What She’s Been In:
Olga Kurylenko, 33, started out
as a model in Moscow at the age of thirteen. At sixteen, she moved to Paris to
further her modeling career. She got her film career going appearing in 2006
with Paris, je t’aime and
the French series Secrets.
She made her American debut in the video-game adaptations Hitman and Max Payne. Since then, she has
appeared in a few better projects including the underrated and under-seen
action drama Centurion,
Martin McDonagh’s
Seven Psychopaths, and the
Starz Miami Beach gangster series Magic
City.
Breakthrough:
Kurylenko’s breakthrough,
however, came when she was cast as a Bond Girl in Quantum of Solace opposite Daniel Craig. She
plays the second lead in Marc Forster’s
film – a young woman seeking revenge after her parents were murdered by a
brutal dictator when she was a child. The film as a standalone piece is not as
good as Craig’s other Bond outings (Casino
Royale and Skyfall),
but as a companion piece (or third act) to Casino Royale it works quite well.
April Films:
In April Kurylenko has two films
coming out: To the Wonder
and Oblivion. The first is Terrence
Malick’s new romantic drama. Kurylenko plays one of the leads: Marina, married
to Neil (played by Ben
Affleck), is having problems in her marriage and seeks out a priest (played
by Javier Barden)
for help, meanwhile Neil reunites with his old sweetheart (played by Rachel McAdams).
In Oblivion, Joseph Kosinski’s
new film, she plays a mysterious character that may hold the answers to Jack’s,
a veteran assigned to extract Earth’s remaining resources after a devastating
war has driven humanity off-planet, many questions as his mission becomes less
clear. She stars opposite Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman.
Upcoming:
In terms of future projects,
Kurylenko is slated to next star in an adaptation of the Moscow-set novel Despite the Falling Snow, due
in 2014.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What She’s Been In:
Brit Marling, 29, started her
career co-writing and directing with Mike Cahill the
solid documentary Boxers and
Ballerinas, which explores the US-Cuba conflict through the eyes of four
youths (two in Cuba and two in Miami). She also has a one episode guest
appearance in season two of Community
(episode 2.15) and is very
good in a supporting role in the Richard Gere wall
street thriller/drama Arbitrage.
Breakthrough:
Marling’s breakthrough, at least
for indie audiences, came with her two next writing/starring projects. First
she reteamed with Mike Cahill for Another
Earth. She co-wrote the film and stars as Rhonda, a young woman who gets in
a tragic accident with a family (killing all members other than the father) on
the night that a duplicate planet in the solar system to Earth is discovered.
Picking up a few years later, Rhonda looks to make amends with the man whose
family died in the accident, while imagining a better life on the other Earth.
Her second project is the great
mystery Sound of My Voice,
which Marling co-wrote and has a principal supporting role in. She plays
Maggie, a cult leader who claims to be from the future. Her authenticity is
called into question by an aspiring journalist who goes undercover in the cult.
April Film:
In April, Marling has a small
supporting role in Robert
Redford’s new film (which he is starring in and directing) The Company You Keep. It has a
very impressive cast, which includes: Nick Notle, Chris Cooper, Anna Kendrick, Susan Sarandon,
and Shia LaBeouf
(who co-stars with Redford). It is about a former activist who is still running
from his past, but leads a normal life in secret – that is until a journalist
discovers his identity. Now, he is on a mission to clear his name before the
authorities catch up with him.
Upcoming:
In May, Marling is reteaming with
Zal Batmanglij,
who directed Sound of My Voice, for a new mystery The East. She also is
co-writing the film with Batmanglij (again). It is about a group of anarchists
who target major corporations that they deem to be guilty of violations against
humanity and nature. Marling stars as a private intelligence operative charged
with infiltrating the group. The film also stars Alexander Skarsgard
and Ellen Page.
She has a role in the Abraham
Lincoln film The Green Blade
Rises, which addresses his formative years, playing his mother Nancy Lincoln.
It is written and directed by A.J. Edwards, who
worked as an editor on Terrence
Malick’s last three films (including To the Wonder).
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
What She’s Been In:
Andrea Riseborough, 31, started
her career on British TV, taking roles in a number of TV movies and series. Her
first good film role came in a supporting part in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky. She also has
supporting roles in the pilot of the BBC’s Being Human, Mark Romanek’s
fantastic sci-fi romance drama Never
Let Me Go, and Made in
Dagenham. Her first leading roles came in the poorly received Brighton Rock and Madonna’s W.E. More recently, she co-stars in the action
crime drama Welcome to Punch
(which opened in limited release in March).
Breakthrough:
Riseborough has been around in
British films and TV since 2005, but has not really seen a breakthrough in the
States. However with her films due in April (and future slate), that could
change.
April Films:
Riseborough has two films set for
release in April. First she stars, among an ensemble, in the thriller Disconnect. It is about people
searching for human connection in today’s world where everything social seems
to now be online. She plays a journalist who hopes interviewing a chatroom
prostitute will be her big break, only to find herself too involved with her
subject. The ensemble cast includes: Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Paula Patton, Alexander Skarsgard,
and Michael Nyqvist.
Second, she has a supporting role
in the new Tom
Cruise sci-fi action film Oblivion.
She plays Cruise’s partner in their mission to extract Earth’s remaining
resources following a grave war leading to humanity abandoning the planet. The
film also stars Morgan
Freeman and Olga
Kurylenko (as you well know from above).
Upcoming:
In 2014, Riseborough stars with Emma Stone and Edward Norton in Alejandro Gonzalez
Inarritu’s new film: a comedy called Birdman. It is about a washed
up actor, best known for playing an iconic superhero, who looks to reclaim his
former glory in a new Broadway play. But first, he must set aside his ego and
address his family troubles.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
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