Many inspiring and brilliant females have imprinted on society through music, movies, fashion, and other mediums. We see extraordinary ladies making history every day with their accomplishments. These women are excellent role models for any woman to follow, whether you appreciate them for the journey they traveled to get there or because they look like your best friend’s mother. Let’s look at some of the most well-known 5’4″ female celebrities.
1. Megan Fox
Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an actress and model from the United States. She began her acting career in 2001, appearing in several television shows and short films and on the television sitcom Hope & Faith regularly. In 2004, she made her cinematic debut in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, an adolescent comedy. She starred as Mikaela Banes in the action blockbuster Transformers in 2007, and the sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was released in 2009. She also starred as Jennifer in the horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body in 2009. She is seen as a modern woman and a sex icon, with her image appearing in publications such as Maxim, Rolling Stone, and FHM.
2. Jessica Chastain
Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an actress and film producer from the United States. She has received numerous awards and nominations for her parts in feminist themes, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for two Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. In 2012, Time magazine named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
Chastain, born and reared in Sacramento, California, has always had a passion for acting. She made her professional stage debut as Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in 1998. After studying acting at the Juilliard School, she was signed to a talent holding deal with television producer John Wells. She appeared on various television shows as a recurring guest star, including Law & Order: Trial by Jury. In 2004 and 2006, she appeared in theatre versions of Anton Chekhov’s play The Cherry Orchard and Oscar Wilde’s tragedy Salome.
3. Claire Danes
Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress who has appeared on television, on stage, and in films. Angela Chase in the teen film My So-Called Life (1994), Juliet in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Yvaine in Stardust, and Temple Grandin in the HBO series Temple Grandin are just a few of her notable performances. She also starred in the Showtime series Homeland as Carrie Mathison. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her roles in My So-Called Life, Temple Grandin, and Homeland.
4. Daisy Ridley
Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born April 10, 1992) is an English actress best known for playing Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2018). (2019). She also voiced characters in the live-action/animated feature Peter Rabbit (2018) and video games like 12 Minutes. She also appeared in the mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and as the title character in the love drama Ophelia (2018).
5. Hayley Williams
Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is a singer, songwriter, musician, and entrepreneur known as the main vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist for Paramore. Williams, born and reared in Mississippi, moved to Franklin, Tennessee, when she was 13 years old, shortly after her parents split in 2002. She established Paramore with Josh Farro, Zac Farro, and Jeremy Davis in 2004. Hayley Williams, Zac Farro, and Taylor York are the band’s current members. All We Know Is Falling (2005), Riot! (2007), Brand New Eyes (2009), Paramore (2013), and After Laughter (2013) are the band’s studio albums (2017). Williams has worked with artists such as October Fall, The Chariot, Set Your Goals, Zedd, and New Found Glory, in addition to Paramore.
Before her solo career, Williams recorded the song “Teenagers” for the soundtrack of Jennifer’s Body (2009) and has collaborated with artists such as October Fall, The Chariot, Set Your Goals, Zedd, and New Found Glory. In addition, she was featured on B.o.single B.’s “Airplanes” in 2010. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. “Airplanes, Part II,” a follow-up to the song, has additional verses from B.o.B. and a verse from Eminem, although Williams’ vocals remain the same. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Partnership with Vocals due to this collaboration. Williams has also dabbled in other businesses, such as the online beauty and music series Kiss-Off on Popular TV, which debuted in 2015, and Good Dye Young’s hair-dye brand, which debuted in 2016.
6. Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress born on December 2, 1981. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Spears is credited for encouraging the comeback of teen pop music. Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at the age of 15 after performing in theatrical performances and television series. Her first two studio albums,…Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!… I Did It Again (2000), both certified diamond in the United States, were global successes and helped her become one of the best-selling teen artists of all time. Rolling Stone rated the title track the most incredible debut single of all Time in 2020, and the album holds the 15-year record for a best-selling album by a female artist in the US with first-week sales. More than 1.3 million copies have been sold.
