The Best Actress

1. Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Ingrid Johansson was born on November 22, 1984 in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Her mother, Melanie Sloan is from a Jewish family from the Bronx and her father, Karsten Johansson is a Danish-born architect from Copenhagen. She has a sister, Vanessa Johansson, who is also an actress, ...

2. Ana de Armas

Actress | Blade Runner 2049

Ana de Armas was born in Cuba on April 30, 1988. At the age of 14 (2002) she began her studies at the National Theatre School of Havana, where she graduated after 4 years. At the age of 16 (2004) she made her first film, Virgin Rose (2006), directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón. A few titles came ...

3. Amy Adams

Actress | Arrival

Amy Lou Adams was born in Vicenza, Veneto, Italy, to American parents, Kathryn (Hicken) and Richard Kent Adams, a U.S. serviceman who was stationed at Caserma Ederle in Italy at the time. She was raised in a Mormon family of seven children in Castle Rock, Colorado, and has English, as well as ...

4. Juno Temple

Actress | Atonement

Juno Violet Temple was born in London, England, into a showbiz family, the daughter of producer Amanda Temple and film director Julien Temple. She was named 'Juno' after her parents took a visit to the Grand Canyon during pregnancy and found they were standing on a butte of Cape Final known as Juno...

5. Lily James

Actress | Cinderella

Lily James was born Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson in Esher, Surrey, to Ninette (Mantle), an actress, and Jamie Thomson, an actor and musician. Her grandmother, Helen Horton, was an American actress. She began her education at Arts Educational School in Tring and subsequently went on to study acting at...

6. Bryce Dallas Howard

Actress | Jurassic World Dominion

Bryce Dallas Howard was born on March 2, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. She was conceived in Dallas, Texas (the reason for her middle name). Her father, Ron Howard, is a former actor turned Oscar-winning director. Her mother is actress and writer Cheryl Howard (née Alley). Her famous relatives ...

7. Michelle Monaghan

Actress | Gone Baby Gone

Michelle Lynn Monaghan was born on March 23, 1976, in Winthrop, Iowa. She is the youngest of three children and the only daughter of Sharon (Hamel), who ran a day care center, and Robert L. Monaghan, a factory worker and farmer. She is of mostly Irish and German descent. After graduating from high ...

8. Sandra Bullock

Producer | The Proposal

Sandra Annette Bullock was born in Arlington, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Her mother, Helga Bullock (née Helga Mathilde Meyer), was a German opera singer. Her father, John W. Bullock, was an American voice teacher, who was born in Alabama, of German descent. Sandra grew up on the road ...

9. Kristen Stewart

Actress | Snow White and the Huntsman

Though most famous for her role as Isabella "Bella" Swan in The Twilight (2008) Saga, Kristen Stewart has been a working actor since her early years in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, John Stewart and Jules Stewart, both work in film and television. The family includes three boys, Kristen's ...

10. Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Actress | Barfi!

Priyanka Chopra Jonas (née Chopra) was born on July 18, 1982 in Jamshedpur, India, to the family of Capt. Dr. Ashok Chopra and Dr. Madhu Chopra, both Indian Army physicians. She had a very varied upbringing. She started her education at La Martinière Girls College in Lucknow as a resident student; ...

11. Jamie Clayton

Actress | Hellraiser

Jamie Clayton's big break was playing Kyla on season three of the hit HBO series Hung alongside Thomas Jane. After her multi-episode arc on Hung, Jamie joined actors Mary Lynn Rajskub and Hank Harris as a lead in the Emmy winning digital series, Dirty Work, playing crime scene cleanup maven ...

12. Mila Kunis

Actress | Black Swan

Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis is a Ukrainian-American actress born to a Jewish family in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher, her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer, and she has an older brother named Michael. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991. ...

13. Katherine Waterston

Actress | Inherent Vice

Katherine Waterston is an American actress. She is best known for Inherent Vice (2014), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), and Alien: Covenant (2017).

Waterston made her feature film debut in Michael Clayton (2007). She also had supporting roles in films including Robot & Frank (2012), ...

14. Gemma Arterton

Actress | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Gemma Christina Arterton was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, where she was raised. She is the daughter of Sally-Anne (Heap), a cleaner, and Barry J. Arterton, a welder. Her mother's cousin is singer-songwriter Eric Goulden.

Her parents divorced when she was age five, and Gemma subsequently lived ...

