Last year I posted an article where I chose my top 10 young and promising actresses. Nearly a year on I thought I would revisit the list to see what they have been doing Since the original post.
Dakota Fanning (16): This year has seen her in her second twilight movie and The Runaways coming out on Friday (here in the UK), her star is well and truly on the rise. I look forward to see what she does after her teenage years.
Kristen Stewart (20): No longer a teenage having celebrated her twentieth birthday earlier in the year. Adventurland remains her best performance but with just two Twilight movies to go she should have the opportunity to expand her horizons after 2012. Her most interesting future project is filming at the moment, an adaptation of one of my all-time favourite novels, On the Road by Jack Kerouac. The movie is being directed by Walter Salles and is set for release next year.
Nikki Reed (22): Hasn’t done anything interesting since Lords of Dogtown five years ago, she needs a decent part.
Ellen Page (23): With Whip It and Inception Page is already having a great year, action/comedy Super is in the can and set for release later this year. She didn’t get the much coveted part of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but she is going to be playing a lesbian in the Catherine Hardwicke directed drama Freeheld that sounds like it may be Oscar bait. I think we will be seeing a lot more of young miss page in the next few years, something I am very happy about.
Evan Rachel Wood (22): I didn’t see Whatever Works so haven‘t actually seen her in a movie since The Wrestler, she has been busy with the TV show True Blood though. The biggest news surrounding her recently was reports earlier this week that she has split from fiancée Marilyn Manson. Her latest movie, the Robert Redford directed historical drama The Conspirator doesn’t have a UK or USA release date year but is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (Hatter if you are reading let us know if you get to see it and if its any good).
Camilla Belle (22): Brazilian drama Adrift hasn’t seen the light of day in the UK other than the odd film festival. Father of Invention appears to be gathering dust on shelf so nothing has been seen of her since last since last summer. She does have two movies in post production and set to hit cinemas next year: From Prada to Nada and Mary Mother of Christ, unfortunately neither is exciting me.
Olivia Thirlby (23): I haven’t seen her in a single movie since Juno, we will have to wait and see if any of the five movies she has in production are any good.
Kat Dennings (24): I am not convinced by her as an actress but she was so adorable in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist that I couldn’t leave her off the list. Daydream Nation looks like her usual type of movie but Thor is an new and interesting direction.
Megan Fox (24): She has developed into one of the finest and most gifted actresses around, okay so that’s not true but she does what she does well.
Amanda Seyfried (24): In Jenifer’s Body she plays Megan Fox’s less sexy friend, the words Amanda Seyfried and less sexy don’t belong together in the same sentence. She really needs to stop making crappy rom-coms, other than that she can do no wrong. With an ability to express more with her eyes than most actors manage with their whole body she is just about my favourite actress working today even if I don’t like a lot of her movies.
Bonus picks. You should know by now my top tens are never really top tens! Thinking inside the box (the TV!).
Olivia Wilde (26): Since last years original post I still haven’t seen her in a movie but with Tron Legacy later this year and Cowboys & Aliens next year there is still a great buzz about her.
Die wilde Karte. Ein sehr vielversprechender deutscher Schauspielerin.
Jenifer Ulrich (24): After impressing in The Wave (Die Welle) the German actress’ career is thriving in her home country but unlike The Wave her other movies haven’t made it to the UK or USA yet. She needs a crossover hit if she is going to follow fellow German actress Franka Potente onto the world stage.
New to the List for 2010:
Chloe Moretz (13): I first noticed Chloe Moretz as JoGo‘s wise beyond her years little sister in (500) Days of Summer, then as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass she became the most iconic female action star since Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. Next up, Let Me In next year and Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall has been announced for 2012. It will be interesting to see how her career develops as she grows up.
Gemma Arterton (24): I have never been that impressed with Gemma Arterton and really didn’t like her in Quantum of Solace, but then I saw her in The Disappearance of Alice Creed and was amazed by her performance. I have also heard some good things about her in Tamara Drewe that opens in a couple of weeks.
Ophelia Lovibond (24): I have only seen her in two movies, Nowhere Boy and 4.3.2.1. In the second of those she impressed among a talented young ensemble. She needs a good leading role if she is going to establish herself.
