Cinema constantly has new talent
each and every year, making great films and opening audiences’ eyes to new
characters, stories and worlds. 2012’s summer offers new films from these four
budding new talented actresses.
What She’s Been In:
Alice Eve, 30, got her start while
at Oxford, appearing in student stage productions. In 2004, she got her first
roles on BBC television with Hawking
and The Rotter’s Club, as
well as a small part in Stage
Beauty. Her first break came when she booked a principal supporting role
opposite James McAvoy and Rebecca Hall in 2006’s Starter for 10. She has since
taken roles in the comedy crime thriller Big Nothing with Simon Pegg, the failed Crash wannabe Crossing Over, Sex and the City 2, the British
rom-com The Decoy Bride, the
poorly received horror film ATM,
and as a reoccurring character (and love interest of Vincent Chase) in the
final season of Entourage.
Breakthrough:
Eve’s breakthrough in her home
country of England may have been Starter for 10, but in the States it came in
the 2010 rom-com She’s Out of My
League, playing opposite Jay
Baruchel. The film is about a normal guy (Baruchel) with a normal job (TSA
agent) who meets the ‘perfect’ woman (a 10). But his insecurity begins to chip
away at their relationship, because he doubts that she really likes him
(because, in his mind how could she). Eve plays Molly, the girl who is
seemingly way out of the normal guy’s league. The film is funny, and Eve is
good in it. In April of this year she also starred opposite John Cusack and Luke Evans in The Raven (her second big
American film). It is about Edgar Allen Poe and a young Baltimore detective who
team up to stop a madman who begins killing people in the manner described in
Poe’s stories. Eve plays the love interest/damsel in distress (while not a
weighty dramatic or comedy part, it will get her more exposure).
Summer Film(s):
In May, Eve has a principal
supporting role in Barry
Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black
III, which sees the return of Will
Smith (both to the series and to films) and Tommy Lee Jones. Along with Eve,
Josh Brolin is new to the
cast. The film is about the sudden disappearance from existence of Agent K.
Now, Agent J must time travel back to the 1960s to stop Agent K’s
assassination. Eve plays young Agent O, who is the head of the MIBs in the
present. She is also playing a younger version of Emma Thompson. MI3 is certainly
the biggest film of Eve’s career to date, and its success will play a role in
her success, but she has already booked an even bigger project set from 2013
which will likely make her more of a household name. Trailer: Here.
Upcoming:
In addition to The Raven and MI3,
Eve has a third film slated for 2012. She stars with Samantha Morton, Aaron Paul and Helen Hunt in the drama Decoding Annie Parker. It is
about the mostly true story of Annie Parker and the almost discovery of a cure
for cancer. In 2013, she stars in J.J.
Abrams’s Star Trek Sequel.
The whole principal cast is back, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Eve new
to the cast. Her role in the narrative and character are still secret, but it
will be a film that should see her in many more films to come.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What She’s Been In:
Zoe Kazan, 28, got her start
growing in up in the business. Both her parents are screenwriters and her
grandfather is famed auteur director Elia Kazan. Her first role,
while still in college at Yale, was in 2003’s Swordswallowers and Thin Men.
From there, she took small roles in a number of films – notably The Savages, Fracture, In the Valley of Elah, Me and Orson Welles, Revolutionary Road(which was
her first weighty dramatic film role, though still small), The
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, and It’s Complicated. She also
began acting in stage plays. She made her Broadway debut in William Inge’s Come
Back, Little Sheba. Next she took a role in another Broadway show – Anton
Chekhov’s The Seagull. Being a playwright as well, her first play Absalom was
performed at the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays. She got her first
lead parts in the 2009 indie movies I Hate Valentine’s Day and The Exploding Girl. In 2010,
she got a role as a reoccurring character on the HBO show Bored to Death (season two).
Breakthrough:
Kazan is known much more as an
indie actress than for her work in Hollywood. A resident of Brooklyn, she
mostly appears in plays and smaller films. Her breakthrough films in the indie
world came with bigger parts in Happythankyoumoreplease
and Meek’s Cutoff, both of
which saw limited distribution in 2011. Happythankyoumoreplease is Josh Radnor’s dramedy romance
following young people in relationships in New York City. Kazan plays one of
these people, and the sister to Radnor’s lead. The film is sweet, funny and
also a little sappy. Meek’s Cutoff, on the other hand, is a bleak western from Kelly Reichardt, starring Michelle Williams (and frequent
Kazan collaborator Paul Dano).