15. Anna Kendrick

Actress | Up in the Air

Anna Kendrick was born in Portland, Maine, to Janice (Cooke), an accountant, and William Kendrick, a teacher. She has an older brother, Michael Cooke Kendrick, who has also acted. She is of English, Irish, and Scottish descent.

For her role as "Dinah" in "High Society" on Broadway, Anna Kendrick was...

16. Erin Moriarty

Actress | The Boys

New York City-born Erin Moriarty launched her acting career in a way many hopefuls dream of: with an awards-recognized project. Erin first appeared on screen in the Emmy-nominated soap opera One Life to Live (1968) in 2010, playing the character Whitney Bennett in six episodes. In 2011 she built on...

17. Holly Hunter

Actress | Broadcast News

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Opal Marguerite (Catledge), a homemaker, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time sporting goods company representative and farmer with a 250 acre farm. She is the youngest of seven children. Her parents encouraged her talent at an early age, and her first...

18. Jennifer Connelly

Actress | A Beautiful Mind

Jennifer Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to Ilene (Schuman), a dealer of antiques, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing manufacturer. Her father had Irish and Norwegian ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish immigrant family. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn Heights, just across ...

19. Rooney Mara

Actress | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Actress and philanthropist Rooney Mara was born on April 17, 1985 in Bedford, New York. She made her screen debut in the slasher film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005), went on to have a supporting role in the independent coming-of-age drama Tanner Hall (2009), and has since starred in the horror ...

20. Rosa Salazar

Actress | Alita: Battle Angel

Rosa Bianca Salazar is an American actress. Born in Washington DC, she was raised in Greenbelt, Maryland, but left as a teenager to break into the entertainment industry in New York City. She is best known for her role in the NBC series Parenthood (2010) and the FX anthology series American Horror ...

21. Kate McKinnon

Actress | Ghostbusters

Kathryn McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984), known professionally as Kate McKinnon, is an American actress and comedienne, who is best known as a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live and The Big Gay Sketch Show, and for playing the role of Dr. Jillian Holtzmann in the 2016 Ghostbusters ...

22. Julia Roberts

Actress | Pretty Woman

Julia Fiona Roberts never dreamed she would become the most popular actress in America. She was born in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty Lou (Bredemus) and Walter Grady Roberts, one-time actors and playwrights, and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. As a child, due to her ...

23. Florence Pugh

Actress | The Falling

Florence Pugh is an English actress. She is known for Midsommar (2019), Little Women (2019), her MCU debut Black Widow (2021), and Fighting with My Family (2019).

Pugh made her film debut in The Falling (2014). She also appears in Lady Macbeth (2016), Outlaw King (2018), Malevolent (2018), and the ...

24. Gwyneth Paltrow

Actress | Shakespeare in Love

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of noted producer and director Bruce Paltrow and Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner. Her father was from a Jewish family, while her mother is of mostly German descent. When Gwyneth was eleven, the family moved to Massachusetts, where ...

25. Kang Hye-jeong

Actress | Oldeuboi

Kang Hye-jeong was born on January 4, 1982 in South Korea. She is an actress, known for Oldboy (2003), Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) and The Butterfly (2001). She has been married to Tablo since October 26, 2009. They have one child.

26. Jennifer Lawrence

Actress | The Hunger Games

As the highest-paid actress in the world in 2015 and 2016, and with her films grossing over $5.5 billion worldwide, Jennifer Lawrence is often cited as the most successful actress of her generation. She is also the first person born in the 1990s to have won an acting Oscar.

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence...

27. Karen Gillan

Actress | Selfie

Karen Sheila Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, as the only child of Marie Paterson and husband John Gillan, who is a singer and recording artist. She developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at ...

28. AnnaSophia Robb

Actress | Bridge to Terabithia

Actress AnnaSophia Robb most recently starred in two of Hulu's most critically acclaimed limited series. In 2019, she co-starred opposite Patricia Arquette in THE ACT. This spring, she portrayed the flashback version of Reese Witherspoon's "Elena Richardson" character in LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, ...

29. Kara Hayward

Actress | Moonrise Kingdom

Kara Hayward was born on November 17, 1998 in Massachusetts. She was discovered at an open call, landing her first movie role in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (2012), and received critical acclaim and numerous award nominations for her performance as Suzy Bishop. At this point, she was 12 years ...

30. Amanda Peet

Actress | 2012

Amanda Peet was born and raised in New York City. She is the daughter of Penny (Levy), a social worker, and Charles Peet, a lawyer, and has an older sister. Her father was of mostly English and German ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish family (from Germany, Russia, and Hungary). Peet's ...

