Basically, these are actresses I like a lot, but are just getting started more or less- or, at the very least, actresses who have been around for a hot minute, but are just starting to get on people's radars. I've included a short intro and a list of my favorite credits of theirs, just like I did with the actresses- and, of course, lots of pictures.
In order to get the lists out sooner, I decided to split them up, just so they aren't ridiculously long. (The last one was pushing it, I know.) I just randomly split them into categories, as best as I could think of them.
For this one, I'm taking a look at some of my favorite foreign actresses, with the exception of the Brits, who get their own list, as I'm quite fond of the lovely English lasses. Also, it would have made the list a bit long, so there you go. I try, people. Let's get started!
Foreign Imports
I love exotic women, and I sure don't mind an sexy accent. Some of these ladies have been here in the States a while, so they don't necessarily have one anymore, but regardless, they fit the bill, in terms of being from another country and all that entails. Not all of them will be familiar to some, but hopefully, they will be in time!
1. Ksenia Solo
We'll start with one of my favorites. I've been following Ksenia's career since I first saw her in the web-based series Renegadepress.com, which I'm pretty sure was the first online show I ever saw, unless you count that Lonelygirl 15 thing, which no one knew was a show until much later on.
Anyway, I was working at UAB's student newspaper, the Kaleidoscope, at the time, so it was cool to see a show about a group of kids around our age doing a similar kind of thing- it's about teens that run an online e-zine.
Indeed, it was partially because of this show that we all banded together to give the paper a heavier online presence, at a time when the physical paper was still the priority. Needless to say, things have changed considerably since then, which would have been the mid-to-late 2000's. Now papers are a dying breed and online stuff is the norm for most people.
Ksenia is originally from Latvia, in Russia, and moved to Canada when she was five, where she was raised in Toronto, so she's kind of a double import. She started acting around age ten, while studying ballet at the same time, just like her mom. An injury ended the latter career, so she started acting full-time from there.
The first thing I technically saw her in was the TV-movie My Louisiana Sky, though I didn't know it at the time. (Juliette Lewis was the draw, acting-wise.) She did a lot of TV-movies, at least some of which I probably saw, including Sins of the Father (set in Birmingham, AL, where I now live), Mayday and Love Thy Neighbor.
She also did a lot of TV shows, including Earth: Final Conflict, Kojak, Cold Case, Moonlight and Nikita, many of which I watched, so I'm sure I saw her there, too. (I distinctly remember the Cold Case and Nikita ones, as she played a Russian on them.)
Renegadepress.com came in 2004, where she landed her first lead, then she followed that up with a supporting role in the TV show Life Unexpected, with another fave of mine, Britt Robertson, who is elsewhere on one of these lists.
Roles in Season Three of the much-beloved cult series Orphan Black and in the critically-acclaimed AMC series TURN: Washington's Spies (as real-life-based spy Peggy Shippen) followed. Alas, big-screen fame has eluded her, but strong turns in movies like Pet, Another You and In Search of Fellini might change that soon.
She's currently shooting the History Channel series Project Blue Book, about the infamous Air Force investigations into UFOs and other unexplained phenomena, which should be cool. I just adore her, and she's hands-down one of my fave actresses, period.
2. Milana Vayntrub
Best-known as the "AT&T Girl," Milana is originally from Uzbekistan, in the former Soviet Union, but moved here at the ripe old age of two, specifically to Hollywood, thus cutting to the proverbial chase. She started acting at the age of five, attended UCSD and trained with the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, where SNL vets Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz got their start.
She subsequently formed the YouTube channel Live Prude Girls with friend Stevie Nelson and starred in various videos for College Humor. All the while she continued to act, mostly on TV, appearing in shows like ER, Lizzie McGuire, The League, Key & Peele, House of Lies, Californication, Silicon Valley and Love.
Her big break came via the aforementioned series of AT&T commercials, which ran in perpetuity from 2013 onward. This led to recurring gigs on the massive hit This is Us and the comedic game show @midnight, where she repeatedly won, including an all-star tournament at one point. In my book, funny and hot is a pretty deadly combo.
Last year, Milana won the coveted role of Doreen Green, aka "Squirrel Girl" in the upcoming Marvel's New Warriors, which is scheduled to premiere sometime next year. It's her first big leading role, so here's hoping it makes her an even bigger star!
