of protagonists to complement Tom Hardy and Christian Bale's male leads.

5.Charlize Theron: Charlize starred in two huge movies this year 'Prometheus' and 'Snow White and the Huntsman', both could've been expensive megaflops, but Charl's assured presence meant that she's now the perfect glamourous but safe pair of hands for any blockbuster movie. 'Prometheus', Ridley Scott's sci-fi epic exceeded box-office expectations, with Charlize Theron as the corporate and ever so slightly villainous Meredith Vickers. 'Snow White'  was also a hit, with Charlize stealing the movie as Queen Ravenna.

6. Kristen Stewart: Again Kristen is unlikely to be troubling Academy voters, and it's been a funny year where she's met both those imposters triumph and disaster. 2012 started well with the hit fantasy 'Snow White And The Huntsman' and ended well with 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' again taking huge bite out of the box-office. But what came inbetween was forgetable for K-Stew if not for us. First her cheating on 'Twilight' co-star with married 'Snow White' director Rupert Sanders was revealed, then 'On The Road' turned out to be a bit of a stinker. A mixed year, but one in which K-Stew proved she's about more than just 'Twilight'.

PHOTOS: The Female 6 of our 12 Stars in 2012

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