7. Mila Kunis
Milena Markovna “Mila” Kunis is an American actress born on August 14, 1983. She is best recognized for her supporting parts in Black Swan and leading roles in that ’70s Show and Family Guy. Friends with Benefits (2011), Ted (2012), and The Great and Powerful Oz are some of Kunis’ other successful films (2013). Esquire magazine in the United States named her the sexiest woman in the world in 2012.
8. Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (born August 16, 1958) is a singer, composer, and actor from the United States. She is sometimes referred to as the “Queen of Pop” since she is one of the most influential characters in popular culture. Madonna is known for her unwavering innovation and adaptability in music production, composition, and live performance. She’s also known for pushing the limits of artistic expression in the mainstream while being entirely independent in the music industry. Her works frequently address social, political, sexual, and religious issues, garnering critical acclaim and controversy.
According to Guinness World Records, Madonna is the best-selling female music artist, with more than 300 million albums sold worldwide. She is the most successful solo artist in the Billboard Hot 100’s history. She holds the record for the most number-one songs by a female artist in Australia, Canada, Italy, Finland, Ireland, and Spain. She is still the highest-grossing solo touring performer of all time, with $1.5 billion in ticket sales. Madonna was admitted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the First Time in 2008; she became eligible. In 2012, VH1 named her the most incredible woman in music, and in 2020, Billboard named her the most incredible music video artist of all time. Madonna was also named one of Rolling Stone’s 100 most significant artists of all time. The 100 Greatest Musicians of All Time and the Greatest of All Time.
9. Penelope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress and model born on April 28, 1974. She signed a contract at the age of 15, began performing on television at the age of 16, and made her film debut in the critically praised Jamón Jamón the following year (1992). Open Your Eyes (1997), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000), and Woman on Top (2000) were among her subsequent roles in the 1990s and 2000s (2000). Cruz rose to prominence after starring in Vanilla Sky, All the Pretty Horses, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and Blow in 2001.
She’s acted in a variety of films, including the comedy Waking Up in Reno (2002), the horror Gothika (2003), the Christmas feature Noel (2004), and the action-adventure Sahara (2005).
She received Golden Globe and Academy Award nods for her roles in Volver (2006) and Nine (2009). In 2008, she earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Maria Elena, a painter in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is the first Hispanic actress to win an Academy Award and the first Spanish actress to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Cruz designed Mango’s clothing. Cruz has volunteered in Uganda and India, where she worked with Mother Teresa for a week; she gave money from The Hi-Lo Country to fund the late nun’s mission.
10. Rachel McAdams
Rachel Anne McAdams is a character in the film Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is an actress from Canada. She worked in Canadian television and film productions after graduating from a theatre degree program at York University in 2001, including the drama film Perfect Pie (2002), for which she received a Genie Award nomination, the comedy film My Name Is Tanino (2002), and the comedy series Slings and Arrows (2003–2005), for which she won a Gemini Award.
She made her Hollywood debut with the comedy The Hot Chick in 2002. McAdams rose to prominence in 2004 with the comedies Mean Girls and The Notebook. She appeared in three films in 2005: Wedding Crashers, Red Eye, and The Family Stone, all of which were romantic comedies. She was dubbed “Hollywood’s new it girl” by the press and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Rising Star.
She resurfaced in 2009 after a brief hiatus, with roles in the political thriller State of Play, the romance The Time Traveler’s Wife, and the mystery drama Sherlock Holmes. After starring in the star vehicle comedy Morning Glory in 2010, McAdams went on to star in Midnight in Paris (2011), The Vow (2012), and About Time (2013). (2013). In 2015, she starred in the second season of HBO’s anthology crime thriller True Detective and the drama Spotlight as journalist Sacha Pfeiffer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter. The superhero feature Doctor Strange (2016), the romantic drama Disobedience (2017), and the comedies Game Night (2018) and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga followed (2020).
11. Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham (born Victoria Adams; April 17, 1974) is an English businesswoman, fashion designer, model, and singer married to David Beckham. Victoria rose to prominence as a member of the Spice Girls in the late 1990s and was dubbed “Posh Spice” in the July 1996 issue of the British music magazine Top of the Pops. She joined Virgin Records and Telstar Records after the Spice Girls disbanded and scored four UK Top 10 singles. “Out of Your Mind,” her first solo record, reached number two on the UK singles list.
After cooperating with other businesses, she launched her label in 2008 and a more economical line in 2011. Victoria Beckham’s label was named the best designer label in the United Kingdom. This brand was deemed a successful star in the Beckhams family business in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, Belinda White wrote in the Daily Telegraph that her shift from WAG to fashion designer was considerably more successful than most expected: “She already has a considerable celebrity following and has excelled in the cutthroat fashion industry. Now all anyone can aspire for is a ticket to her twice-yearly Fashion Week show in New York.”
12. Chloë Grace Moretz
Chloe Grace Moretz (born February 10, 1997) is an actress and model from the United States. She began acting at the age of seven in 2004, and her first award nomination came the following year for The Amityville Horror. (500) Days of Summer, The Poker House, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2, Let Me In, Hugo, Dark Shadows, Carrie, If I Stay, The Equalizer, and The 5th Wave are among her other films. In Kick-Ass: The Game, Moretz plays Hit-Girl, and in Dishonored, she plays Emily Kaldwin. She has covered and modeled for magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire, and Elle during her modeling career.
13. Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku (born December 30, 1980) is an actress and producer from the United States. She is best recognized for Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998–2003) and its spin-off series Angel (2000–2003). She also produced the Fox science fiction series Dollhouse (2009–2010) and had critical parts in the Fox supernatural drama series Tru Calling (2003–2005).
True Lies (1994), Bye Bye Love (1995), Bring It On (2000), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), The New Guy (2002), Wrong Turn (2003), On Broadway (2007), The Scribbler (2014), Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015), and Eloise (2015) were among the films in which Dushku starred (2016). She’s also lent her voice to several video games and animated films.
14. Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer born on March 12, 1946. Minnelli is a select number of performers who have received Emmys, Grammys (Grammy Legend Awards), Oscars, and Tony Awards for her imposing stage presence and powerful alto singing voice (EGOT). Minnelli is a French Legion of Honour Knight. Minnelli is best known for her versions of American standards, but her pop recordings from the early 1960s were designed to appeal to a younger audience. [8] [9]. From 1968 until 1977, her albums featured current singer-songwriter material. She debuted in the modern music industry in 1989 with the album Results, which she co-wrote with the Pet Shop Boys. Minnelli returned to the concert stage in 2002 with Liza’s Back, following a break due to significant health issues, and was a guest star on the sitcom Arrested Development from 2003 through 2013. She has avoided significant musical performances in favor of tiny retrospective events during the 2010s.
15. Kerry Washington
Kerry Marisa Washington is an American actress, producer, and director born on January 31, 1977. After portraying Olivia Pope, a crisis management expert, she rose to prominence in Scandal’s ABC drama series (2012–2018). She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama once for her performance. In addition, she was nominated for both the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for her depiction of Anita Hill in the HBO television political thriller film Confirmation (2016). She was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her work as Mia Warren in the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere (2020).
Washington’s film credits include Della Bea Robinson in Ray (2004), Kay in The Last King of Scotland (2006), Alicia Masters in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007, and Broomhilda von Shaft in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012). Her other credits include the independent films Our Song (2000), The Dead Girl (2006), Mother and Child (2009), Night Catches Us (2010), and American Son (2019).
In 2014, Time magazine named Washington to its Time 100 list of the world’s most influential individuals. She was named the eighth highest-paid television actress by Forbes in 2018. Washington has received five NAACP Image Awards, including The President’s Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
16. Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an actress and television host from the United States. She is most known for her appearances as Willow Rosenberg in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series (1997–2003), Lily Aldrin in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014), for which she received a People’s Choice Award in 2009, and Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie film series (1999–2012). Hannigan has hosted the television show Penn & Teller: Fool Us since 2016. In the Disney Junior animated series Fancy Nancy (2018–present), she also voices Claire Clancy.