3. Annet Mahendru
She's not a Russian- but she played one on TV. Okay, her mother is, so it kind of counts. Thanks to her mom and her father, who is of Indian heritage, Annet has an exotic look which allows her to play all sorts of characters- and brains to boot, given that she speaks a whopping six languages.
Indeed, she once had her eye on a UN job, but their loss is our gain, entertainment-wise. For good measure, she's a dancer, played chess competitively, has a Brown Belt in Karate and studied improv with the legendary Groundlings comedy troupe. So, she's smart, funny and sexy- could it get any better?
Born in Afghanistan, she regularly traveled to Russia and Germany before moving to New York City when she was thirteen. After college, she moved out to L.A. to try her hand at acting.
In addition to a small army of short films, she landed a few minor roles on TV in shows like Entourage, 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly before her big break came with a juicy role as a Russian spy on FX's superlative The Americans.
Guest spots on The Blacklist, White Collar, Grey's Anatomy and The X-Files, plus recurring ones on The Following and Tyrant came next; as well as roles in movies like the oddball Disney-gone-awry guerrilla film Escape from Tomorrow, Love Gloria, Bridge and Tunnel and a starring role as the titular Sally Pacholok.
In 2017, she made an appearance in the film (Romance) in the Digital Age, did voice-over work in the Netflix anime series Neo Yokio, created by Vampire Weekend band-member Ezra Koenig and starred in the TV-movie The Machine.
I, for one, can't wait to see what she does next. Hopefully, more roles on the big screen, but if not, a lead role in a TV series or streaming show would be just fine with me. Talent like hers shouldn't go to waste, regardless.
4. Anya Taylor-Joy
Though technically born in Miami, Florida, Anya was moved to Argentina when she was just an infant, so for all intents and purposes, she's more of a foreign import than a US citizen. She also only spoke Spanish until she was six, when her family relocated once again to London, England.
Anya was discovered by a talent agent when she was 16 and began modeling, which subsequently led to acting on down the line. She made her motion picture debut in an uncredited role in the somewhat underrated Vampire Academy, following that up the same year with a more prominent role in the TV-movie Viking Quest.
Other TV roles followed, on the shows Endeavor and Atlantis, but it was her role as Thomasin in 2015's The Witch (or, if you prefer, The VVitch), which proved to be her big breakthrough, earning her a whole slew of nominations and awards, including a nod for a BAFTA for Rising Star of the Year and a special award at Cannes.
Anya followed that major success with another genre-friendly role as the titular Morgan, which was like a more horrific take on the same kind of material as Ex Machina. Showing her range, the same year, she also appeared in Barry, a look at Barack Obama's younger, formative years.
A leading role in the BBC's critically acclaimed miniseries adaptation of Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist followed, then a leading role in M. Night Shyamalan's big comeback, Split, which she will reprise in the sequel, Glass, in 2019.
Anya has shown excellent range in her choices, gravitating mostly towards smaller, more independent films (Marrowbone, Thoroughbreds, Radioactive), while allowing for the occasional big-budget tent-pole production here and there, like Glass and the upcoming X-Men-gone-horror flick The New Mutants, scheduled for next year.
Given her eclectic choices, it's hard to predict what she'll do next, but I can't wait to see for myself what that is. Anya has a very unique look and a quirky personality that allows her to change from role to role to such an extent that she almost disappears within the character, making it hard to pin her down, but fascinating to watch- not too shabby for an actress this early in her career.
5. Ana De Armas
Cuban-born actress Ana De Armas is this close to breaking big in Hollywood, thanks to a series of much-buzzed-about roles in high-profile films that didn't quite connect with audiences in theaters, but have proven quite popular on home video and streaming outlets.
She started studying acting at the age of 12, later attending the National Theater School of Cuba. She made her motion picture debut in 2006 in the Spanish-language film Una rosa de Francia, then moved to Spain the following year, where she landed her first big role in the popular TV series El Internado, which continued from 2007-2010.
More films and TV appearances followed, including Sex, Party & Lies, Blind Alley and Faraday. In 2014, she moved once again, this time to L.A., where she landed her first Hollywood role in Eli Roth's oddball remake of 1977's Death Game, entitled Knock Knock.
Taken with her abilities, co-star Keanu Reeves recommended her for the lead in 2015's Exposed, which, while interesting, was extensively re-edited by Lionsgate, who wanted to focus not on Armas' character as originally intended, but Reeves' cop instead, hoping to transform it from a surreal mood piece into more of a traditional action-thriller. They changed it accordingly, making for a muddled, confusing result. Still, it's well-worth seeing for Armas alone, who is superb.
