most exciting ladies in cinema

1. Lena Headey

Actress | 300

Lena Headey is a Bermudian-British actress. Headey is best known for her role as "Cersei Lannister" in Game of Thrones (2011) (2011-2019) and The Brothers Grimm (2005), Possession (2002), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Headey stars as "Queen Gorgo", a heroic Spartan woman in the period film, 300...

2. Juliette Binoche

Actress | The English Patient

Juliette Binoche was born in Paris, France, to Monique Yvette Stalens, a director, teacher, and actress, and Jean-Marie Binoche, a sculptor, director, and actor. Her mother was born in Czestochowa, Poland, of French, Walloon Belgian, and Polish descent, while her father is French. Juliette was only...

3. Tilda Swinton

Actress | We Need to Talk About Kevin

The iconoclastic gifts of the highly striking and ferociously talented actress Tilda Swinton have been appreciated by art house crowds and international audiences alike. After her stunning Oscar-winning turn as a high-powered corporate attorney in the George Clooney starring and critically-lauded ...

4. 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 ...

5. Eva Green

Actress | Casino Royale

French actress and model Eva Gaëlle Green was born on July 6, 1980, in Paris, France. Her father, Walter Green, is a dentist who appeared in the 1966 film Au hasard Balthazar (1966). Her mother, Marlène Jobert, is an actress turned children's book writer. Eva's mother was born in Algeria, of French...

6. Elena Anaya

Actress | La piel que habito

Spanish actress Elena Anaya impressed the critics with her performance in Sex and Lucía (2001).

Elena was born in Palencia, Spain, on July 17th, 1975. An active child, she excelled in karate and mountain climbing. By the time she was 17 Elena knew that she wanted to channel her energy into ...

7. Gillian Anderson

Actress | The X Files

Gillian Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Rosemary Alyce (Lane), a computer analyst, and Homer Edward Anderson III, who owned a film post-production company. Gillian started her career as a member of an amateur actor group while at high school. In 1987, her love of the theatre took her to ...

8. Robin Wright

Actress | Forrest Gump

Robin Gayle Wright was born in Dallas, Texas, to Gayle (Gaston), a national director at Mary Kay, and Freddie Wright, a pharmaceutical executive. She grew up in San Diego, California. She started her professional career as a model in 1980 at age 14, and worked both in Paris and Japan. After ...

9. 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 ...

10. Léa Seydoux

Actress | La vie d'Adèle

French actress Léa Seydoux was born in 1985 in Paris, France, to Valérie Schlumberger, a philanthropist, and Henri Seydoux, a businessman. Her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux, is chairman of Pathé, and her father is a great-grandson of businessman and inventor Marcel Schlumberger (her mother also ...

11. 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 ...

12. Erika Linder

Actress | Below Her Mouth

Erika Linder is Swedish actress, model and creative. She rose to fame as an androgynous model for both male and female clothing, becoming the first woman to appear on both the agencies male and female boards worldwide. Her eye catching look has lead her career to spread across multiple mediums. ...

13. 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. ...

14. Sarah Paulson

Actress | 12 Years a Slave

Sarah Paulson was born on December 17, 1974 in Tampa, Florida, to Catharine Gordon (Dolcater) and Douglas Lyle Paulson II. She spent most of her early years in New York and Maine, before settling in Manhattan to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for Performing Arts. ...

15. Marie Dompnier

Actress | Les témoins

Marie Dompnier was born in 1980 in Toulouse, France. She is an actress and director, known for Les témoins (2014), Le tapis (2019) and Black Box (2021).

16. Shailene Woodley

Actress | Divergent

Actress and activist Shailene Woodley was born in Simi Valley, California, to Lori (Victor), a middle school counselor, and Lonnie Woodley, a school principal. She has one brother, Tanner. She was educated at Simi Valley High School in California. When Woodley was four years old she began ...

17. Jennifer Beals

Actress | Flashdance

Jennifer Beals is an internationally renowned actress who has over 90 credits to her name, including critically acclaimed feature films and some of the highest rated television series to date. Beals is currently executive producing and returning as a lead cast member in the revival of her hit ...

18. Tessa Thompson

Actress | Creed

The actress Tessa Lynn Thompson was born on October 3, 1983 in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of singer-songwriter Marc Anthony Thompson and the granddaughter of actor-musician Bobby Ramos. She was raised in Los Angeles before moving to Brooklyn, New York. Her father is of ...

19. Mackenzie Davis

Actress | Terminator: Dark Fate

Mackenzie Davis was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is an actress and producer, known for Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), Black Mirror (2011) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

20. Kelly Macdonald

Actress | No Country for Old Men

Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was born and raised in Glasgow. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, a sales executive in the garment industry. She has one brother, David. As a hobby, she acted in an amateur theatrical club, which she enjoyed a great deal. ...

