2018 has dawned with the promise of change.
The last couple of months of 2017 were dominated by a tsunami of accounts exposing systemic abuse in Hollywood, and beyond. Powerful men have lost their jobs, as more and more women feel empowered to share their stories. In that context, it feels appropriate to look to the future of the business, to the rising stars who will, hopefully, be spared the experiences of some of their predecessors, and give us memorable performances without fearing what they might have to trade for them.
The three top-grossing films of 2017 — Wonder Woman, Beauty and the Beast, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi — had female leads. So far, 2018 appears to be similarly promising, with exciting projects by women in front of and behind the camera.
And yet, those real-world successes still aren't translating into gold statues or globes. The 2018 Golden Globes nominations were disappointing for their lack of recognition of women directors, despite several good candidates. (Greta Gerwig? Dee Rees? Patty Jenkins? Anyone? Bueller?) Our hope then, is a new generation who will push for gender parity in the industry, and push women's stories forward.
Click through for a recap of the 20 actresses whose names you need to memorise before next year's awards season.
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Florence Pugh
Remember this name. The 22-year-old breakout star of 2017's Lady Macbeth will be starring in The Commuter alongside Liam Neeson in January. In September, she'll be sharing the screen with none other than Cersei Lannister (okay Lena Headey), and Dwayne Johnson in Fighting With My Family.
Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage.
Katherine Langford
You may know her as Hannah Baker from 13 Reasons Why, but the Australian native will be adding some films to her repertoire in 2018. You can catch her in Love, Simon, as the best friend to a teenager deciding how to come out to his friends and family, and in The Misguided.
Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images.
Haley Lu Richardson
After acclaimed turns in Edge of Seventeen and Split in 2016, this 22-year-old from Arizona will star as Louise Brooks in the period drama The Chaperone, and as a waitress intent on revenge in the indie flick Support The Girls.
Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.
Kathryn Newton
You may not realise it, but you saw Kathryn Newton a lot in 2017. After starring in Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Big Little Lies, she'll be trying her hand at comedy in Blockers, Kay Cannon's directorial debut about a group of parents who try to foil their daughters' pact to lose their virginity on prom night. (TV fans can also catch her in PBS' new adaptation of Little Women.)
Photo: Rune Hellestad/Corbis/Getty Images.
Bria Vinaite
Sean Baker discovered the breakout star of The Florida Project while scrolling through his Instagram feed, and struck gold. As Halley, a young single mother trying to make ends meet while living with her daughter in a seedy motel, Vinaite proved that she had major acting chops, which she'll be showing off once more in 2018's The Beach Bum, alongside Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, and Isla Fisher.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.
Haley Bennet
Remember Cora Corman, the Britney-lite pop star from the much too under-appreciated Music & Lyrics? She's back in a big way. Bennet will be starring with Chris Evans in The Red Sea Diving Resort, about the evacuation of Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in the 1980s.
Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images.
Tilda Cobham-Hervey
Get ready to see this Australian native shine in 2018's Hotel Mumbai, a dramatic look at the effects of the 2008 terrorist attacks on victims and survivors starring Armie Hammer and Dev Patel. (As a bonus, Patel and Cobham-Hervey are reportedly dating.)
Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
Brooklynn Prince
Another remarkable Sean Baker find, Prince stole our hearts as 6-year-old Mooney in The Florida Project. You'll see her again in 2018 alongside Mischa Barton in Monsters At Large.
Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images.
Odeya Rush
Another Lady Bird cast-member to keep track of! The 20-year-old actress from Haifa, Israel, has three movies coming down the pipeline this year: Dumplin, about a plus-size teenage girl who enters a beauty pageant; Spinning Man, about a professor whose affairs with his younger female students make him the prime suspect in a murder investigation; and Dear Dictator, in which a totalitarian leader fleeing a revolution ends up teaching an American suburban teenager how to subvert the mean girls in her high school.
Photo: C Flanigan/FilmMagic.