Roles in the boxing biopic Hands of Stone, with Robert DeNiro; the action/car chase flick Overdrive and another true-life-based drama/comedy, War Dogs, with Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, followed, with none of them quite hitting the mark, though the latter film did decent at the box office, grossing twice its budget.
A prominent role in Blade Runner 2049, however, really showed what Armas could do, with the right role and script. Though overlong and a bit muddled at times, Armas is great in what could have been a throwaway role, as Ryan Gosling's holographic AI girlfriend, Joi. Sadly, the film tanked at the box office, so it was back to the drawing board for Armas.
Hopefully, prominent roles in the forthcoming movies Three Seconds, alongside Clive Owen and Rosamund Pike; the crime thriller The Night Clerk, with Helen Hunt and John Leguizamo; and especially the Danny Boyle/Richard Curtis musical-comedy film set in the post-Beatles 60's (still untitled, as of this writing), co-starring Lily James, Kate McKinnon and Ed Sheeran, will change Armas' status as an up-and-comer to that of a full-fledged star.
Whatever the case, whatever project the lovely Ana does next, I'll be watching- she's awesome in my book. And yeah, pretty easy on the eyes, too.
6. Odeya Rush
The lovely Odeya's name means "Thank God" in Hebrew. I concur. Born in Israel, she moved to my current state and city, Birmingham, Alabama, when she was nine and her dad landed a job as a security consultant. Writing and performing plays from when she was just a child, she showed an early interest in the performing arts.
After a brief stint in New Jersey, she and her family eventually relocated to L.A. in 2013, where she began to pursue her dream in earnest, while modeling on the side for the likes of Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Guess. Her acting debut was in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, followed by a turn on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Odeya made her film debut in the sleeper hit Disney film, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, with Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton. She followed that with a turn in the underrated remake of the Mexican horror film of the same name, We Are What We Are.
Her big break came with a high-profile co-starring role in the long-awaited adaptation of the Y/A favorite The Giver, alongside the likes of Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep- not too shabby! Though the film under-performed at the box office and received mixed reviews, it launched Odeya's career in earnest.
Another high-profile role in the substantially more successful film Goosebumps followed, with a sequel scheduled for later this year, Haunted Halloween. However, Odeya has shown a real knack for picking lower-budget, but even better indie films that really show her range, such as See You in Valhalla (as the sister of Modern Family star Sarah Hyland), Almost Friends (with Freddie Highmore), The Hunter's Prayer (with Sam Worthington), The Bachelors, When the Devil Comes and the much-buzzed-about, multi-Oscar-nominated Lady Bird.
This year sees the release of multiple projects, all of which look intriguing, including Dear Dictator, about a girl who becomes pen-pals with a notorious dictator (played by the legendary Michael Caine), who seeks refuge in her garage after his people rebel against him!
Other upcoming projects include the musical-comedy Dumplin', with Jennifer Anniston and Kathy Najimy, based on the Y/A novel of the same name, with music by none other than country music legend Dolly Parton; and Spinning Man, a thriller starring Guy Pierce, Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver.
Odeya's willingness to take smaller roles in smart projects and choose her bigger projects wisely bodes well for her future in the business, though a headlining huge hit has eluded her to date. Hopefully, that will change soon, as Odeya is too talented to stay under the radar for long.
7. Stephanie Corneliussen
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the gorgeous Stephanie was originally studying ballet when, at 13, she was discovered by a talent agent and entered the Supermodel of Scandinavia contest, which she won, launching her modeling career in the process.
After earning a degree in Graphic Design, she relocated to L.A. and began doing commercial work alongside her modeling for various magazines and ad campaigns. She was cast in a music video for a Matchbook 20 song in 2012, then was featured prominently as the iconic "White Nun" in the ad campaign for American Horror Story's second season, Asylum.
This in turn led to her first motion picture role, as the "Desert Witch" in the horror flick Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. Guest shots on various TV shows followed, including The Rebels, Royal Pains, Hello Ladies (where I first noticed her in earnest), Bad Judge and The Exes.
However, her biggest break to date, acting-wise, came in 2015 with her signature role as Joanna Wellick in the superlative Mr. Robot. The break-out role really showed that she wasn't just another pretty face, as she was, by turns, loving and cold as ice, fierce and petty, and more than willing to fight for her man at all costs, even to the point of taking a life.
