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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?

23 comments

Star Trek, The Next Generation: Best Actresses Under 30

POSTED: Thursday, December 2, 2010, 12:30 PM

Carrie Rickey, Film Critic

America Ferrera and Blake Lively in a 2008 publicity shot. (REUTERS)

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.

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Comments (23)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:13 PM, 12/02/2010

how about rosie o'donnell?

— z03mbm

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:15 PM, 12/02/2010

What about Zza Zza Gabor, isn't she still under 30? Or at least she thinks she is.

— neddyflanders

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:17 PM, 12/02/2010

dhughes, First of all, no acting teacher turns you into a star (and I only studied with the great one for 3 years, because I didn't discover him right away). And if you had any idea what it's like to be a struggling actor in NYC, it would come as no surprise that I'm not a star. That said, I've done film, tv, and stage in NYC, and have auditioned for people that most actors only dream of, so I'm not exactly a joke. Besides, many of the best actors I've watched are people you've never heard of because they're not stars, but they can certainly rival many of the names listed here. As talented as many actors are - and I have friends who've graduated from top acting MFA programs - only a very select few make it. Most of us struggle to find work, despite our talent. I actually got burned out from constant auditioning and training and am on a break from it.

Phillyfan, I've watched Cold Mountain and thought Natalie Portman was okay in that role. Not especially good, but not bad either. She also admitted that she didn't know there was much to acting until watching all the work Phillip Seymour Hoffman put into his role in that movie. Maybe she started training with him afterwards? Who knows?

I second Evan Rachel Wood, but forgot Maggie Gyllenhaal was in her early 30s. Gyllenhall was absolutely outstanding in Sherrybaby. Wood was very good in Whatever Works, but was even better in Thirteen.

I'd also add Bryce Dallas Howard to this list. She delivers incredible performances and truly is nuanced, as opposed to the alleged nuances Johanssen delivers. I think she may have the most potential on this list to be another Meryl Streep, especially considering her substantial theater training, which most of the other actresses on this list lack.

— katied01

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:31 PM, 12/02/2010

One more: Siena Miller. She acted circles around Keira Knightley in The Edge of Love and was excellent in Factory Girl. I saw her on Broadway last year and she was okay - I expected her to be much better - but she also chose a very difficult role for her first lead in a Broadway play (also her first time on Broadway).

Overall, though, I think most of the actresses mentioned were mentioned more for the diversity of their roles and their box office draw versus actual talent. As much as I like Anne Hathaway, I seriously doubt she will ever be as talented as Bryce Dallas Howard; however, Howard doesn't (and probably will never) have the box office draw that Hathaway has.

Carrie Rickey, you're one of the few critics I usually agree with regarding film reviews, but I can't share your views on actresses with Streep potential. But most of the general public and even many actors know very little about acting and find it difficult to discern what is good versus great, so it's okay. :-)

— katied01