Stunningly beautiful and bestowed
with a vivacious, mercurial personality, Jennifer Lawrence’s career has
catapulted her to astronomical success as she has become larger than life
similarly to her on-screen characters.
Outspoken and down to earth, she has
publically decried the obsessive onslaught of negative, restrictive media that
brainwashes young girls into a one size fits all definition of female beauty.
She has claimed she would never lose weight for a role and has often fought her
corner within the industry maintaining that she wants to present herself as
healthy and strong, not skinny and helpless.
Her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen,
one of the most motivational role models for girls, seems to have rubbed off
some of its gold dust on the already insanely popular Jennifer, who oozes
confidence, coolness and capability. The girl next door with an edge, Jennifer
is a young woman who knows her own mind and paves her own way.
What you might not know: Jennifer
was the girl behind the blue, portraying Mystique in the X-Men film franchise.
Inspirational Quote: There are actresses who build themselves, and then there are actresses who are built by others. I want to build myself.
Notorious for perhaps one of the
most celebrated and revolutionary leading roles for women as Xena the Warrior
Princess in the televised series, Lucy is a down to earth, kick-ass kiwi who
had previously worked as a miner, travelled the world and was in the midst of
raising a daughter when she gained the titular role that transported her to
worldwide fame and acclaim.
The fiery intensity of her athletic, acrobatic
character inspired a generation of girls to venture into the wild and identify their
inner warrior. Xena’s unspecified relationship with sidekick Gabrielle also
defined her as a lesbian icon with none of the exploitation or sleaze usually apparent
in the depiction of female on female relationships. Lucy is also an
environmental activist who still dabbles in acting.
What you might not know: Lucy
considered training to be an opera singer before she realised just how
restrictive and thus boring her life was required to be if she were to pursue
it professionally.
Inspirational Quote: We live at
the edge of the world, so we live on the edge. Kiwis will always sacrifice
money and security for adventure and challenge.
Siren-faced, butter-blonde Hudson
began her career as a model in Japan which she loathed and found uninspiring
despite the fact that it offered her the opportunity to travel. After a spate
of television roles she was granted the opportunity to play villainess Callisto
the Warrior Queen, a grinning, gurning, gleeful representation of Xena’s
twisted, destructive past.
As the antagonist of the piece, she embodied the
perfect personification of a wild cat, leaping from pillar to post in the
ladder arena and chaotically caterwauling her way through intense fight
choreography.
Hudson sniped the role
with her intense and intimidating portrayal during her audition and continued
to perfectly capture the essence of the psychotic, vindictive, utterly complex
Callisto. Although she still makes appearances at Xena conventions worldwide,
Hudson is more renowned these days as a Yoga teacher, hosting retreats for
those who wish to connect with the spirituality within their own bodies.
What you might not know: Hudson
dropped her first name Heidi because she felt the name Heidi Leick (pronounced ‘Like’)
sounded too much like a porn star name.
Inspirational Quote: No, I didn't study ... It's just from the inside.
4. J.K. Rowling
When Joanne Rowling was
travelling home to London an idea entered her head fully formed. It was the
story of a boy wizard forced to live in a cupboard. It is highly doubtful that
she had any understanding that the story that germinated would go on to
generate such success and monumental income!
At the time, Joanne was battling
with depression, living in extreme poverty in a small flat as a single mother
having just escaped an allegedly abusive relationship. Considering herself to
be the ultimate failure, Joanne escaped into a world of magic and adventure,
creating an entire new landscape of wizards, witches, muggles, gorgeously
lyrical names, fantastical beasts and unique characterisations that captured
the imaginations of children and adults alike and went on to inspire a
franchise of films. Joanne represents a true rags to riches story.
What you might not know: Joanne’s
intended audience for her Harry Potter series was young boys. Fearing that boys
would not respond to a female author, she became ‘J.K.’.
Inspirational Quote: Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
Effortlessly adorable,
cherubically charismatic, elegant, classy and graceful, shy Carey first breached
the circle of success with her breakthrough role in ‘An Education’.
She went on
to star in numerous other successes, such as ‘Shame’, ‘Drive’, ‘Never Let Me Go’
and most recently as Daisy Buchanan in ‘The Great Gatsby’. In her understated,
gentle, warm way she lights fires in audiences hearts with her compassionate
characterisations and achieves wild success whilst remaining humble, tenacious
(she immediately got a seagull tattoo to prove her commitment to a project at
the directors request), modest and displaying no vulgar nor attention-seeking
antics.
What you might not know: Carey is
presently married to Marcus Mumford, her former childhood pen pal.
Inspirational Quote: My generation tends to play it cool these days. But there is no room for cool. You have got to be irritating and desperate, and if you are not it is terribly boring
The movie that really thrust a
young Kate into the limelight was ‘Titanic’, where red cheeked, flame-haired and
robust with confidence; she sizzled and sauntered her way across the screen.