All the while she was carrying on meaningless (and wildly kinky) affairs with other men when her husband disappeared for a spell- a bad habit that would eventually catch up to her in the worst of ways, showing that being a tough cookie can cost you.
8. Katherine Langford
Born in Perth, Australia, Katherine initially trained as a singer, eventually learning how to play the piano after seeing Lady Gaga in concert inspired her to try her hand at writing her own material. You can find three of her songs on YouTube here.
Interestingly, one of them, "Young & Stupid," is an anti-suicide song, based on a real-life incident in which three Perth students took their own lives- something which would become quite relevant to her signature role to date in a few years.
Katherine began her acting career in earnest with several roles in musical theatre class, including turns in Godspell and Evita. She then turned to independent film, appearing in a series of shorts, including Story of Miss Oxygen, Imperfect Quadrant and Daughter.
After losing out a key role in the Shakespeare-based Will to another fellow Aussie on this list, she fared better the next time around, landing a leading role in the controversial teen suicide drama for Netflix, 13 Reasons Why. The critically-acclaimed turn as Hannah Baker led to multiple award nominations, including nods from the Golden Globes and the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
Katherine reprised the role in the show's second season, but has already announced she will not be returning for a third go-round. She has since made her motion picture debut in the film The Misguided, following that up with role in another adaptation of a much-beloved Y/A novel, Love, Simon.
As of this writing, she has completed shooting her role in the upcoming, quirky-sounding film Spontaneous, about a girl who learns she might burst into flames at any given moment and how that affects her life. The oddball project comes from writer-director Brian Duffield, who made a bit of a splash with his mental horror/comedy The Babysitter, featuring yet another Aussie vet on this list.
Can't wait to see what Katherine does with the role, and what she does next in general. Whatever it is, it is sure to be interesting, given as she's just getting warmed up, so to speak. (See what I did there?)
9. Samara Weaving
Samara is an import in the truest sense of the word, having lived in no less than four different countries growing up. She was born in Australia, but soon relocated to Singapore, then Fiji and later Indonesia after that. Her father is a filmmaker and if her last name sounds familiar, that's because her uncle is none other than Hugo Weaving, of the Matrix trilogy and the six Tolkien-inspired movies.
In 2005, she returned to Australia, landing her first big gig in the Aussie soap Out of the Blue in 2008, which she followed up a year later with a turn in the long-running series Home and Away. She made her motion picture debut alongside uncle Hugo in the Australian crime drama Mystery Road.
However, it was her first foray into genre work that caught my eye, along with a lot of other people, whether they realized it or not, when she landed a recurring role in Ash vs. The Evil Dead. Unfortunately for her, she was the subject of an online hoax in 2016, when a Facebook user took a still of her from the show and tried to pass her off as the victim of rabid anti-Trump protesters, which was obviously patently false.
Co-star Bruce Campbell, class act that he is, leaped to her defense and cleared the matter up, but not before some 30,000 people fell for it, helping to fan the flames of division in this country. Weaving was reportedly none too happy about the situation, but fortunately, it didn't stop her from continuing to pursue more genre efforts.
A series of indie movies followed, including the thriller Bad Girl, the oddball sci-fi comedy Monster Trucks, the fun action/horror hybrid Mayhem (with Walking Dead vet Steven Yeun), a small-but-memorable role in the Oscar nominated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and an excellent multi-faceted turn in the sleeper Netflix hit The Babysitter.
Weaving returned to TV for a fun sports reporter role in the poignant Showtime series SMILF and a turn in the miniseries remake of the classic Picnic at Hanging Rock, alongside GOT star Natalie Dormer. She is currently working on two projects, Last Moment of Clarity, a Hitchcockian thriller, and Guns Akimbo, an action/comedy with Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.
I like the way Samara can go from sweetheart to psycho at the drop of the hat (particularly in The Babysitter) and that she's not above playing the ditzy hot girl in a winking way that lets you know that she might not be such a bimbo after all (SMILF) or a determined girl capable of some not-so-nice things (Mayhem).
This sort of range bodes well for her future and should help her from being typecast as the "girl-next-door" type. Looking forward to seeing what's next for her. Whatever it is, you can bet it won't be something run-of-the-mill. Samara doesn't do predictable, and we're all the better for it.
