Star Trek, The Next Generation: Best Actresses Under 30
This week's announcement that Anne Hathaway would co-host the Oscars (with James Franco) signals a generational shift in Hollywood. And gives rise to the question, who are the Generation Next Halle Berrys, Annette Benings and Meryl Streeps?
Star Trek, The Next Generation: Best Actresses Under 30
Carrie Rickey
This week's announcement that Anne Hathaway would co-host the Oscars (with James Franco) signals a generational shift in Hollywood. And gives rise to the question, who are the Generation Next Halle Berrys, Annette Benings and Meryl Streeps?
Limiting my choices to actresses under 30 (incredibly, Sarah Polley and Kerry Washington are 31 and 33), the bench isn't as deep as one would hope.
My top-of-head responses:
Kirsten Dunst, 28, scary good child actress (Interview With the Vampire, Little Women) so good at playing mature characters who hide their pain beneath a mask of vivacity, as in the Spider-Man films, The Cat's Meow, Marie Antoinette and All Good Things.
America Ferrera, 26, who can play intelligent (Real Women Have Curves) or goofy (Ugly Betty), always conveying a bedrock believability, as in the Sisters of the Travelling Pants films.
Anne Hathaway, 28, self-effacing beauty, slapstick charmer in the Princess Diaries films, the barracuda who thinks she's a goldfish in The Devil Wears Prada, drilling deep in Rachel Getting Married and capable of all the colors in the emotional spectrum in Love and Other Drugs.
Scarlett Johansson, 28, as nuanced at introspection (Lost in Translation) as at extroverted, in bombshell roles (Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Iron Man 2).
Keira Knightley, 25, a prickly pear mistaken for an English rose, terrific as the sporty soccer player in Bend it Like Beckham, the brainy Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice and the conniving friend in Never Let Me Go.
Mila Kunis, 27, a knockabout comedienne (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Date Night) unpredictable as mercury, as her Jekyll-and-Hyde performance in Black Swan attests.
Jennifer Lawrence, 20, moody beauty who plumbs her depths -- and ours -- in The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone.
Blake Lively, 23, nimble shape-shifter equally fine as the misunderstood rich girl in the Sisters of the Travelling Pants Films and Gossip Girl as she is as working-class mom in The Town.
Carey Mulligan, 25, sphinxlike presence who makes you wonder what she's thinking in An Education and Never Let Me Go and hypnotizes with her Mona Lisa smile.
Natalie Portman, 29, unusually versatile girlwoman of The Professional, Goya's Ghost and Garden State, who delivers a shattering performance as the perfectionist dancer in Black Swan.
Jurnee Smollett, 24, gifted with an ethereal voice and earthy beauty, she makes us hang on her every word in The Great Debaters. Why isn't she a movie star?
Emma Stone, 22, flat-out hilarious as the naughty-but-nice students in The House Bunny and Easy A, she is testing her dramatic chops in the forthcoming The Help.
Mia Wasikowska, 21, whether as the title character in Alice in Wonderland or The Kids are All Right, this young Australian is disarming, playful and intense -- all at the same time.
I should add to the forgeoing list Zoe Kazan and Ellen Page.— carrierickey- How old is Emily Blunt? I would add her name to the list as well.— allegheny
- whaf about miranda cosgrove?— Kevie Kev
- Olivia Wilde... She sometimes chooses indie flicks or bad flicks, but she's uniformly good in all of them.— Echo
- perhaps Maggie Gyllenhaal— usandsix
- Emily Blunt is 27 and is an excellent candidate, likewise Olivia Wilde. Don't really have a feeling about Cosgrove. Two readers e-mailed to recommend Abbie Cornish, so good in "Bright Star" and "Stop-Loss."— carrierickey
- How about Emma Watson?— themadhacker2000
- Elle Fanning is outstanding in the forthcoming SOMEWHERE, in a wise-beyond-her-years performance. I'd not be surprised if she got a Best Supporting Actress nod this year, or even if she wins. Her sister's Dakota is not a bad actress either as THE RUNAWAYS and countless other films prove. As for Abbie Cornish, check out SOMERSAULT--that's where I first took notice of her, and she's never been as good since!— garyk
- Aside from her looks, I see no reason why Scarlet Johanssen should be on this list. Her performance in Vicky Christina Barcelona was painful and embarrassing to watch, especially alongside the very talented Penelope Cruz. She was good in Lost in Translation and Ghost World, fair in Match Point and downright boring to awful in everything else I've seen her in, especially The Other Bolyn (if that's even what that forgettable movie is called), which I turned off within 10 minutes because the acting between the two leads was horrendous.
I haven't seen Black Swan, but her acting in the previews is the first good acting I've seen from Natalie Portman since The Professional. Being cutesy doesn't compensate for the fake tears and a lack of emotion in Garden State.
Either way, I wouldn't classify Portman as being in the same league as Emily Blunt, Maggie Gyllenhall, Zoe Kazan, Abbie Cornish or Carey Mulligan. Johanssen certainly doesn't deserve to be listed among them.
Admittedly, I am an acting snob, but that's because I've trained for a decade - and have trained with one of the greatest and most innovative teachers - so I hold in high esteem those who are truly good at the exceedingly difficult job that is acting and will never give credit for talent that's not there. To do so insults the ones who have worked harder than any non-actor can imagine.
— katied01 - I like Emma Watson. Hope she prospers in her post Hermione Granger career. Usandsix: Maggie Gyllenhaal is 33.— carrierickey
- katied 01 how good can your excellant teacher be if he has been teaching you for ten years and your commenting on this list instead of being on it...ten years and he can't turn you into anything...LOL....maybe you shouldn't be an acting snob— dhughes1
- My vote goes to Evan Rachel Wood. She has the ability to transform herself from role to role and has been a breakout star since she was a teenager.— CPven
- I agree with carrierickey and katied01 that Ellen Page and Emily Blunt should be on this list.
katied01, if you want to see a good performance by Natalie Portman, check out the movie Cold Mountain. Her role was like that of a cameo, her character was only involved for 15 minutes, but you couldn't help but feel bad for her. I think that she is a pretty gifted actress. Unfortunately, I think she's gotten mixed up in some pretty questionable roles.
As for Johansson, I think she's an average actor but her looks and her ability to play a variety of roles (Iron Man, The Prestige) puts her on this list.
Two names that keep popping up that I can't stand are Maggie Gyllenhaal (even if she was young enough) and Blake Lively. I thought Lively was terrible in The Town.— phillyfaninstpete - Agnes Bruckner, who was terrific in the memorable "Dreamland." (I haven't seen "Blue Car," so I don't know if I agree with the generally very positive notices about her work in it.)— wwolfe
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Agnes Bruckner is quite moving in "Blue Car" and Evan Rachel Wood is riveting both in "Thirteen" and "Across the Universe."— carrierickey