Now very much an institution, Kate picks roles that are hard hitting in a
similar vein to the intensity and challenge required in ‘Heavenly Creatures’,
with film successes such as ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, ‘Little
Children’, ‘Revolutionary Road’ and ‘The Reader’.
Kate inhibits her characters
flawlessly and with minimal effort and has also participated in film
soundtracks with a mellow, strong voice. Kate is notoriously comfortable in her
own skin, batting away criticisms about her curvaceous, healthy figure and
speaking up about the industry. As an established actress, she remains fiercely
true to the values and morals that she brought with her into the industry as a
fresh faced youth.
What you might not know: Leonardo DiCaprio bestowed Kate with a gold inscribed ring. She refuses to divulge what it says.
7. Angelina Jolie
Rebellious and eccentric in her
youth, Jolie was famed for roles in films such as ‘Girl Interrupted’ and ‘Tomb
Raider’. The press tagged her as a wild child with her penchant for tattoos,
knifes in the bedroom and the fact that she publically kissed her brother. None
of this sounds particularly inspirational does it?
Nonetheless, Jolie not only
indented herself as an established, highly successful actress but she went on
to support the UN in various humanitarian projects as well as adopting several
children from numerous third world countries.
Although the rumour mill blew up
explosively with controversy surrounding the establishing of her relationship
with Brad Pitt, Angelina remains a mature, compassionate, thoughtful and always
stunningly exotic woman. She also recently had a preventative double mastectomy
after discovering that she had an alarmingly high rate of developing breast
cancer, deciding to share her story with the masses to offer support to other
women struggling with the ramifications of the illness.
What you might not know: At her
lowest ebb, Jolie considered hiring a hit man to assassinate her.
Quirky, comedic Sandra has always
had box office allure as the eccentric girl next door. Recently starring in
space thriller, ‘Gravity’, Sandra is also known for films such as ‘Speed’, ‘Practical
Magic’ and ‘Miss Congeniality’. She now runs her own production company and
owns a restaurant and bakery whilst raising her adopted son as a single mother
and continuing to contribute to the film world. She also had the pride and
grace in her personal life to walk away from her unfaithful husband Jesse James
in a dignified and respectful manner.
What you might not know: One of her grandfathers was a rocket scientist.
Inspirational Quote: I've learned that success comes in a very prickly package. Whether you choose to accept it or not is up to you. It's what you choose to do with it, the people you choose to surround yourself with. Always choose people that are better than you. Always choose people that challenge you and are smarter than you. Always be the student. Once you find yourself to be the teacher, you've lost it.
When Keira emerged on the scene
she was constantly blasted by harsh criticism lambasting her minimalistic build
and pouty style of acting. Despite being a box office draw in the ‘Pirates of
the Caribbean’ series, a zesty appearance as tomboy Jess in her debut ‘Bend it
like Beckham’ and appearing as a petulant, wild teen in ‘The Hole’, Keira still
had to handle herself against harsh media intrusion and did so with directness
and grace.
She also deftly managed to marry in a quiet, unintrusive ceremony in
an age where most celebrity couples squeeze every cent out of there union with
magazine and newspaper deals. Her acting style has matured as her career has
gone on and endured, most notably with her role in ‘Never Let Me Go’ alongside Carey
Mulligan.
What you might not know: Is dyslexic.
Inspirational Quote: In this business, fame lasts for a second. You can be blown up and be blown down. People keep losing interest in faces because new ones come along every single second. I'm one at the moment. Tomorrow I won't be. That's cool. I'm not saying that when it does end, I'll be like, 'Yay! It's ending.' But I'll move on and do something else because that's what has to be done. It's about survival. If you're sad about it, then you're in the wrong job.
A child star with clout, Kirsten
has always been more than a sunbeam smile and pretty hair. Notable for roles in
films such as ‘Jumanji’ and ‘The Virgin Suicides’, her career continued down a
valley girl path with rampant exceptions, such as ‘Mona Lisa Smile’, ‘On The
Road’ and most groundbreaking of all, her collaboration with Lars Von Trier in ‘Melancholia’,
where she played the hedonistically depressed Justine.
Her most outstanding
childhood role was as the hysterical, cursed Claudia in ‘Interview with the
Vampire’, where she portrayed an adult woman forever frozen in the body of a
child. Kirsten has since gone on to create her own production company entitled ‘Wooden
Spoon Productions’ which aims to focus on women in the film making industry.
What you might not know: Is a former Ford child model.
Inspirational Quote: On every film I do, whenever there are other girls my age, I think it's definitely up to me to set the pace. That's because I've had a lot of experience and I think there's always a certain amount of professionalism that should be maintained.
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