10. Olivia DeJonge
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Olivia moved to Perth at the age of five, growing up in the posh Peppermint Grove suburb, and attending an all-girls' school. This latter bit would come in handy for her first big role in the cult flick The Sisterhood of Night, as one of the titular group of girls inspired by real-life figures in the Salem Witch Trials.
She followed up the critically-acclaimed cult hit with a role in the 8-part Australian miniseries Hiding, which was also quite well-received. Next, came her most high-profile work to date, in the M. Night Shyamalan found-footage-driven comeback vehicle The Visit, in which she played one of the two young leads.
This landed Olivia a burgeoning reputation as a Scream Queen to watch, which she swiftly capitalized on with two more genre efforts: Scare Campaign, about a prank TV show gone horribly awry; and Better Watch Out, a Christmas-themed chiller about a babysitter beset by intruders, only to find out there's more going on than meets the eye.
Olivia returned to TV with a leading role in the high-profile TNT series Will, about a young William Shakespeare, which she beat a host of talented actresses for, including the aforementioned Katherine Langford, though, as we saw, she rebounded from that nicely, with the hugely successful 13 Reasons Why.
Alas, the same cannot be said for Will, which was unceremoniously cancelled after one season, getting mixed reviews for playing fast & loose with history, even though it was hardly the first show guilty of such things.
Olivia has since returned to making feature films, with 2018 yielding both Undertow, from award-winning writer/director Miranda Nation, about a photojournalist obsessed with a pregnant teenage girl; and Stray Dolls, about two petty thieves who find their life of crime spiraling out of control when their actions lead to unforeseen violent consequences.
Her knack for intriguing choices should lead her to even more interesting roles in the future, though a huge hit has eluded her to date, The Visit notwithstanding. Don't count on that being the case for much longer.
11. Alice Englert
Like Samara Weaving, Alice was born into the entertainment industry. Both her father, Colin Englert, and her mother, the multi-Oscar-nominated, critically-acclaimed Jane Campion, (best-known for The Piano, The Portrait of a Lady and Bright Star) were active in film-making, specifically in Australia, where Alice was born.
Thanks to her parents' jet-setting lifestyles, Alice also spent time in New Zealand, NYC, London and Rome, attending schools in all of the above. Though her parents divorced when she was only seven, she spent ample time with both, and they were always supportive, even when she opted to drop out of high school to pursue acting full-time.
Indeed, Alice's mother provided her with her first role, in her short film, Listen, at the age of eight; then a role in another short, The Water Diary, at the age of twelve, which was part of an anthology film entitled 8. This was directly followed by another short the same year, 2008, The Flame of the West.
Alice made her motion picture debut in 2012 in the memorable Ginger & Rosa, alongside acclaimed young actress Elle Fanning (the "Ginger" to her "Rosa") and multi-Oscar-nominated actress Annette Bening. The film was nominated for various awards and won several, including Best Ensemble at the Women Film Critic Circle Awards, along with a Best Supporting Actress nod for Alice at the British Independent Film Awards.
Alice landed a plum role in the would-be Y/A franchise Beautiful Creatures, which is the first thing I saw her in. Based on the novel of the same name, it sadly tanked at the box office, despite a stellar cast that included Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum and then-future Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich.
However, the film was well-received by its intended audience: the teenage and young adult crowd, faring better on home video, and garnering multiple award nominations at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards, including several for Alice herself. Sadly, it did not win any, which might have helped raise its profile that much more.
Thankfully, the failure of the film didn't stop Alice from pursuing more genre efforts, including the horror/thriller In Fear and the romantic fantasy-adventure flick Time Traveler (aka The Lovers). Though this time both garnered critical acclaim, neither were huge hits, sadly.
This led Alice to try her hand at TV, starting with a turn in the 2014 miniseries New Worlds, from the creators of The White Queen. The sweeping historical drama was a follow-up to the successful prior series The Devil's Whore, and did well, ratings-wise, showing that perhaps a new avenue had opened to the young actress.
Striking while the iron was hot, she followed that up with another TV miniseries, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, based on Susanna Clarke's best-selling novel of the same name. This one was even more successful, garnering four BAFTA nominations and cited as one of the Top 10 Best TV shows of the year by the BFI.
With a 90% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has been likened to a more adult Harry Potter, and is ideal for binge-watching, clocking in around seven hours, and divided into as many parts. It is also easily one of her best projects to date.
