LOVEFiLM Girl Power List 2008

We took a break from our Girl Power list last year to focus on the guys - so who knows? Maybe this will become a bi-annual feature.

It says something about the movie biz that when it came to up-and-coming male actors we felt we had to raise the age range to 30 to get in the likes of Ryan Gosling, Ben Foster and James McAvoy.

Initially we wondered if we might have to do the same this year for the girls. Some high profile names have fallen out of the 25 or younger bracket, among them Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams, Julia Stiles, Jessica Alba and - poignantly, given her recent troubles - Kirsten Dunst, who ranked number three in 2006 and came in second the year before that.

Even so, it didn't take long to realise that there were dozens more new contenders who have come up in the last couple of years. Where actresses are concerned, Hollywood likes them young.

We call this a "power" list though most of the actresses would probably scoff at the idea that they had any. These things are relative. The truth is that even in the last couple of years the stature of actresses in Hollywood continued to decline. Only a handful of actresses are perceived to be able to "open" a film: Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Katherine Heigl, Sandra Bullock and a few others. Maybe the success of Sex and the City will do something to change that.

Despite everything, actresses remain a vital ingredient in packaging most movie deals, and what really distinguishes the top of our list from the bottom is the power to say no. This power isn't the same as talent or charisma or beauty, but obviously each of those factors plays a part. So do other attributes, as Lindsay Lohan has discovered to her cost.

Ranked seventh in 2006, Lohan proved so unreliable on Georgia Rule that she virtually blacklisted herself. (I Know Who Killed Me certainly didn't help.) She hasn't made a film in twelve months, and was reduced to a supporting role in Ugly Betty in a bid to rehabilitate her career. She'll be back, probably, but for the time being La Lohan has dropped right out of our top 15.

Tom Charity
tom.charity@lovefilm.com

1. Keira Knightley

Age: 21 2006 ranking: 1 (2005: 5)

Credits: The Edge of Love, Atonement, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, The Jacket, Bend It Like Beckham, Love Actually
Debits: Domino, King Arthur, Thunderpants

Knightley doesn't always get an easy ride from the media on her home turf, but she's enjoying a charmed career path. She notched up a BAFTA nomination for her role as Cecilia Tallis in Atonement last year, and though Oscar didn't follow suit there is already strong buzz around her performance as Georgina, The Duchess of Devonshire, opposite Ralph Fiennes. In the meantime, she is earning some of the best reviews of her career for The Edge of Love, playing the Welsh Vera Phillips, lover of Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) and best friend of his wife (played by 26-year-old Sienna Miller). John Maybury directs from a screenplay by Sharman Macdonald - Keira's mum. Next up: Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

2. Ellen Page

Age: 21 2006 ranking: 12

Credits: Juno, Smart People, Hard Candy, X-Men: The Last Stand; Mouth to Mouth

People took notice of this petite Canadian actress in Hard Candy, when she played a 14-year-old who turns the tables on an alleged pedophile. The movie was slick and contrived but Page made you wonder what she might be capable of. Juno answered that question. The smart-mouthed pregnant teen caught the imagination of the public, and landed Page with a Best Actress nomination at the age of 21. While too many of her peer group are playing the paparazzi game Page seems serious about her work. She's in a position to do just about anything now, it only remains to be seen how far she can extend her range

3. Scarlett Johansson

Age: 23 2006 ranking: 2 (2005:1)

Credits: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Other Boleyn Girl, Match Point, Lost in Translation, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Ghost World, The Prestige, The Man Who Wasn't There, In Good Company, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
Debits: Scoop, The Nanny Diaries, The Island, Home Alone 3

It's been a mixed couple of years for Scarlett. Woody Allen's latest muse hasn't benefited the way that Diane Keaton or Mia Farrow did, and word on their third collaboration, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, is mixed. Still, she keeps showing up on those sexiest women lists, she has the album of Tom Waits covers to celebrate, and an appearance as Silken Floss in Frank Miller's comic book movie The Spirit will keep her in the public eye. She was miscast in The Other Boleyn Girl but acquitted herself well enough. Hopefully next year's Mary Queen of Scots (directed by Philip Noyce from a Jimmy McGovern script) will give her more to chew on.