It is about settlers in 1845 on the Oregon Trail, having to deal with the
bitter hardships of the journey. Kazan plays one of the settlers, in what is
probably her most dramatically taxing performance to date.
Summer Film(s):
In July, Kazan co-stars with Paul
Dano in the fantasy rom-com Ruby
Sparks (which she also wrote – her first produced screenplay). It is about
a struggling novelist with writer’s block. One day, to help himself begin his new
book, he creates a new character Ruby Sparks (played by Kazan). Magically, she
somehow comes into existence and he finds that he can control her by writing
her character in his book (and yes, in different hands this could be very dark
and depraved). Thus, he tries to write a girl he thinks will love him. The film
is the second by Jonathan Dayton
and Valerie Faris (the
directors of Little Miss
Sunshine). It looks light and fanciful, and serves as good
counterprogramming to the blockbusters of summer, and hopefully sees Kazan getting
bigger roles in the future. Trailer: Here.
Upcoming:
Kazan has a few movies upcoming.
First, she stars with Nikki Reed
and Steve Howey in the Joss
Whedon scripted sci-fi romance In Your Eyes, directed by Brin Hill. Then, she has a
supporting role in the Neil
LaBute drama Some Girl(s),
directed by Jennifer Getzinger
(who has directed seven episodes of Mad Men among other TV) and
starring Kristen Bell, Jennifer Morrison and Emily Watson. Finally, she stars
opposite Jake Johnson in
writer-director Jenee LaMarque’s
debut The Pretty One, about
a twin sister who assumes her sister’s identity after she dies.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What She’s Been In:
Anna Kendrick, 26, got her start
at a young age. Her parents would let her brother and her take the bus down
from Maine to New York City to take auditions. Her first acting role came on
Broadway in High Society in 1998 (she played Dinah), a performance that would
earn her a Tony Award nomination (she is the third youngest actor to be
nominated). She appeared in a number of other stage productions before making
her film debut in 2003’s Camp
(for which she earned an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance).
She next took a supporting role in the indie dramedy Rocket Science. Her work in
Rocket Science and Camp lead to her auditioning for and winning a small
supporting role in Twilight
(playing one of Bella’s high school friends). While her role is relatively
small, set against the scale of the series, Kendrick did get her name a face
out there to a much broader audience. She reprised her role in three of the
sequels.
Breakthrough:
Kendrick’s breakthrough came with
2009’s Up
in the Air. She was writer-director Jason Reitman’s first choice to
play the role of Natalie Keener (a role that garnered her an Oscar nomination).
She is brilliant in the film, holding her own in many scenes against George Clooney. But, I contend
that Scott
Pilgrim vs. the World and 50/50
also have served as breakthrough films for her (as her work across these three
films have made her one of my favorite young actresses). In Scott Pilgrim vs.
the World, directed by Edgar
Wright, she has a small supporting role as Pilgrim’s sister. While
infrequent, she is funny in her scenes (showing that she has a knack for
comedy). 50/50 sees her co-starring opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen in director Jonathan Levine’s cancer comedy.
Kendrick, much like with Up in the Air, turns in a wonderful performance, playing
both dramatic and comedic beats well. These three films (alright, maybe not
Scott Pilgrim) have made her one of the most in-demand talents right now.
Summer Film(s):
In May, Kendrick stars in 2012’s
celebrity spectacular (cramming as many famous people into one movie as
possible – something that generally never turns out well, unless it is called A Bridge
Too Far) What to Expect When
You’re Expecting. Directed by Kirk
Jones and also starring Elizabeth
Banks, Brooklyn Decker, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Dennis Quaid (who stopped caring
sometime around 2005, and blatantly just shows up for paychecks now), Chace Crawford, Rodrigo Santoro (and many
others), the film is about multiple interweaving stories revolving around being
pregnant. Kendrick plays one such pregnant person, after meeting Crawford,
getting down and then oops/surprise. While in all likeliness, this will neither
be good, nor will win any acclaim for Kendrick (if anyone is walking away from
this in a positive light it is Chris
Rock or Banks), it still is the biggest project Kendrick has been a part of
and should continue to build her career momentum (as based on what comes out
and what makes money, most cinemagoers do not care if movies are good or not). Trailer: Here.