Alice ducked back into New Zealand and back to the big screen for a role in The Rehearsal, then ventured into film-making herself with the shorts, The Boyfriend Game and Family Happiness, which she wrote, directed, and in the case of the latter film, starred in as well.
Game was nominated for Best Short at the Berlin Film Festival and won for Best Screenplay at the St. Kilda Film Festival, pointing the way forward for perhaps a new avenue for success for Alice in the future, which would help her follow in her mother and father's footsteps in earnest.
Speaking of mom, Alice reunited with Campion for a leading turn in the second series of her mother's highly critically-acclaimed, award-winning series, Top of the Lake, entitled China Girl. She is currently working on the thriller Them That Follow, which is scheduled for release in theaters later this year.
As if all that weren't enough, Alice is also a talented singer/songwriter, who contributed a song to the Beautiful Creatures soundtrack, "Needle and Thread," and composed the score for her short The Boyfriend Game. No doubt about it, this is one girl for whom the sky is truly the limit.
12. Phoebe Tonkin
This saucy Aussie was born in Sydney, where she started training as a dancer at the ripe old age of 4. At 12, she shifted her attentions to acting, later attending the prestigious Queenwood School for Girls.
She got her first big break in 2005, when she landed one of the three main leads on the mermaid-themed teen show H2O: Just Add Water, which was later picked up by Nickelodeon, which is where I first saw it.
I've always had a thing for mermaids since I first saw Splash and The Little Mermaid, so I became an instant fan of the show, and Phoebe was my favorite of the three girls, which also included Claire Holt, who would be Phoebe's co-star on not-one-but-two later TV shows.
A role in the underrated action-adventure/war drama Tomorrow, When the War Began after that show ended served as her motion picture debut, but she soon landed a role on the family friendly TV comedy/drama Packed to the Rafters, closely followed by a gig on the long-running soap Home & Away.
Hollywood came calling in 2011, with a turn on the short-lived-but-solid witch-themed teen show The Secret Circle. Her relationship with The CW would prove fruitful, leading to a role on the cult favorite series The Vampire Diaries in 2012 in the show's fourth season.
She and her pal Holt co-starred together on the show and later jumped ship together for the spin-off The Originals, which just wrapped its final season earlier this year. The two also apparently can't stay out of the water, as they coincidentally (?) both starred in their own shark-themed underwater adventures: Bait for Phoebe, and the more successful 47 Meters Down for Claire.
Phoebe's other notable films include The Ever After and Billionaire Ransom, the shorts Cul-De-Sac and Final Stop, and guest spots on the TV shows Stalker (also from Scream and Diaries mastermind Kevin Williamson), Pillow Talk and The Affair. She also appeared in the Australian miniseries Safe Harbor, showing she wasn't above going back to her homeland for a gig on occasion.
In addition to modeling and running a health-themed website with her friend and fellow Aussie Teresa Palmer on the side, Phoebe is an avid rap (especially the 90's era) and alternative music fan (fave band: Radiohead), loves to read (fave book: Lolita) and is a dedicated vegan.
Now that The Originals is a wrap, it will be interesting to see what Phoebe does next- will she stick to the more supernatural-themed stuff she's been doing, or try her hand at something completely different? As a die-hard horror fan, I'm hoping she doesn't abandon the genre altogether, but we'll see. Whatever it is, there's a good chance it will probably involve water, though!
13. Adelaide Kane
Yaaasss Queen! Another Aussie for the masses, Adelaide Kane may have been born in the country, but her parents are actually Scottish, with some Irish and French on her mother's side, which helps account for her pale-but-alluring good looks. Who knew it would eventually lead to the throne? (Sort of.)
As with Phoebe Tonkin, Adelaide began her entertainment-related career as a dancer, then modeling, and some light acting in commercials and on kids' shows. Then she won a competition to play a role on the long-running Australian soap Neighbours in 2006, at the urging of her friends, never expecting to get it.
Landing a three-month contract, which was not renewed, she left the show at the end of the year before her episodes had even aired and it was back to school for a while. In 2009, she landed a plum role as Tenaya 7 in Power Rangers RPM, the spin-off of the long-running, popular kids' series, which she played for a whopping 32 episodes.
She followed that up with a turn in Hulu's Pretty Tough, based on the novel of the same name, which ran for twenty episodes. She also appeared in her first TV-movie that year, NBC's Secrets of the Mountain. After another brief break for a few years, in 2012, she made her motion picture debut in Goats.