21. 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 ...

22. Golshifteh Farahani

Actress | Paterson

Golshifteh started her acting career in theater at the age of 6 and has always kept a strong link with theater, but it was at the age of 14 that she acted in her first film The Pear Tree (1998), for which she won the prize for the Best Actress from the international section of the Fajr film ...

23. Ingrid Thulin

Actress | Smultronstället

Ingrid trained as a ballet dancer and attended Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre. She came to fame thanks to Bergman's "Wild Strawberries". She acted in 9 Ingmar Bergman's films. Her fame allowed her to act in Luchino Visconti's "The Damned" in 1969. Ingrid Thulin lived in Rome since the 1960's. ...

24. Evan Rachel Wood

Actress | Thirteen

Evan Rachel Wood was born September 7, 1987, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her father, Ira David Wood III, is a theatre actor, writer and director, and her mother, Sara Wood, is an actress and acting coach. She has two older brothers--Dana Wood, a musician, and Ira David Wood IV, who has also acted. ...

25. Carmen Ejogo

Actress | Selma

Carmen Elizabeth Ejogo was born in Kensington, London, England, to a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother. Her television career began in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, where she presented the children's series Saturday Disney (1990). Subsequently, she has had an acting career in the ...

26. Susanne Wolff

Actress | Styx

Susanne Wolff was born on May 1, 1973 in Bielefeld, Germany. She is an actress, known for Styx (2018), The Three Musketeers (2011) and Morgen hör ich auf (2016).

27. Adèle Haenel

Actress | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

Adèle Haenel was born on February 11, 1989 in Paris, France. She is an actress, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), The Unknown Girl (2016) and Love at First Fight (2014).

28. Sue Perkins

Actress | Last Christmas

Sue Perkins was born on September 22, 1969 in East Dulwich, London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Last Christmas (2019), The Great British Baking Show (2010) and Urban Myths (2017).

29. Brigette Lundy-Paine

Actor | Bill & Ted Face the Music

Brigette Lundy-Paine is an American actor and Fashion Icon. They consider their acting career to be a side show to their career as a pop star in the Improvisational Voice Band, "Subtle Pride" (ft. Mina Walker, Zach Donovan and Misha Brooks). Brigette's parents, Laura Lundy and Robert Paine, are ...

30. Archie Panjabi

Actress | San Andreas

Archie is an Emmy Award winning British actress best known for her role as Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife, for which she was nominated for an Emmy three times in a row and went on to to be honored with a Golden Globe Nomination. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed East Is East ...

31. Ruta Gedmintas

Actress | A Street Cat Named Bob

Ruta Gedmintas was born on August 23, 1983 in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress, known for A Street Cat Named Bob (2016), The Strain (2014) and The Lost Samaritan (2008).

32. Leïla Bekhti

Actress | Paris, je t'aime

She is a French film and television actress, best known for her roles in Tout ce qui brille (2007) and, in 2006, Paris, je t'aime and Sheitan.

She has already been nominated for 9 awards and won 4, including a César (french movies award) in 2012 as most promising actress.

She met her husband on the ...

33. Yvonne Strahovski

Actress | Stateless

Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski was born and raised in Australia. Her parents were Polish immigrants. She attended the Santa Sabina College for her high school education. She then went on to study Performance at the University of Western Sydney's School of Contemporary Arts, graduating in 2003. ...

34. Irina Gorbacheva

Actress | Aritmiya

Irina Gorbacheva was born on April 10, 1988 in Zhdanov, Donetskaya oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Mariupol, Donetska oblast, Ukraine]. She is an actress and talent agent, known for Arrhythmia (2017), No Escapes (2020) and Istoriya odnogo naznacheniya (2018).

35. 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 ...

36. Chloë Grace Moretz

Actress | Kick-Ass

Moretz is best known for her work in the sci-fi thriller series The Peripheral, created by Scott B. Smith; the Mattson Tomlin-directed sci-fi thriller Mother/Android; Neil Jordan's thriller Greta; Roseanne Liang's Shadow in the Cloud, which claimed the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award at the ...

37. Michelle Rodriguez

Actress | Fast & Furious 7

Mayte Michelle Rodríguez was born on July 12, 1978 in San Antonio, Texas to Carmen Milady Pared Espinal, a housewife, and Rafael Rodríguez Santiago, a U.S. Army solider. Known for tough-chick roles, Michelle is proof that there is a cross between beauty and brawn. Michelle always knew she was ...

38. Ellen Barkin

Actress | The Fan

Offbeat, unconventionally pretty, and utterly mesmerizing, Ellen Barkin was born on April 16, 1954 in the Bronx, New York, to Evelyn (Rozin), a hospital administrator, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. Her parents were both from Russian Jewish families. Raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New ...