Summer, season of tentpole movies and comic-book flicks, is nearly here.
Usually, that means a boom time for male actors. But this summer, a number of rising female talents are poised to take the next step into full-fledged stardom.
Here are TheWrap's top five. All of the links below will take you to the new site of our sister company ItsOnTheGrid.com for a full list of their current and upcoming projects:
EMMA STONE
How She’ll Spend Her Summer: Showing major versatility in "The Help" (Aug. 12), "Friends With Benefits" (July 22), "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (July 29)
Upcoming: Playing damsel in distress in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)
Why She’s Ready to Break Through: The smoky-voiced Stone announced herself as a star to watch last fall in “Easy A.” This summer she’s ready to truly bust out, appearing in a trio of high-profile films. She’ll flex her funny side lusting after Ryan Gosling in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and breaking up with Justin Timberlake in “Friends With Benefits.” Then she’ll break our hearts in the Civil Rights era drama “The Help.” If that weren’t enough, she’ll play Gwen Stacy in a little art-house film "Spider-Man," for which she beat out everyone with an XX chromosome.
How She’ll Spend Her Summer: Scaring us half to death in "Super 8" (June 10)
Upcoming: She'll help Matt Damon renovate a dilapidated zoo in the aptly named "We Bought a Zoo" (Dec. 23, 2011)
Why She’s Ready to Break Through: Dakota’s little sister turned heads in Sofia Coppola’s little-seen “Somewhere” last winter, but she’s still waiting for that career-making role. She may get it this summer with the release of J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated angry extraterrestrial thriller “Super 8.” She’ll follow that up with Cameron Crowe’s comedy “We Bought a Zoo” opposite Matt Damon.
How She’ll Spend Her Summer: As Carol Ferris, the love interest in the big-screen comic-book adaptation “Green Lantern” (June 17)
Upcoming Projects: Over the course of the next two years, Lively will grace theaters in the Derick Martini dramedy “Hick” (2012); the Oliver Stone drug-crime drama “Savages” (2012); and is rumored to be in contention for the Sam Raimi “Wizard of Oz” revamp “Oz: The Great and Powerful” (2013)
Why She’s Ready to Break Through: The 23-year-old already has no small male following (for what it’s worth, she jumped from #33 on the Maxim Hot List in 2009 to #4 last year). Her upcoming projects will find her working alongside such heavyweights as Benicio del Toro and, possibly, James Franco. Combine that with the added exposure she’ll receive as Chanel’s newest celebrity spokesperson, and this “Gossip Girl” vixen will definitely keep the spotlight blazing.