31. Rose Byrne

Actress | Spy

Rose Byrne was born in Balmain, Sydney, Australia. She is the daughter of Jane, a primary school administrator, and Robin Byrne, a semi-retired statistician and market researcher.

She landed her first role in a movie, Dallas Doll (1994), when she was 15 years old.

Since then, Rose has appeared in a ...

32. Zooey Deschanel

Actress | New Girl

Zooey Deschanel was born in 1980 into a showbiz family. Her father, Caleb Deschanel, is an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (perhaps most notably for The Passion of the Christ (2004)) and her mother, Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir), is an actress who appeared in Twin Peaks (1990). Her paternal ...

33. Emma Stone

Actress | La La Land

Emily Jean "Emma" Stone was born on November 6, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona to Krista Jean Stone (née Yeager), a homemaker & Jeffrey Charles "Jeff" Stone, a contracting company founder and CEO. She is of Swedish, German & British Isles descent. Stone began acting as a child as a member of the ...

34. Rachel Weisz

Actress | The Constant Gardener

Rachel Hannah Weisz was born on 7 March, 1970, in London, U.K., to Edith Ruth (Teich), a psychoanalyst, and George Weisz, an inventor. Her parents both came to England around 1938. Her father is a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and her mother, from Vienna, was of Italian and Austrian Jewish heritage. ...

35. Jessica Chastain

Actress | Zero Dark Thirty

Jessica Michelle Chastain was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in a middle-class household in a Northern California suburb. Her mother, Jerri Chastain, is a vegan chef whose family is originally from Kansas, and her stepfather is a fireman. She discovered dance at the age of nine and ...

36. Andrea Riseborough

Actress | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Andrea Louise Riseborough is an English actress and producer. She made her film debut with a small part in Venus (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), Never Let Me Go, Brighton Rock, Made in Dagenham (all 2010), W.E. (2011), Shadow Dancer, Disconnect (both...

37. Rosamund Pike

Actress | Gone Girl

Born in 1979 in London, England, actress Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is the only child of a classical violinist mother, Caroline (Friend), and an opera singer father, Julian Pike. Due to her parents' work, she spent her early childhood traveling around Europe. Pike attended Badminton School in ...

38. Jessica Alba

Actress | Fantastic Four

Jessica Marie Alba was born on April 28, 1981, in Pomona, CA, to Catherine (Jensen) and Mark David Alba, who served in the US Air Force. Her father is of Mexican descent (including Spanish and Indigenous Mexican roots), and her mother has Danish, Welsh, English, and French ancestry. Her family ...

39. Donna Reed

Actress | It's a Wonderful Life

Donna Reed was born in the midwestern town of Denison, Iowa, on January 27, 1921, as Donna Belle Mullenger. A small town - a population of less than 3,000 people - Denison was located by the Boyer River, and was the county seat of Crawford County. Donna grew up as a farm girl, much like many young ...

40. Krysten Ritter

Actress | Jessica Jones

Krysten Ritter stars as Jessica Jones in the Peabody, Hugo, and Emmy Award-winning Netflix original series, Marvel's Jessica Jones (2015). Her performance, which earned her a prestigious Critics Choice nomination, a Saturn nomination, a Webby Award and a Glamour Best International TV Actress Award,...

41. Zazie Beetz

Actress | Atlanta

Zazie Beetz (born c. 1991) is a German-American actress known for the role of Vanessa on Atlanta (2016), as well as for starring in Deadpool 2 (2018), Joker (2019), and Nine Days (2020).

Born in Berlin to a German father and an African-American mother, Beetz was raised in New York speaking both ...

42. Dove Cameron

Actress | Schmigadoon!

Dove Olivia Cameron was born Chloe Celeste Hosterman on January 15, 1996 in Bainbridge Island, Washington to Bonnie J. Wallace, an acting coach & Philip Alan Hosterman, a chief executive officer/founder of Kandahar Trading Company. She's known for playing a dual role as the eponymous characters in ...

43. Cate Blanchett

Actress | Carol

Cate Blanchett was born on May 14, 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to June (Gamble), an Australian teacher and property developer, and Robert DeWitt Blanchett, Jr., an American advertising executive, originally from Texas. She has an older brother and a younger sister. When she was ten ...

