The 10 Breakout Female Stars of 2010

The 10 Breakout Female Stars of 2010
by Matt McDaniel •

There is a tipping point where a person stops being an actor and starts being a movie star. It's not just when someone appears in a leading role or a hit movie. It's the moment when an actor goes from being a face to being a bankable name.

For the ten young women on this list, that moment is now. Each has appeared or will be featured in a major 2010 release that not only made an impact with audiences, but also charted a course for their career. You may have see them before somewhere, but soon you'll see them all everywhere.

ROONEY MARA
Age: 25
In her first few acting jobs, she went by her given name "Patricia." But she says she never really liked it, so she started going by her more memorable middle name. This year, she nabbed her first leading role in April's remake of the horror classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street." She'll soon be appearing in director David Fincher's "The Social Network," but she really made headlines when it was announced she'll be re-teaming with Fincher for the upcoming American adaptation of the runaway bestselling book "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

EMMA ROBERTS
Age: 19
Born into the business -- her father is Eric Roberts and her aunt is Julia -- Emma made her acting debut at age 9 in the Johnny Depp film "Blow." She worked steadily throughout the decade in kid-focused projects like TV's "Unfabulous" and the movie "Nancy Drew." But this year found her transitioning into grown-up roles, most notably in the romantic comedy hit "Valentine's Day" (which also featured her famous aunt). She'll soon be seen in "It's Kind of a Funny Story," and she's currently filming "Scream 4."
GEMMA ARTERTON
Age: 24
Being a "Bond Girl" hasn't always worked out for actresses hoping to gain stardom. But Gemma made the most of her small role in "Quantum of Solace" as the doomed Agent Fields (you had to watch the credits to see that her first name was "Strawberry"). It led to major roles in two giant action movies this year: the new version of "Clash of the Titans" and the video game flick "Prince of Persia." Next, she'll play the title role in the graphic novel adaptation "Tamara Drewe."

MIA WASIKOWSKA
Age: 20
Mia is Australian, but you wouldn't know that by listening to her. In Tim Burton's smash-hit "Alice in Wonderland," she spoke with an upper-crust British accent. In this summer's independent comedy "The Kids Are All Right," she convincingly plays a typical American teen (albeit one whose lesbian parents conceived her with an anonymous donor). But it's not just her speech patterns that change. For her next starring role in director Gus Van Sant's "Reckless," she chopped her waist-length hair down to a pixie cut.

CHLOË GRACE MORETZ
Age: 13
It's not often that an actress steals a movie she's not old enough to actually see. But Chloë drew praise and sparked controversy this April as the foul-mouthed, ultra-violent Hit Girl in the R-rated comic book adaptation "Kick-Ass." She'll soon star in another boundary-pushing film; she plays an ageless vampire in "Let Me In." Currently she's working on "Hugo Cabret," the first 3D film from master director Martin Scorsese.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE
Age: 20
The most critically acclaimed movie of the summer didn't have people going into each other's dreams or sparkly vampires. It was "Winter's Bone," the suspenseful tale of an Ozark teenager tracking down her bail-jumping father. Jennifer anchored the movie, and experts agree she's a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. She has already completed work on the movie "The Beaver" with Mel Gibson, and she'll soon play the shape-changing mutant Mystique in "X-Men: First Class."

FREIDA PINTO
Age: 25
Freida made an indelible impression in a fairly short amount of screen time with her first film role in the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire." This year, the Indian-born former model gets more time to shine in a pair of films from esteemed directors. First, she plays an alluring stranger who tempts Josh Brolin in Woody Allen's latest, "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger." Then, she'll portray a Palestinian orphan in "Miral" from director Julian Schnabel.

OLIVIA WILDE
Age: 26
For most people, a starring role in the most popular TV show worldwide would be enough. But Olivia isn't most people. After all, most people didn't hang out with Mick Jagger when they were little kids or grow up to marry Italian royalty. So after conquering TV with her starring role on "House," Olivia is ready to rule the movies as well. In December, she plays a digital warrior inside a computer world in "TRON: Legacy." And right now she's taking a break from her show to film next summer's "Cowboys and Aliens" with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.

ODETTE YUSTMAN
Age: 25
Odette doesn't look like a 20-year veteran of the acting business. But that's because she was only five years old when she played a Spanish-speaking child in "Kindergarten Cop" with Arnold Schwarzenegger. As an adult she made a splash getting chased by a giant monster through a darkened New York City in "Cloverfield." In September, she gets to step into the spotlight with the comedy "You Again" playing the mean girl who terrorized Kristen Bell in high school but is now about to become her sister-in-law.

EMMA STONE
Age: 21
Apparently, you really can start an acting career by appearing on a reality show. Emma (or Emily, as she went by then) appeared on VH1's "In Search of the New Partridge Family" at age 15 and won a role in the sitcom remake. They only made one episode, but it did lead to more roles on TV. "Superbad" was her introduction to the movies, and she followed it with more hit comedies like "The House Bunny" and "Zombieland." Coming soon is "Easy A," where she has the lead role as a high schooler who tells a few white lies and gets branded with a bad reputation. Next year she'll take a dramatic turn in the movie version of the bestselling novel "The Help."