Daniela Vega
This Chilean actress may become the first transgender woman ever to receive an Academy Award nomination for her role as Marina Vidal in A Fantastic Woman.
Photo: Victor Chavez/Getty Images.
Hong Chau
Her performance in Downsizing has earned her rave reviews despite the film's mostly disappointing critiques. Be on notice Hollywood, we want more Hong Chau!
Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.
Beanie Feldstein
Be advised, it is officially unacceptable to refer to Beanie Feldstein as Jonah Hill's sister. The breakout star of Lady Bird is a treat both on and off screen. Someone please make her friendship with Ben Platt into a movie ASAP.
Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images.
Danielle MacDonald
If you missed out on MacDonald's stellar performance as an aspiring rapper from New Jersey in 2017's Patticake$, well, you know what you have to do, right? She'll next be starring alongside Jennifer Aniston and Odeya Rush in Dumplin, about a plus-size teenager who enters a beauty pageant.
Photo: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images.
Dominique Fishback
One of the best things to come out of 2017 was Dominique Fishback's astounding performance as Darlene in HBO's The Deuce. She'll be heading to Sundance later this month to promote Night Comes On, in which she plays Angel Lamere, a woman who is released from juvie and embarks on a quest for revenge.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.
Billie Lourd
Between the Ryan Murphy-verse ( Scream Queens, American Horror Story: Cult) and Star Wars (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi), Billie Lourd is no stranger to major franchises. Her next project, Billionaire Boys Club, will take her back to the crazy 1980s in Los Angeles, along with Ansel Elgort, Taron Edgerton, and Emma Roberts.
As the daughter of Carrie Fisher, it's safe to say the Force is strong with this one.
Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.
Olivia Cooke
I am literally counting the days until the March release of Thoroughbreds, starring Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy (also on this list) as spoiled rich girls who get violent. It's basically Heathers meets Clueless, meets The Beguiled. Other upcoming projects include Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, and Life Itself.
Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Anya Taylor-Joy was born for horror movies. As the star of The Witch, Morgan, and Split, she captivated audiences with her wide eyes, and eerie calm under supernatural circumstances. 2018 will see her starring alongside Olivia Cooke in Thoroughbreds, and as Illyana Rasputin in The New Mutants.
Photo: Matt Crossick/PA Images/Getty Images.
Ellie Bamber
I sometimes play a game where I imagine what the love child of two celebrities would look like, but with Amy Adams and Armie Hammer, I don't even have to guess. Tom Ford already did that for me by casting Ellie Bamber as their daughter in Nocturnal Animals. You'll be able to catch the British actress next Christmas alongside Keira Knightley in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage.
Letitia Wright
Fresh off a turn in "Black Museum," one of the most ambitious episodes in Black Mirror 's fourth season, Wright is on track to becoming a household name in 2018. She'll be starring as Black Panther's sister in the eponymous Marvel film in February, a role she'll reprise in Avengers: Infinity War later in the year.
Photo: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock.
Sophia Lillis
While most of the actresses on this list started on TV before moving on to movies, Lillies is doing the opposite. After a breakout performance in IT, she'll be starring in HBO's Sharper Objects with Amy Adams.
Photo: Pierre Suu/Getty Images.
Gemma Chan
This 35-year-0ld British actress will be hitting the screen in style this summer as Astrid Leon in Crazy Rich Asians. You'll also be able to catch her plotting alongside Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan in Mary, Queen of Scots.
Photo: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images.
Sonoya Mizuno
If you are a human who uses the internet, you have almost definitely come across Japanese actress Sonoya Mizuno before. Remember this perfect GIF? That's her, grooving next to Oscar Isaac in 2014's Ex-Machina. Next, she'll be starring with Gemma Chan, Constance Wu, and Kevin Kwan in Crazy Rich Asians.
Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Image.
Grace van Patten
After earning rave reviews as Eliza, Adam Sandler's filmmaker daughter in Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories, van Patten will be starring in 2018's Under The Silver Lake, with Riley Keough, and Andrew Garfield, and Good Posture, with John Early and Emily Mortimer.
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