44. Michelle Williams

Actress | Blue Valentine

A small-town girl born and raised in rural Kalispell, Montana, Michelle Ingrid Williams is the daughter of Carla Ingrid (Swenson), a homemaker, and Larry Richard Williams, a commodity trader and author. Her ancestry is Norwegian, as well as German, British Isles, and other Scandinavian. She was ...

45. Emily Blunt

Actress | Edge of Tomorrow

Emily Olivia Leah Blunt is a British actress known for her roles in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), The Young Victoria (2009), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and The Girl on the Train (2016), among many others.

Blunt was born on February 23, 1983, in Roehampton, South West London, England, the second of ...

46. Vera Farmiga

Actress | Up in the Air

Vera Farmiga is an American actress who has received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Up in the Air (2009) and Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in Bates Motel (2013) and When They See Us (2019).

She was born Vera Ann Farmiga, the second of seven children, on August 6, 1973, ...

47. Winona Ryder

Actress | Little Women

Winona Ryder was born Winona Laura Horowitz in Olmsted County, Minnesota, and was named after a nearby town, Winona, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Cynthia (Istas), an author and video producer, and Michael Horowitz, a publisher and bookseller. Her father's family is Ukrainian Jewish and ...

48. Úrsula Corberó

Actress | La casa de papel

Úrsula Corberó Delgado (born 11 August 1989) is a Spanish actress, best known for her roles as Ruth in the Antena 3 series Physics or Chemistry (2008), Margarita de Austria en Isabel (2011), Esther Salinas in the series La embajada and Tokyo in the television series Money Heist (2017).

Corberó ...

49. Salli Richardson-Whitfield

Actress | Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

Salli Richardson-Whitfield is a 30-year industry veteran. She has been featured in 20+ major motion pictures and has starred opposite a number of Hollywood's top actors, including Samuel L. Jackson in 'The Great White Hype', Denzel Washington in 'Antwone Fisher', and Will Smith in 'I Am Legend'. On...

50. Rebecca Ferguson

Actress | The Greatest Showman

Rebecca Ferguson was born Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström in Stockholm, Sweden, and grew up in its Vasastaden district. Her father is Swedish. Her mother, Rosemary Ferguson, is British, of Scottish and Northern Irish descent, and moved to Sweden at the age of 25. Rebecca attended an ...

51. Hannah Waddingham

Actress | Ted Lasso

Hannah Waddingham was born in 1974, in Wandsworth, London. Her family was involved in performing arts as her mother, Melodie Kelly, and both her maternal grandparents were opera singers.

She is best known for her contribution to West End musical theatre, particularly her performances in the original...

52. Stephanie Beatriz

Actress | Encanto

Stephanie Beatriz was born on February 10, 1981 in Neuquén, Argentina. She is an actress and director, known for Encanto (2021), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013) and Short Term 12 (2013). She has been married to Brad Hoss since October 6, 2018. They have one child.

53. Jennifer Carpenter

Actress | Dexter

Jennifer was born in Kentucky. Her mother is Catherine Mitchell and her father is Robert Carpenter.

She attended St. Raphael the Archangel and then Sacred Heart Academy. During her last two years of high school, she studied drama at the Walden Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. She then trained at the ...

54. Jenna Fischer

Actress | The Office

Jenna Fischer is best known for playing Pam Beesly on the acclaimed television show The Office, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Comedy.

She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but was raised mostly in St...

55. Renée Zellweger

Actress | Chicago

Renée Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969, in Katy, Texas, Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (Andreassen), is a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife, of Norwegian, Kven (Finnish), and Swedish descent. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born engineer. The two married in 1963. Renée ...

56. Diane Kruger

Actress | Inglourious Basterds

Diane Kruger was born Diane Heidkrüger in Algermissen, near Hildesheim, Germany, to Maria-Theresa, a bank employee, and Hans-Heinrich Heidkrüger, a computer specialist. She studied ballet with the Royal Ballet in London before an injury ended her career. She returned to Germany and became a top ...

57. Summer Glau

Actress | Serenity

Summer is a native of San Antonio, Texas. She's been a ballerina most of her life. Her debut was in various commercials and a guest appearance on the WB's Angel (1999). She has gone on to star on the TV series Firefly (2002) as well as its follow-up movie Serenity (2005) and the TV series ...

58. Keira Knightley

Actress | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Keira Christina Knightley was born March 26, 1985 in the South West Greater London suburb of Richmond. She is the daughter of actor Will Knightley and actress turned playwright Sharman Macdonald. An older brother, Caleb Knightley, was born in 1979. Her father is English, while her Scottish-born ...