17. Anna Faris
Anna Kay Faris (born November 29, 1976) is an actress and singer from the United States. She is referred to as the “Hollywood Romantic Comedy Queen”. Faris is known for her roles in the Scary Movie franchise, The Hot Chick (2002), Lost in Translation (2003), and My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2004). (2006). She garnered five MTV Movie Award nominations, and two Teen Choice Award nods for her performance in The House Bunny in 2008. In the film, Anna’s portrayal of Shelly is regarded as one of her most successful portrayals.
She also acted alongside Chris Evans in the film What’s Your Number? Then there were films like The Detector, I Give It A Year, and Movie 43, a smash hit with a massive star cast. She is also one of the actors who has graced the pages of numerous Hollywood publications, including Raygun, Playboy, Self, and Cosmopolitan. In 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, the media voted her as one of the world’s sexiest and most beautiful actors.
18. Elizabeth Olsen
Elizabeth Olsen (full name: Elizabeth Chase “Lizzie” Olsen) is an American actress born on February 16, 1989. She has been nominated for numerous awards for her roles in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Godzilla (2014), Silent House (2011), and Liberal Arts (2012). She is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, actresses, and fashion designers. Olsen is most recognized for her role as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2018). (2019). She also reprised her role in the Disney+ original miniseries WandaVision (2021).
19. Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodrguez (born July 12, 1978) is an actress, playwright, and music composer best known by her stage name Michelle Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s career-defining performance came in the independent film Girlfight (2000). She played a boxer in the film. Critics praised her performance and won several prizes, including the Independent Spirit Award (Independent Spirit Award) and the Gotham Award for Best Beginning Role. She made her Hollywood debut the following year as Letty Ortiz in the blockbuster The Fast and the Furious (2001) and reprised the character in the two sequels Fast & Furious (2009) and Fast & Furious (2009). Furious 6 is a sequel to Furious 5. (2013).
Rodriguez also pursued a career in television, starring Ana Lucia Cortez in the second season of Lost’s second series and later appearing in several guest roles. But, please, before the end of the series. She’s also done voice work for computer games like Call of Duty and Halo and the 3D animation feature Turbo and the television show IGPX. “One of Hollywood’s most prominent Latin American actors,” according to Entertainment Weekly, with a combined gross of more than $5.2 billion from all of her films.
20. J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling CH, OBE, HonFRSE, FRCPE, FRSL (born July 31, 1965) is a British author, philanthropist, film producer, and screenwriter better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling. Her most famous work is the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won numerous honors and sold over 500 million copies, making it the best-selling book series in history. Rowling had full approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films, and the books form the basis for a famous film series. Under the pen name Robert Galbraith, she also writes crime novels. Rowling has been publicly expressing her views on transgender individuals and related human rights since late 2019. LGBT rights organizations and some feminists have criticized these beliefs as transphobic, although they have gained support from other feminists and people. Rowling is also recognized for her political opinions in the United Kingdom, particularly on Scottish independence and Brexit and her relationship with the press.
21. Michelle Williams
Michelle Ingrid Williams is an actress from the United States born on September 9, 1980. She began her career as a television guest star, and her feature film debut, Lassie, garnered her a nomination for Youth in Film. She was well known for her role as Jen Lindley on The WB’s television series Dawson’s Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003.
22. Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, businesswoman, and author regarded as the “Empress of Soul.” Knight, a seven-time Grammy Award winner, is best known for her songs with Gladys Knight & the Pips, which comprised her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten in the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s.