Upcoming:
Kendrick has a whole slew of
project upcoming. She has five slated for release in 2012. First the new
animated film from the same studio (and style) as Coraline and Corpse Bride. ParaNorman, directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, is the story
of a misunderstood boy who can speak to the dead. When the dead begin to rise,
he just might be the only one who can save his town (I just wonder why this is
coming out in August and not October when it is clearly a Halloween movie).
Kendrick has a supporting voice role. Next, she co-stars in the David Ayer cop drama (he seems
to only make cop dramas) End of
Watch with Jake Gyllenhaal
and Michael Pena. Then, she
stars in the Jason Moore
musical Pitch Perfect
(finally getting to show off her Broadway singing voice in a film that more
than ten people will see – yes that was a joke directed at Camp). And then, she
stars in the religious apocalypse comedy Rapturepalooza, directed by Paul Middleditch. Finally in
2012, she has a supporting role in Robert
Redford’s new thriller The
Company You Keep starring Shia
LaBeouf and Redford, about a former activist who goes on the run after a
journalist discovers his identity. In 2013, she co-stars in the Dylan Kidd comedy Get a Job with Alison Brie and Bryan Cranston. While none of
these projects immediately scream ‘I’m gonna be great!’, they all have promise,
and Kendrick should find herself among the elite actresses of her generation
(assuming things work out).
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What She’s Been In:
Aubrey Plaza, 27, got her start
taking on multiple internships, including being an NBC page (like Kenneth – she
actually plays a page in a season one episode of 30 Rock). She is also a member
of the improv and sketch comedy group the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater
(other notable members include: Aziz
Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Jake Johnson, and Paul Scheer). Her first role
came as a series regular on Mayne
Street, a web comedy series based around ESPN personality Kenny Mayne. She
has also appeared on the web series Troopers and TV series Portlandia. Film wise, she has
been in three small indie films: Someday
This Pain Will Be Useful to You, The End of Love and Damsels in Distress (which by
far the best of the three). But, outside of her breakthrough roles, she is
probably best known as the snarky Julie Powers in the cult (classic) film Scott
Pilgrim vs. the World.
Breakthrough:
Plaza’s breakthrough came in
2009’s Funny People, the Judd Apatow film starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen about a famous
comedian who is diagnosed with a life threatening disease, which leads him to
reevaluate his life. She plays an up and coming stand-up comedian and the love
interest to Rogen’s character. However, an even bigger breakthrough came when
she was cast as a series regular on Parks and Recreation. She plays
April Ludgate, a city employ void of all ambition and drive. After struggling
through its first season, it has become one of the better TV comedies
(especially season two, which is phenomenal).
Summer Film(s):
In June, Plaza takes on her first
starring role in the indie summer comedy/adventure Safety Not Guaranteed.
Co-starring Jake Johnson and Mark
Duplass, and directed by Colin
Trevorrow, the film is about a guy, Kenneth, who places an ad in the
classified section seeking a companion for time travel. Intrigued, three
magazine employees head out to try and interview Kenneth. Plaza plays one of
the magazine employees who then gets pulled in by Kenneth and begins to
question whether or not he is for real. It looks to be a potentially wonderful
comedy, and good counter programming to the blockbusters. Trailer: Here.
Upcoming:
Plaza has two projects upcoming,
in addition to the continuation of Parks and Recreation. First, she has a
supporting role in Roman Coppola’s
new comedy about a graphic designer whose life goes downhill after his
girlfriend breaks up with him. Entitled A Glimpse Inside the Mind of
Charles Swan III, it stars Mary
Elizabeth Winstead, Charlie
Sheen and Bill
Murray. If CQ is
any indication, it should be an interesting film. And second, she has a
supporting role in the comedy The
To-Do List. Directed by Maggie
Carey and starring Rachel
Bilson and Scott Porter
(and a bunch of great comedians), it is about a high school grad who feels
pressure to be more sexually experience before going to college. The first is
tentatively scheduled for a 2012 release, the other 2013.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
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