10. Elizabeth Olsen: While I found her to be criminally under utilized in both Godzilla and Avengers: Age of Ultron, her debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene proved that she really is something special and she is quite capable of carrying a film. Her filmography may be pretty short, but the more we see of her talent, the better she will get.
9. Emma Watson: I'm sure that after Harry Potter, a lot of us had our worries about how Watson's career would pan out. Thankfully, our worries have been put to rest as she would go on to deliver a portrait of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Perks of Being a Wallflower), a hilarious cameo appearance in This Is The End, and deliver an outstanding supporting turn in the Biblical Noah. Next, she will recreate the role or Belle in the upcoming Beauty and the Beast and will hold her own against vets like Ethan Hawke and Tom Hanks in the films Regression and The Circle. 10 points for Gryffindor!
8. Lea Seydoux: Even before her big breakthrough with Blue Is The Warmest Color, she has already been leaving marks whenever she appeared on screen, whether it'd be in Midnight In Paris, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol as the female villain, and even Inglourious Basterds. She may not have gotten the role of Lisbeth Salander, but thanks to her involvement in the upcoming James Bond film and potentially playing the female lead in the X-Men spinoff Gambit, more American audiences should know her name.
7. Carey Mulligan: I have only seen a handful of her work in films like Brothers, Drive, and Shame yet I still think she is someone destined for big things. In Shame, she not only gets to showcase her dramatic chops, but her singing as well while in Drive, she proved she can play the romantic love interest. She's also a charmer on the talk show circuit. So if you give her the right studio property, then audiences will quickly succumb to her charms.
6. Keira Knightley: While Knightley is mostly known for her work in costume dramas, especially the Pirates films, she has certainly shown that she can act outside of a corset. Whether she shows off her singing pipess in Begin Again, totes guns as a bounty hunter in Domino, or plays the determined yet spunky Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game, she always melts into her different characters and genres without having to go through an actual transformation.
5. Anna Kendrick: While Anna Kendrick has made sort of a trademark at playing neurotic deadpan characters, she is always a treat playing that type of character. She is also adept at playing different genres as she has showcased solid comedic timing, her amazing singing voice, and her dramatic talent as well. With an Oscar and a Tony nod already under her belt, one can be sure she'll have some kind of envelope with her name on it in the future.
4. Mia Wasikowska: With a billion-dollar franchise already under her belt with Alice in Wonderland, the success of that films has allowed her to experiment and do smaller films while working with auteur directors in the process like Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Park Chan-Wook, and pretty soon Guillermo Del Toro with the upcoming Crimson Peak. Not to mention the variety of roles she's nailed ranging from Alice in Wonderland to a scene-stealing vampire, from a wise beyond her years daughter of a lesbian couple to an introverted high school student who experiences a violently sexual awakening. Wonder what's next for this exciting young talent?
3. Emma Stone: While I have expressed my doubts as to whether Stone will go down the way of Alicia Silverstone and slowly fade, her breakout turn in Easy A is still a shining reminder of her stunning talent, especially as a comedienne. There is also her work in Birdman that plays to her strengths as an actress and a comedienne and her earlier work in Zombieland where she got to be a badass zombie killer and her scene-stealing turn in Superbad. With her starring in Damien Chazelle's upcoming musical La La Land and circling Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos' next film where she'll star opposite Kate Winslet and Olivia Colman, she will likely continue to prove me wrong about her becoming a Silverstone.
2. Rooney Mara: All it took was to not only work with David Fincher for a small supporting role in The Social Network, but SLAY the screen in said small role. Since then, she would re-team with Fincher as Lisbeth Salander in the American version of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and nab an Oscar nod while tackling a variety of films ranging from a Hitchcockian thriller (Side Effects) to a sci-fi dramedy (Her) to a western (Ain't Them Bodies Saints). Next, she'll play Tiger Lily in the upcoming blockbuster Pan and has garnered even more Oscar buzz with Todd Haynes' Carol which won her Best Actress at Cannes for her performance. In the trailers for Carol, she possesses such Audrey Hepburn-esque elegance. Quite a departure from the Goth hacker she has already become famous for playing.
1. Brie Larson: Even before her astonishing leading turn in Short Term 12, I have been a fan of Larson's work. In particular, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World where she proved her ability to sing and disappear into a role, as well as 21 Jump Street where she brought spark to the role of the love interest. Then came Short Term 12 where she demonstrated her ability to carry a film and act dramatic as well as her genuine supporting turn in Trainwreck where she plays the foil to the main character while also becoming her own character. Next up is Room where she has garnered significant awards buzz, the role of Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes opposite Steve Carell, and she will dab into the blockbuster genre as the female lead in Kong: Skull Island. It looks like her star is finally beginning to arise and I could not be a happier man.
So those are who I think are the best actresses 30 or under working today. Whether you agree or disagree, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section and share your own top 10 list as well. Thanks for reading!
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