posted
05/20/11
The career paths of Hollywood performers are largely unpredictable. Who’s to say which young actresses are going to be around for years to come, which are going to burn out early and which are going to end up on reality TV shows, sucking up to Donald Trump and gracing the pages of TMZ?
Then again, a few standout names always emerge from each new crop, turning heads and snatching up award nominations like no one’s business. Here are 10 young actresses who’ve demonstrated a certain degree of staying power early in their careers.
Update: 20 More Actresses to Keep an Eye On
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence is one of those freakishly talented types who get nominated for an Academy Award at an age when most people have trouble getting nominated for… well… anything. At just 20, she’s already a sought-after commodity in Hollywood, and unless she pulls a pretty extreme turnaround, it’s likely to stay that way for some time.
Rooney Mara
Having been cast in the titular role of the American film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Rooney Mara is set to blow up in a big way within the next few months. You might recognize her as Mark Zuckerberg‘s girl who got away in The Social Network, or as one of Freddy Krueger’s intended victims in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street.
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried has come a long way since playing the token idiot blonde in Mean Girls. Now recognized for her talent as a dramatic actress, Seyfried is in a position to assert herself as one of the best of her generation, provided her choice of roles stays on par (we’ll call Red Riding Hood a fluke and leave it at that).
Anna Kendrick
The fresh face who matched Clooney pace-for-pace in Up in the Air and smacked around Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, Anna Kendrick looks poised for one hell of a career.
Mia Wasikowska
Tim Burton’s young muse put up a memorable performance through the over-the-top production that was 2010′s Alice In Wonderland. More memorable, however, was her role in recent indie favorite The Kids Are Alright, which drew accolades for Wasikowska and cemented her reputation as a young up-and-comer.
Emma Stone
A cursory glance at Emma Stone‘s list of upcoming roles should be enough to convince anyone of her status as an in-demand actress. The Superbad star is keeping busy with parts in the new Spider-Man reboot and a role alongside Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love, among other notable gigs.
Kristen Stewart
Don’t let the Twilight stigma fool you. Somewhere under those layers of summer blockbuster grime is a talented actress waiting to take on edgier roles. Check out Adventureland or The Runaways for proof.
Abbie Cornish
Abbie Cornish has been teetering on the edge of full-blown fame for some time now, and a somewhat weak showing in the first half of 2011 (think Limitless and Sucker Punch) likely won’t help her cause. At the same time, though, she’s always fun to watch on screen, and it’s no stretch at all to picture her finally landing that one defining role.
Emma Roberts
At the moment, Emma Roberts seems to be the new face of the quirky coming-of-age indie flick. That’s not always a good thing, but it gives her an opportunity to flex her skills as a dramatic (and occasionally comedic) actress while putting some distance between her and her teenybopper days.
Amber Heard
Amber Heard is scoring some choice roles lately. This year she’ll appear alongside Johnny Depp in the much-anticipated Rum Diary, an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s early novel, and after that she’ll play one of the original Playboy bunnies in Playboy. She also proved her comedy chops in Pineapple Express and her ability-to-put-up-with-Nicolas-Cage chops in Drive Angry. I think we have a winner here.
COMMENTS
May 20, 2011 11:47 am
Jessie
Uh, where is Nina Dobrev on this list?
May 21, 2011 7:04 am
dallas daniel hessler junior
wowzers
June 7, 2011 6:08 pm
Nathan
Two words: Tamsin Egerton.
Smoking hot babe, and she can actually act. Check her out in Starz series Camelot, SMOKING HOT.
July 20, 2011 11:30 pm
pippa loyola
keep your EYES OPEN- PIA MILLER from australia is moving to HOLLYWOOD OMGGGGGGGGGGG
July 20, 2011 11:42 pm
Matt
They missed: Emma Watson, Chloe Moretz, Betty Gilpin, Hayley Atwell, Kat Dennings, Teresa Palmer, Leslie Bibb, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Hailee Steinfeld, and Scottie Thompson,
July 21, 2011 12:52 pm
courtney
Ummm, no women of colour? Seriously?
July 21, 2011 1:21 pm
carlos
picture # 1 emma roberts hot, second kristen stewart
July 21, 2011 2:55 pm
Ruty
No diversity at all. I guess the people who picked them also lack diversity among themselves. Or just don’t admire women of color.
July 21, 2011 7:24 pm
Joe Donatelli
The slight was not intentional, Courtney and Ruty, but we understand your point of view. Who do you suggest we should have included?
July 21, 2011 10:11 pm
Devon
Wow, look at all the women of color…nice try THR.
July 22, 2011 8:48 am
Bill
Why does someone of color HAVE to be on the list? Should they pick someone less deserving just to go “Oh let’s FORCE a colored person on the list to appease the racists”. And that’s what some of you are – racists. Don’t even look at skin color. Ridiculous.
July 22, 2011 10:18 am
Just Me
C’mon guys did you proof this at all?
“Amanda Seyfriend has come along way”
Her last name is Seyfried
July 22, 2011 9:29 pm
Angelo
Wow, no Blacks, no Asians, no Indians, no Latinos. You say the slight was not intentional but how could you forget America Ferrera, Keke Palmer,Freida Pinto, Gabrielle Union Zoe Saldana, Tessa Thompson, Vanessa Hudgens, Gugu Mbatha-Raw…shall I go on? next time at least ASK someone of color on your staff their opinion.