59. Chloë Sevigny

Actress | We Are Who We Are

Chloë Sevigny is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress and director who is known for her groundbreaking work across film, television and theatre. Sevigny has spent her career working with innovative and revolutionary filmmakers and artists including Lars von Trier, Jim ...

60. Margot Robbie

Actress | Suicide Squad

Margot Elise Robbie was born on July 2, 1990 in Dalby, Queensland, Australia to Scottish parents. Her mother, Sarie Kessler, is a physiotherapist, and her father, is Doug Robbie. She comes from a family of four children, having two brothers and one sister. She graduated from Somerset College in ...

61. Elizabeth Debicki

Actress | The Great Gatsby

Debicki was born in Paris to a Polish father and an Australian mother of Irish descent who were both dancers. When she was five, the family moved to Melbourne, where she grew up with two younger siblings. She became interested in ballet at an early age and trained as a dancer until deciding to ...

62. Hong Chau

Actress | The Whale

Hong Chau was born on June 25, 1979 in Thailand. She is an actress and writer, known for The Whale (2022), Downsizing (2017) and The Menu (2022).

63. Toni Collette

Actress | About a Boy

Toni Collette is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actress, best known for her roles in The Sixth Sense (1999) and Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

Collette was born Toni Collett (she later added an "e") on November 1, 1972, in Blacktown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is the first of three...

64. Jennifer Aniston

Actress | Friends

Jennifer Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California, to actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow. Her father was Greek, and her mother was of English, Irish, Scottish, and Italian descent. Jennifer spent a year of her childhood living in Greece with her family. Her family then relocated to New York City...

65. Helen Mirren

Actress | The Queen

Dame Helen Mirren was born in Queen Charlotte's Hospital in West London. Her mother, Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda (Rogers), was from a working-class English family, and her father, Vasiliy Petrovich Mironov, was a Russian-born civil servant, from Kuryanovo, whose own father was a diplomat. ...

66. Kaya Scodelario

Actress | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Kaya Rose Scodelario was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, to Katia (Scodelario) and Roger Humphrey. Her father was English and her mother is Brazilian, of Italian and Portuguese descent. Her surname comes from her mother's Italian grandfather. Thanks to her mother, Kaya grew up fluent in ...

67. Charlize Theron

Producer | Monster

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg area, in South Africa, the only child of Gerda Theron (née Maritz) and Charles Theron. She was raised on a farm outside the city. Theron is of Afrikaner (Dutch, with some French Huguenot and German) descent, and Afrikaner ...

68. Annabelle Wallis

Actress | The Mummy

Annabelle Wallis is an English actress best known for her roles as Jane Seymour in Showtime's period drama The Tudors, Grace Burgess in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, and for the films Annabelle (2014), and The Mummy (2017). She was born in Oxford, but spent much of her childhood in Portugal, ...

69. Julie Warner

Actress | Tommy Boy

Julie grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her father, Neil Warner, was a musical arranger, who wrote jingles for products such as Tic-Tacs and Fig Newtons. Her mother, Naomi, is a freelance book agent. A 10-years younger brother, James, works for the New York City Parks Department. At 12, ...

70. Hayley Atwell

Actress | Captain America: The First Avenger

Born in London, England, Hayley Elizabeth Atwell has dual citizenship of the United Kingdom and the United States. An only child, Hayley was named after actress Hayley Mills. Her parents, Alison (Cain) and Grant Atwell, both motivational speakers, met at a London workshop of Dale Carnegie's ...

71. Emilia Clarke

Actress | Game of Thrones

British actress Emilia Clarke was born in London and grew up in Oxfordshire, England. Her father was a theatre sound engineer and her mother is a businesswoman. Her father was working on a theatre production of "Show Boat" and her mother took her along to the performance. This is when, at the age ...

72. Amanda Seyfried

Actress | Les Misérables

Amanda Seyfried was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Ann (Sander), an occupational therapist, and Jack Seyfried, a pharmacist. She is of German, and some English and Scottish, ancestry. She began modeling when she was eleven, and acted in high school productions as well as taking ...

73. Mckenna Grace

Actress | Gifted

Mckenna Grace is an American actress and singer from Grapevine, Texas who is known for playing Phoebe Spengler from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Jasmine from Crash & Bernstein, Faith Newman from The Young and the Restless and Mary Adler from Gifted. She also acted in I, Tonya, Amityville: The Awakening...