Rooney Mara (25): Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was the most coveted role in Hollywood, it could do for Rooney Mara what Bella Swan did for Kristen Stewart.
Carey Mulligan (25): When I wrote the original article last year the only thing I had seen Carey Mulligan in was an episode of Dr. Who (it was a particularly good episode), then suddenly a couple of weeks later I saw her Oscar nominated performance in An Education since then she had small parts in Public Enemies and Brothers. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is due out later this year as is Never Let Me Go with a screenplay by Alex Garland based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. She is also set to star in Sam Mendes adaptation of Ian McEwan’s fantastic but truly devastating novel On Chesil Beach.
Anna Kendrick (25): I was vaguely aware of her in the twilight movies but then earlier this year her breakthrough performance in Up in the Air earned her an Oscar nomination. Next up, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is out next week and I am really looking forward to it.
Anna Kendrick is my favorite, for some reason. It might be because she singlehandedly got me through Twilight.
I hardly noticed her in twilight but loved her in Up in the Air
God bless you for the JoGo love, Kind Sir. I love this list though it should be titled Girls I feel bad being attracted to.
Also, Thirlby was in something else but I can’t remember what it was………. Thank you, IMDB… Snow Angels and The Wackness.
I actually said JoGo the other day when talking about Inception. I was met with blank expressions.
Kristen Stewart’s best performance in my opinion was in Speak. Have you seen that? And she was so young.
Haven’t really seen Gemma Arterton in any movies, but thought she was great as Tess in Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
No I haven’t seen Speak, just looked it up, it looks interesting I will check it out.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed is well worth watching but don’t read anything about it or watch the trailer, its best to go in blind.
Nice list Andy, you listed just about everybody in your top 10 lol
Not sure what happened to Evan Rachel Wood, she was good in Across the Universe then… nothing… The talent is pretty bare I think except for the promising Carey Mulligan, Ellen Page, Amanda Seyfried and maybe Anna Kendrick
I wouldn’t call that “pretty bare”, they are all great.
Let me rephrase that. Most of these young actress will turn out to be competent. I was talking about a few notches above that.
Evan is coming in that Mildred Pierce remake with Kate Winslet, I think. It is TV, but the role is a knockout.
No Saoirse?
I didn’t really think of her, probably because I hated The Lovely Bones.
Curious how Hanna will turn out.
I think Amanda Seyfried from last years list has been the biggest success and Kat Dennings may disappear. We’ll have to wait for the Twilight Saga to end before we see Kristen Stewarts real career begin, but from this years list I particularly like Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, and Chloe Moretz. Chloe is too young to really say now, but Kendrick proved herself this year, and Arterton is the one I’m most curious to see future work in.
Kendrick’s at such an interesting crossroads in her career. There are so many places she could end up going, and so many things she could do– and she’d probably be great regardless of the choices she makes.
Off of that list, I’d probably peg Seyfried, Mulligan, and Evan Rachel Wood as the most talented. Thinking about it I can’t really say that any performance from any actress on that list touches what Mulligan did in An Education. Moretz might be young, but mark my words, she’s going places. Let Me In should be a huge launchpad for her career.
I will never, ever get how anyone thinks Stewart is talented. She approaches everything she does with what appears to be either boredom or snobbish condescension, like she doesn’t even get why she should be bothering interacting with her co-stars. If after the Twilight franchise has its run Stewart never receives any attention for anything other than her love life, it’ll be too soon.
Saoirse Ronan – A unique talent.. List is pointless without her.
I know everyone raves about her but I just don’t see it. If I were to update it the list, I would be more likely to add Romola Garai who played the older version of her character in Atonement.
Saoirse Ronan shoud certainly be on this list. You may have not liked some of her movies, but you have to admit her acting is good.
I honestly think that Saoirse Ronan should be on this list. Yeah, I admit her moveis may be panned by critics, but they praise her performances. Academy award nomination at 13. I say out of Hailee Steinfeld, Chloe Moretz, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Abigail Breslin, Saoirse definently leads the pack. Dakota is good, but I hear alot of hate torwards her. Chloe I think will end up being like Angelina Jolie, she will only do action movies.
Not only is Saoirse Ronan the best teen actress on the planet, she’s one of the best actors in the world.