4. Evan Rachel Wood

Age: 20 2006 ranking: 10

Credits: Across the Universe, Running with Scissors, Pretty Persuasion, The King Of California, Down in the Valley, The Missing, The Upside Of Anger, Thirteen
Debits: Simone, The Life Before Her Eyes

Although Wood is still waiting on a box-office breakthrough, she's clearly found an important fan-base among filmmakers - including upcoming projects with Darren Aronofsky and Woody Allen - doubtless sold by her vulnerable but ice-cold teen vixen in the black comedy Pretty Persuasion. Very pale and very thin, ERW has thrilled the paps by keeping company with Marilyn Manson. On screen she proved she had the pipes to do right by Lennon McCartney in Across the Universe, and she's rumoured to be playing Anne Bronte next, with Nathalie Press as Charlotte, and Rebecca Hall as Emily.

5. Emily Blunt

Age: 25 New Entry

Credits: The Devil Wears Prada, The Jane Austen Book Club, My Summer Of Love, Charlie Wilson's War, Dan In Real Life.

Self-possessed and authoritative, Blunt wowed the industry with her performance opposite Nathalie Press in My Summer of Love, then she topped that with her scene-stealing supporting turn in The Devil Wears Prada. She's been lucky, or well advised, adding a dash of spice in classy, well-received movies like Dan in Real Life and Charlie Wilson's War (her roles were small, so the films' mild box-office doesn't reflect on her). She has even won plaudits from Joan Collins for her ladylike demeanor. Now it's time to graduate to leading roles. She costars with Amy Adams in Sunshine Cleaning (from the Little Miss Sunshine production team), and then plays the title role in Young Victoria, a hot project written by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and directed by Crazy's Jean-Marc Vallée. This sounds like a dream part for Blunt.

6. Anne Hathaway

Age: 25 2006 ranking: 5

Credits: Brokeback Mountain, The Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane, Get Smart, The Princess Diaries
Debits: Princess Diaries 2, Havoc

For a while there it looked like Anne Hathaway might be a one-shot wonder: The Princess Diaries gave her a young teen fan-base but didn't exactly show her chops. She grew up fast in the acclaimed Brokeback Mountain (she was Jake Gyllenhaal's missus) and then scored a home run in The Devil Wears Prada. She seems keen to mix it up: hot on the heels of Becoming Jane and Get Smart we'll be seeing her in a mystery thriller, Passengers, then a Jonathan Demme comedy, and a rom-com with Kate Hudson. Too bad for her she turned down the role that propelled Katherine Heigl to movie stardom in Knocked Up.

7. Megan Fox

Age: 22 New Entry

Credits: Transformers, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

The Transformers babe was named the sexiest woman in the world by FHM in April, beating out Jessicas Biel and Alba, Elisha Cuthbert and Scarlett Johansson. Her movie career is looking pretty sweet too, what with the guaranteed mega-audience for the Transformers sequels (2 is out next year; 3 is earmarked for the year after that). She has a featured role in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, and then something a bit different: she'll play the lead, a psycho cheerleader in Jennifer's Body, the second movie penned by Diablo Cody. Just look what Diablo did for Ellen Page.

8. Mischa Barton

Age: 22 New Entry

Credits: The OC
Debits: Closing The Ring, St Trinians, Octane

One day the very pretty Mischa Barton will be as big a star as she thinks she is. And that day may come sooner than later, if she would only stop appearing in duds like St Trinians and Closing the Ring. On that score, signs are mixed. The latest from Roland Joffe, You and I was not well reviewed in Cannes. But a couple of American independent movies sound more promising: Assassination of a High School President, Morgan J Freeman's Homecoming and Luke Kasdan's Don't Fade Away all have potential.