Knight has two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 songs (“Midnight Train to Georgia” and “That’s What Friends Are For”), eleven No. 1 R&B singles, and six No. 1 R&B albums to his credit. She is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and has received seven Grammy Awards (four as a solo artist and three with the Pips). Two of her songs were elected into the Grammy Hall of Fame for their “historical, creative, and significant” significance (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia”). She also sang the theme song for the James Bond film Licence to Kill, released in 1989. In addition, Knight was named one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine.
23. Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an actress from the United States of America. She has won a slew of awards, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Golden Globes. By 2007, she was one of the highest-paid actresses globally, and in 2009, she crowned the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year.
Zellweger was born and raised in Texas and attended the University of Texas in Austin, majoring in English literature. She wanted to be a journalist at first, but after a brief stint on stage in college, she was pulled to acting. Zellweger’s first starring was in the 1994 slasher picture Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, following minor roles in the 1993 coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused and the 1994 romantic comedy-drama film Reality Bites. She rose to prominence with starring roles in the 1996 romantic comedy-drama sports film Jerry Maguire, the 1998 drama film One True Thing. The 2000 black comedy films Me, Myself, and Irene and Nurse Betty, for which she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her portrayal of Betty Sizemore.
Zellweger was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Bridget Jones’s 2001 romantic comedy Bridget Jones’s Diary and Roxie Hart in Chicago’s 2002 musical black comedy crime film. She earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as a chatty farmer in Cold Mountain, a 2003 epic period war picture. White Oleander, a 2002 drama; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Cinderella Man, a 2005 biographical sports drama; Miss Potter, a 2006 biopic drama; and Bridget Jones’s Baby, a 2016 romantic comedy, are among her other significant films. Zellweger made her major television debut in the Netflix series What/If in 2019. She received critical praise for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the biographical drama film Judy. She won multiple awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actress. [6] Zellweger was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for the accompanying soundtrack record.
24. Sophia Bush
Sophia Anna Bush (born July 8, 1982) is an actor, activist, director, and producer from the United States of America. She played Sara in the Phineas and Ferb episode “Candace Gets Busted” on the Disney Channel and Disney XD cartoon series, Brooke Davis in the WB/CW drama series One Tree Hill (2003–2012), and Erin Lindsay in the NBC police procedural drama series Chicago P.D. (2014–2017).
Bush has also appeared in the films John Tucker Must Die (2006), The Hitcher (2007), The Narrows (2008), Chalet Girl (2011), Marshall (2017), Acts of Violence (2018), and Incredibles 2 (2018). (2018). She is also well-known for her philanthropy and social engagement, including the Time’s Up campaign and DoSomething.org.
25. Dakota Fanning
Hannah Dakota Fanning is an actress from the United States born on February 23, 1994. She shot to fame when she was seven years old for her role as Lucy Dawson in the drama film I Am Sam (2001), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award at the age of eight, making her the youngest candidate in SAG history. Fanning starred in Uptown Girls (2003), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Man on Fire (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Dreamer (2005), and Charlotte’s Web as a young actress (2006).
Fanning went on to play Lewellen in Hounddog (2007), Lily in The Secret Life of Bees (2008), the titular character in Coraline (2009), Cherie Currie in The Runaways (2010), and Jane in The Twilight Saga (2009–2012) in more mature parts. She continued to feature in independent films throughout the 2010s, including the dramas Now Is Good (2012) and Night Moves (2013), the comedy-drama Very Good Girls (2013), and the biographical film Effie Gray (2014). In addition, she has a leading role in the period drama series The Alienist and appeared in the heist comedy Ocean’s 8 in 2018. In Quentin Tarantino’s film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, she played Manson girl Squeaky Fromme (2019).
Fanning debuted as a model in 2009, appearing on the covers of Elle, Vanity Fair, and Cosmopolitan, among other publications. She also attended New York Fashion Week in 2014 and the Fashion Week New York S/S 2015 opening ceremony.
26. Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an actress from the United States born on March 23, 1976. She played Felicity on the drama series Felicity (1998–2002). In addition, she received a Golden Globe nomination and Elizabeth Jennings on the FX spy thriller series The Americans (2013–2018), for which she received Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nods.
