Bright young thing and X-Men: First Class star Jennifer Lawrence proves age ain’t nothin’ but a number, after beating the likes of Anne Hathaway and Brit star Carey Mulligan to be named the Top Actress Under 30 of the past year, despite being the second youngest on it.
LOVEFiLM has released its annual list of the year’s hottest female talent leading the way in Hollywood, based on a combination of momentum and both critical and commercial success.
With both indie and mainstream success under her belt notably her Oscar-nominated performance in Winter’s Bone, and her upcoming Sundance film Like Crazy and of course X-Men: First Class, Lawrence (20) a new entry this year, has taken the lead.
You’ll be able to spot her next in The House At The End Of The Street, and in 2012 in The Hunger Games - which some are already touting as the next Twilight Trilogy.
In second, after climbing an impressive seventeen places is Anne Hathaway (28) who scored highly for her sexually-charged turn opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Love And Other Drugs, and Rachel Getting Married.
Hathaway’s performance as the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland was the only saving grace to stop the star dropping off the list last year, let’s hope she can hang on to her position next year
The first choice of the moment for any title role, Aussie Mia Wasikowska (21) hasn’t moved a muscle. Once again, she came in at third place in the talent list for her magnificent lead performances in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and the equally highly regarded Restless, directed by Gus Van Sant.
Brooding Twilight star Kristen Stewart (21) falls three places from the top spot into fourth position in this year’s list.
Stewart’s impressively gritty performance as Joan Jett in The Runaways suggests that she has buckets of talent - it’s enough to make even the Bella-beaters reconsider - but the movie failed to bring in a wide audience.
With Walter Salles’ On The Road in the bag (and more Twilight, of course), Stewart is starting work on a live action Snow White opposite Thor’s Chris Hemsworth.
Brit star Carey Mulligan (26) drops one place into fifth position this year, after Never Let Me Go, a terrific performance in an only semi-successful movie.
The fact that Baz Luhrmann has cast her as Daisy, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, in his The Great Gatsby demonstrates the considerable respect Mulligan has garnered so early in her career.
Another non-mover this year is Emily Blunt (28), in sixth place. Blunt’s dazzling career tailed off over the last couple of years with a series of questionable role choices (The Wolfman, Gulliver’s Travels, Wild Target).
Luckily, Blunt has several projects in the pipeline which are sure to remind Hollywood why they were so excited about her in the first place.
Climbing up a striking ten places this year to number seven is Kirsten Dunst (29), who seems well and truly back on track after a quiet spell last year.
Despite her director’s calamitous press conference in Cannes, Dunst picked up the best actress award at the festival for Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, and easily the best reviews of her career.
Next up, having climbed two places to number eight is Freida Pinto (26). Probably the biggest winner in Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto has gone on to work with Woody Allen, Julian Schnabel and Tarsem (as Phaedra in The Immortals). Also coming soon is her first big budget blockbuster, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, opposite James Franco.
In ninth place is Chloe Moretz (14) - the youngest in our top ten by quite a long way- who has achieved a huge amount relative to her years.
There were innocuous cute kid parts in (500) Days of Summer and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but she grew up quickly and went on to terrorise us in vampire flick Let Me In. She has plenty lined up too, including Hick; a Vegas comedy vehicle for another rising young star, Blake Lively.
Mila Kunis (27) completes our top ten. Kunis has re-entered the charts after making a big impression in this year’s must-see psycho-ballet thriller, Black Swan.
Her pal Natalie Portman (who turned 30 this year) won the Oscar, but Kunis made a lot of people who had underestimated her sit up and take notice.
The Muppets movie is next on her list, and ultimately the lead role in Sam Raimi’s eagerly awaited Oz: The Great and Powerful, due to be released in 2013.
Top 10 Actresses Under 30 are as follows:
1. Jennifer Lawrence, 20 (New entry)
2. Anne Hathaway, 29 (2010 ranking 19) +17 places
3. Mia Wasikowska, 20 (2010 ranking 3) Static
4. Kirsten Stewart, 21 (2010 ranking 1) -3 places
5. Carey Mulligan, 24 (2010 ranking 4) -1 place
6. Emily Blunt, 28 (2010 ranking 6) Static
7. Kirsten Dunst, 29 (2010 ranking 17) +10 places
8. Freida Pinto, 26 (2010 ranking 10) +2 places
9. Chloe Moretz, 14 (New entry)
10. Mila Kunis, 27 (Re-entry)
Helen Cowley, Editor at LOVEFiLM commented: "It’s incredibly impressive to see such a young list of great actresses making their mark this year.
"Only five of the list are over 25, and it’s astonishing that a fourteen year-old has made it into the list.
"Top star Jennifer is one to watch, with some fine career choices recently. It’ll be interesting to see what follows from The Hunger Games."
source:femalefirst.co.uk