July 22, 2011 9:54 pm
tim
No Carey Mulligan, Ellen Page, Chloe Moretz or Elle Fanning? Epic fail.
July 23, 2011 7:27 am
McHater
The HOTTEST up and coming actress is DAWN OLIVIERI. Check her out. Besides being talented, she’s gorgeous and extremely sexy. She’s sooooooo HOT!
July 23, 2011 1:00 pm
lively09
No women of color on the list. Once again the media is bias.
July 23, 2011 1:06 pm
lively09
Ryon Nicole Brown, Destiny Edmond, Sahara Garey, Sidney Park, Willow Smith, Camille Winbush, Kyla Pratt, Raven Symone, KeKe Palmer, Rae’ven Larrymore Kelly. These ladies have been acting awhile, but get overlooked by the hollywood elites. Diversity is the key.
July 24, 2011 10:42 am
Josh
Uhh, who of color is as noticeable as these girls? Geez. Let’s get all butt hurt just because there isn’t an Asian, a black, a Mexican, etc. If they don’t deserve it then they don’t deserve it. Damn.
July 24, 2011 2:28 pm
blah, blah, blah
Women of color, blah, blah, blah…
What really makes this list irrelevant: No Emma Watson.
July 25, 2011 9:40 am
Irritated
Wow. Thanks for using hyper-sexualized pictures in an article about the talent and future potential success of *young* women.
July 25, 2011 2:12 pm
Mary
Bill you’re kind of a idiot.
You mean to tell me that there was no Asian, Hispanic, Black, Native American, Indian actresses to go on the list.
You say that perhaps they just chose the best, but that honestly wasn’t the case as we see Kristin Stewart was included and she isn’t anything to praise.
The fact is that there are plenty of women of color that could have been on this list. Oh what? Only 10 actresses…why not 15? why not 20. It seems very arbitrary to pick a list of 10 actresses to look for but then not really try to spread it out across the various races and cultures in the movie industry.
This was a stupid list. Oh, look at these 10 actresses you should look for, when most of these 10 actresses don’t even need this article. We know who they are, we know what they’ve been in so perhaps next time they should take time to find some other actresses we really should be looking for.
I’m sure Bob, in your world, people that expect the media be fair in its decisions…seems like a bunch of racists. But you have no idea as a man what the world is like for a woman of color. I’m sorry i’d like to live in a world where little girls everyone are not brainwashed into thinking one race is better than another, in a world where young girls develop stigmas about their ethnicity because only one is shown and praised more often than another.
So Bob, how about next time you just think about who you are calling a racist.
July 25, 2011 2:16 pm
Mary
I only came to this site from CNN Entertainment and I don’t know why they ever thought it was a good idea to link to this stupid site…which clearly seems to be a site for men to ogle at a very specific type of female celebrity.
July 25, 2011 5:41 pm
slimtrim
bunch of white girls, no people of colour? seriously? pathetic.
July 25, 2011 10:12 pm
Ken norman
I think that the camera loves Desi Lydic. She would be my sleeper pick.
July 26, 2011 7:39 am
Living Possession
What sort of talent do any of these girls possess? Sure, they look pretty, but do any of them write amazing scripts, step behind the camera and make Oscar worthy flicks? Come on people, this is a flesh festival. You’re nitpicking about the absence of diversity, but what substance is there in this article to begin with?! Be happy someone of your race wasn’t depicted, personally, I’m sick of seeing a bunch of white girls who play the same roles over and over getting high marks. Let’s give a round of applause for those who actually have the guts to embrace a variety of characters, rather than sporting a variety of swimsuits.
July 26, 2011 8:57 am
AJJ
come on guys, it’s the UP AND COMING actresses not the ones who’ve found fame and leveled out. While some color would be a nice mix, all the ones people are naming in the comments have been in the fame spot light for some time and have failed to impress. stop being so biased just because these 10 girls aren’t “colored”.
July 26, 2011 1:58 pm
Lisa
10 WHITE actresses you mean. Seriously you couldn’t find anyone of color? No one?
July 26, 2011 8:59 pm
MeetJohnDoe
No, wrong. No diversity, same old same old.
July 28, 2011 3:15 pm
nooneswoman
I agree with the top 10 in the article and also with several in the comments. Too bad you couldn’t have included 5-10 more actresses, there are so many women on the rise, with style and talent of their own–good round-up of the 10 though, I enjoy their acting, only missed the spectacular Ellen Page, although she has been ‘at it’ for a while now, she never stops amazing me with that DEPRECATING HUMOR!
July 29, 2011 8:05 am
d
Any list that includes the words “best actress” and “Kristen Stewart” is invalid. She sucks at everything.
July 30, 2011 2:29 pm
M
No diversity: check. Scantily clad females: check. Kristen Stewart? I’m sure she’s an interesting person (nice even) but can’t say the same about her films or performances.
August 1, 2011 2:45 pm
Zuz.
Where are Emma Watson and Saoirse Ronan? :O
August 2, 2011 9:48 am
Luca
I have to laugh. Adventureland and The Runaways are the proof that Stewart does NOT belong on this list. Especially when you leave off the likes of Emma Watson, the Fanning Girls (especially Elle), Saoirse Ronan and a dozen young ladies way more talented than Stewart and a fair part of the rest of the list.
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