Russell has acted in films such as Honey; I Blew Up the Kid (1992), We Were Soldiers (2002), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Waitress (2007), August Rush (2007), Extraordinary Measures (2010), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Free State of Jones (2016), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017.
27. Lizzy Caplan
Elizabeth Anne Caplan is an actress from the United States born on June 30, 1982. Her first acting job was in Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), a cult television series. Her roles in the films Mean Girls (2004) and Cloverfield (2008) helped her gain wider notice, with the latter earning her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Caplan has also appeared on the TV programs Related (2005–2006), The Class (2006–2007), and Party Down (2009–2010), among others.
Caplan starred as Virginia E. Johnson on the Showtime series Masters of Sex from 2013 to 2016, for which she got Primetime Emmy, Satellite Award, and Critics’ Choice Award nominations. She starred as Annie Wilkes in the Hulu anthology series Castle Rock in 2019. Hot Tub Time Machine, 127 Hours (both 2010), Save the Date, Bachelorette (both 2012), The Interview (2014), Now You See Me 2, Allied (both 2016), and Extinction (all 2016) are among her other cinematic roles (2018).
28. Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an actress, television host, and producer from the United States. She is most remembered for playing Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. Ricki Lake, her chat program that aired internationally from September 1993 to May 2004, is also well-known. Lake was 24 when the show premiered, making her the youngest person to host a syndicated talk show at the time. Lake began presenting The Ricki Lake Show, a second syndicated talk show, in 2012. Even though the show was terminated after a single season in 2013, Lake received her first Daytime Emmy Award for the endeavor.
29. Stacey Dash
Stacey Lauretta Dash (born January 20, 1967) is a former talk show host and actress from the United States. In the 1995 feature picture Clueless and its television series of the same name, Dash portrayed Dionne Marie Davenport. Moving, Mo’ Money, Renaissance Man, and View from the Top are her other credits. Dash has also been on the television shows CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Single Ladies, and the reality show Celebrity Circus. She’s also starred in Carl Thomas’ “Emotional” and Kanye West’s “All Falls Down” music videos.
30. Taraji P. Henson
Taraji Penda Henson is an American actress born on September 11, 1970. She studied acting at Howard University and began her career in Hollywood as a guest star on several television shows before starring in Baby Boy (2001). She received acclaim for her roles as a prostitute in Hustle & Flow (2005), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and as a single mother of a disabled child in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, a SAG Award, and a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress She co-starred in the remake of The Karate Kid and starred in the action-comedy Date Night in 2010.
Henson has also had a long and successful career in television, including The Division, Boston Legal, and Eli Stone, among his credits. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role in the Lifetime Television film Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story in 2011. She co-starred in the CBS program Person of Interest as Detective Jocelyn Carter from 2011 to 2013, for which she won an NAACP Image Award. She appeared in Think Like a Man (2012) and Thought Like a Man 2 (2014). In addition, she made history as the first African-American woman to win a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Cookie Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire. She was also nominated for Emmy Awards in 2015 and 2016 and won a Golden Globe Award.
Henson was named one of the 100 most influential persons globally by Time magazine in 2016. Around the Way Girl, her autobiography, was a New York Times bestseller that year. In the same year, she earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for her portrayal as Katherine Johnson in the critically acclaimed drama film Hidden Figures.
31. Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor born on June 1, 1974. In her teens, MCA Records Canada released two dance-pop albums, Alanis (1991) and Now Is the Time (1992). She has had worldwide success since her debut international studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995), with rock overtones. Jagged has sold 33 million copies worldwide, making Morissette the youngest artist to win a Grammy for “Album of the Year” and has been named to various reviewers’ best-of lists. Critics praised his second studio albums, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998) and Under Rug Swept (2002), and both were certified Platinum in the United States. So-Called Chaos (2004), Flavors of Entanglement (2008), and Havoc and Bright Lights (2010) were her subsequent albums (2012).