Though I've since seen some of her work on Power Rangers, Adelaide first came to my attention with her next role, on the third season of MTV's Teen Wolf as Cora Hale, the bad-ass, sexy sister of Wolfman Derek (Tyler Hoechlin). Though her role on the former no doubt came in handy, what with all the action she had to do on the latter.
Her big break came the following year, however, when she landed the one-two punch of appearing in the massive horror hit The Purge and a leading role as Mary, Queen of the Scots on The CW's Reign. The latter turn must have pleased her Scottish parents, no doubt. She would play the role for four seasons from 2013-17, when the show wrapped up.
In addition to that, she did voice work for the How to Train Your Dragon TV spin-off Dragons: Race to the Edge, appeared on Whose Line is It Anyway? and in the final season of Once Upon a Time (as one of Cinderella's wicked stepsisters). She was also in the shorts A Letter Home and Realm. The latter short is scheduled to become a film soon.
Other notable roles include the TV-movie Can't Buy My Love, the family drama Louder Than Words (she played David Duchovny's daughter), which was based on a heart-breaking true story; and the forthcoming Acquainted, which she executive-produced and features three of her fellow Reign cast-mates.
However, as a horror fan, it was Teen Wolf, The Purge and her other scary movies Donner Pass, Blood Punch and The Devil's Hand that really cemented my fandom of her for me. I think she's a fantastic actress and just gorgeous and I can't wait to see what she does next... hopefully more horror! 👿
14. Mackenzie Davis
Admittedly somewhat atypical of the girls on this list, it's precisely that selfless, lack-of-ego quality that allows her to play "plain" or extremely androgynous characters that makes me dig on actress Mackenzie Davis. She's sexy because she doesn't overtly TRY to be sexy, if that makes any sense. Which makes it all the more noticeable when she does go for it.
She can go from playing total dorks to lovelorn or quirky lesbian characters to bad-ass punkettes or streetwalkers with complete ease, making her almost impossible to pin down off-screen, much less on it. Is she any of these or all of them at once? Hard to say, but it's fascinating to try and figure her out.
Born in Vancouver, B.C. in Canada to a South African mother and a British father, Mackenzie moved to NYC to study acting at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse conservatory. She first hit the big screen in 2012 with a small role in the alcoholic-themed drama Smashed, featuring another fave of mine, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
The following year saw her move up the ranks to a full-fledged supporting role in another drama, Breathe In, alongside Guy Pierce, Amy Ryan and Felicity Jones, with the former two playing her parents and the latter playing a girl her age who embarks on an affair with her father, which does not go over very well, as you might expect.
She first came to my attention with two slight-but-decent rom-coms, What If (aka The F Word) and That Awkward Moment, mostly notable for having stronger casts than scripts, including Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver in the former and Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Imogen Poots in the latter.
Fortunately, her breakthrough role was right around the corner, via AMC's critically-acclaimed-if-ratings-starved drama about the rise of the personal computer and the internet, Halt & Catch Fire. She played Cameron Howe, the punk-rock loving programmer with skills beyond her years, instantly making many a computer nerd's hearts a-flutter in the process. (Yep, including this one.)
Though the ratings dipped with each progressive season, the critical acclaim also rose with each season and, to its credit, AMC kept the show around for four seasons, in spite of the poor viewership. The ratings may have sucked, but the show only got better and better, thanks to a strong ensemble cast and equally excellent writing in a story that ultimately spanned ten years.
Fortunately for Mackenzie, Hollywood took notice, even if viewers didn't, leading to some solid supporting roles in decidedly higher-profile movies like The Martian, Blade Runner 2049, Tully and the forthcoming latest installment of the ongoing Terminator franchise.
Along the way, she also appeared in some solid indies, including Bad Turn Worse (aka We Gotta Get Out of This Place), Plato's Reality Machine, A Country Called Home (also with Imogen Poots), the fun horror flick Freaks of Nature, Always Shine (for which she won two awards for her performance, including Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival) and the amusingly-titled Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town.
On the small screen she had guest spots on the MTV series I Just Want My Pants Back (another great title!), No Activity and most notably, her turn on the anthology series Black Mirror, in the episode "San Junipero," which many count among the best of the series- myself included. (It might actually be my favorite, period. I wouldn't mind visiting there my own damn self, which is decidedly NOT something one can say about the scenarios in most BM eps!)