9. Abbie Cornish

Age: 25 New Entry

Credits: Stop-Loss, Somersault, A Good Year, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Candy

This gifted Australian actress strongly resembles her compatriots Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts - which can't be a bad thing. Her movies haven't been great, but she has yet to give a bad performance, and she's been convincing as an Elizabethan lady in waiting, a junkie, and a southern military wife. If the tabloids are to be believed (and in this case, they probably are) she also managed to supplant Reece Witherspoon in Ryan Philippe's heart. Next up, a romance as John Keats' lover, Franny Brawne, written and directed by Jane Campion (The Piano; Portrait of a Lady). The title? "Bright Star".

10. Alice Braga

Age: 25 New Entry

Credits: I Am Legend, City Of God, Lower City, Blindness, Redbelt

Brazilian star Alice Braga is the niece of Sonia Braga, who briefly found international fame in Kiss of The Spiderwoman. City of God and Lower City did the trick for Alice, and for a while she looked like the last woman on earth in I Am Legend. If she stays tight with directors like Walter Salles (City of God) and Fernando Meirelles (Blindness) her career will only prosper. Upcoming: Crossing Over is an ensemble film in the Crash style, with Harrison Ford and Sean Penn in the mix, and Repossession Mambo is a sci-fi thriller with Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.

11. Kirsten Stewart

Age: 18 New Entry

Credits: Into the Wild, In the Land of Women, Panic Room
Debits: The Messengers

A very promising prospect, Stewart has played Jodie Foster's daughter in Panic Room, Meg Ryan's daughter in In the Land of Women, and Robert De Niro's daughter in What Just Happened?. Her best role recently was as Emile Hirsch's nearly girlfriend in Into the Wild, but lined up is a comedy from the director of Superbad (Adventureland) and the lead in Catherine Hardwicke's teen vampire opus, Twilight.

12. Kate Bosworth

Age: 25 2006 ranking: 15

Credits: 21, Blue Crush, Superman Returns, The Girl in the Park, The Rules of Attraction, Wonderland
Debits: Beyond the Sea, Bee Season, Superman Returns

Bosworth's biggest break proved her biggest setback: Lois Lane in Superman Returns. (Not any time soon, he doesn't.) Since then, she got reasonable notices for The Girl in the Park, and notched up a small hit with 21, but it's hard to know what to expect from her next flick, The Laundry Warrior, a vehicle for Korean action star Dong-Kun Jang.

13. Mila Kunis

Age: 24 New Entry

Credits: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, That 70s Show
Debits: Boot Camp

This dark-haired Ukranian-born actress hasn't been twiddling her thumbs. Since her debut ten years ago she's appeared on more than 30 TV shows, including 200 episodes of That 70s Show and voicing Meg on 94 episodes of Family Guy. She made it relatively easy for most of us to forget Sarah Marshall, injecting just enough spark to keep us guessing just how hospitable Rachel Jansen was prepared to be. The role of Mona Sax opposite Mark Wahlberg in the Max Payne movie might take her career to another level.

14. Elisha Cuthbert

Age: 25 New Entry

Credits: 24, The Girl Next Door, Love Actually, Old School, He Was A Quiet Man
Debits: Captivity, House of Wax

Another pin-up star who hasn't been allowed to do much more than trade on her looks, Cuthbert went the Jamie Lee Curtis, scream queen route, and did find at least a couple of intriguing thrillers in The Quiet and He Was A Quiet Man. Even so, her recurring role as Kim Bauer, and her funny turn in 2004's The Girl Next Door remain career high points. A Tim Allen comedy (The Six Wives of Henry Lefay) and Ny-Lon the Movie don't hold out much promise for an immediate up-turn.

15. Miley Cyrus

Age: 15 New Entry

Credits: Hannah Montana

Granted, Miley doesn't have the acting chops of teen princesses AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia) or Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), but she doesn't need them, not with fans as loyal as her's. The Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour movie took in $70 million and convinced studio bosses to give 3D another look. The Hannah Montana Movie will be upon us next year, like it or not. In the meantime, according to Forbes, Miley earned $25 million last year - and she's posting to YouTube for free.