In addition to the high-profile Terminator gig, which I'm only moderately interested in, given the spotty record of the series as of late- though bringing back OG heroine Linda Hamilton doesn't hurt matters, certainly- the project I'm more excited to see her in is The Turning.
An update of Henry James' classic novella The Turn of the Screw (also the source material of the excellent film The Innocents), the film is executive-produced by none other than Steven Spielberg, but it's also directed by a fave of mine, Floria Sigismondi, who directed some of the best videos of the 90's and 2000's (including Bowie and Marilyn Manson) before segueing into movies with the excellent biopic The Runaways, about the band of the same name.
Davis plays the lead in the film, a nanny to two creepy kids, played by Stranger Things and It vet Finn Wolfhard and Brooklynn Prince, of the critically-acclaimed, Oscar-nominated The Florida Project. Though a trailer has yet to be released, it looks to be a modern updating of the material, which may or may not be a good thing. Either way, I'm there with Davis in the lead and that talent backing her up.
With her unconventional-but-beautiful looks, quirky tastes in projects and first-rate talent, the sky's the limit for this underrated actress, who's just one role away from being a big-time star, IMHO. Hopefully, it's coming around the bend soon enough!
15. Millie Bobby Brown
Last but definitely not least, the youngest starlet on this list I was somewhat hesitant to include simply because she's listed as being British in nationality. However, she was technically born in Marabella, Andalusia, Spain, so I figured what the hell- it counts. (It also puts me in the mind of this song- which never ceases to bring me joy.)
Besides, it keeps my list at 15 people, which just so happens to be the amount of names on my forthcoming list of Brit actresses, so I'm going with it. Be that as it may, Millie was born to two Brits, and when she turned four, her parents moved her to Bournemouth, Dorset, in England; then again, four years later, to Orlando, Florida, so you could make a case for her being Spanish, British or Floridian, like myself, if you were so inclined. But I'm going with her place of birth for the purposes of this list.
Anyway, Millie began taking acting workshops in Orlando on a whim, and found that she had a natural talent for it, which her teacher advised her parents would be better served in Los Angeles, so off to Hollywood they went, and withing three months, Millie had an agent and had landed her first gig, making her debut as the young Alice on the short-lived Once Upon a Time spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
Shortly thereafter, she auditioned via tape for the BBC show Intruders, which was a show I loved that should have been a contender- sort of a heir apparent to The X-Files. Alas, it was also short-lived. Several guest spots on various shows like NCIS, Modern Family and Grey's Anatomy followed, plus an appearance in the Sigma and Birdy music video for "Find Me."
Fortunately, her third starring gig was the charm, as Millie finally hit pay-dirt with the Netflix series Stranger Things, which became an instant hit for the streaming service, inspiring near-instantaneous and across-the-board positive word-of-mouth, and making its cast of mostly young, relative unknowns into stars practically overnight.
No fool she, Millie has already parlayed that gig into a role in the forthcoming, massive-in-every-sense-of-the-word potential blockbuster, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, with a secured role in the already announced follow-up, Godzilla vs. Kong to boot, as well as more Stranger Things, which is currently in production on its third season. She also has a potential new film series on the back-burner, in which she'll play famed detective Sherlock Holmes' little sister, Enola.
While, at only 14, she is only just getting started, there's no denying that Millie is almost certainly destined for greatness- if she hasn't already achieved it, that is. I can't wait to see what she does next, but as a genre fan, it does seem like she leans more towards stuff of that nature, which is good news for my fellow fans of that sort of thing, as less-respected genres like fantasy, horror and sci-fi can always use big-name stars with the talent to give it a good name again.
Of course, it remains to be seen how she handles fame at such an early age, but so far, so good. She was even named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People- the youngest person to ever make the list.
While some fans already heralding her a "sex symbol" is a bit iffy- W Magazine caused a bit of a stir when it included her on its "Hottest TV Stars" list and they weren't talking about just their careers- it doesn't seem like such things have gone to her head as of yet, which is good.
Millie seems content to just be the kid she is at the moment, which is also good. Hollywood has a long storied history of chewing stars up and spitting them out, but hopefully, that won't be the case here. The talent is certainly there, and so long as she continues to make solid choices, I think she'll be around for some time to come. Can't wait to see what she does next, regardless!
Well, that about does it for this list. Be sure and join me for my next one, in which I'll cover some of my favorite up-and-coming British actresses. Thanks for reading! 😍
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