Morissette has sold over 60 million records worldwide and has been nominated for 16 Juno Awards, 7 Grammy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. She is recognized for her mezzo-soprano voice and dubbed the “Queen of alt-rock anguish” by Rolling Stone magazine.
32. Poppy Montgomery
Poppy Montgomery is an Australian-American actress born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue on June 15, 1972. From 2002 to 2009, she starred as FBI agent Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery thriller Without a Trace, and from 2011 to 2016, she starred as Detective Carrie Wells on the CBS/A&E police drama Unforgettable.
33. Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an actress and singer from the United States. She began her career in the entertainment industry at the age of three, appearing in several television ads. The first film she appeared in was School of Rock (in 2003, the role of Summer Hathaway). Miranda starred as Carly Shay on the comedy iCarly from 2007 until 2012. Cosgrove was paid USD 180,000 for each sitcom episode in 2010, making her television’s second most paid adolescent star. She also voiced Margo in the animated comedy Despicable Me (2010). She starred as Shea Moore on the NBC sitcom Crowded in 2016.
34. Nikki Reed
Nicole Houston Reed, better known by her stage name as Nikki Reed, is an American actress best known for playing vampire Rosalie Hale in the Twilight Saga (2008–2012). She rose to prominence in 2003, following the release of Catherine Hardwicke’s film Thirteen, in which she co-wrote the screenplay alongside Hardwicke and performed a lead role. Reed received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and several nominations for the film.
35. Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and DJ born on November 21, 1965. Throughout a four-decade career, she has established a distinctive musical style, influenced by a diverse spectrum of influences and genres, including electronic, pop, experimental, classical, trip-hop, IDM, and avant-garde music. She also works with various artists and works on a variety of multimedia projects.
She began her music career at the age of 11 and first gained international recognition as the lead singer of the alternative rock band the Sugarcubes, whose 1987 single “Birthday” was a hit on independent radio stations in the United Kingdom and the United States and was well received by music critics. After the band disbanded, Björk released two pop albums, Debut and Post, in 1993. Björk’s third album, Homogenic, was released in 1997.
36. Tippi Hedren
Nathalie Kay “Tippi” Hedren is an American actress, animal rights activist, and former fashion model born on January 19, 1930. She gained international acclaim for her roles in two Alfred Hitchcock classics: The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1965). (1964). She is regarded as one of the most well-known ‘Hitchcock Blondes’ and is now one of Hollywood’s few surviving stars from the Golden Age.
Hedren became an actor after being founded by director Alfred Hitchcock while starring in a television commercial in 1961. She was a famous fashion model who appeared on the front pages of Life and Glamour magazines, among others. She received critical acclaim for her roles in two of his films: The Birds (1963), for which she won a Golden Globe, and Marnie, a psychological drama (1964). She has appeared in nearly 80 films and television shows, including Charlie Chaplin’s final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), political satire Citizen Ruth (1996), and existential comedy I Heart Huckabees (2004). Her contributions to international film have been honored with the Jules Verne Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among other accolades.
Hedren’s intense devotion to animal rescue began in 1969 when she was in Africa filming two films and became aware of the condition of African lions. She spent nearly a decade bringing Roar (1981) to the film to promote awareness for wildlife. Her nonprofit organization, the Roar Foundation, was founded in 1983 to support The Shambala Preserve, an 80-acre (32 ha) natural sanctuary that allows her to continue working with lions and tigers. Hedren has also established assistance projects worldwide in the aftermath of earthquakes, hurricanes, starvation, and conflict. She was also a driving force behind the establishment of Vietnamese-owned nail salons in the United States.
37. Susan Ward
Susan Ward (born April 15, 1976) is an actress and model from the United States. Ward was the daughter of detective Eddie Ward and Sue Ward, a nurse and associate professor, born in Monroe, Louisiana. She went to River Oaks High School and graduated from Ouachita Parish High School. Ward began modeling when he was 13 years old, dropping out of school and traveling to New York City to pursue his dream. She started acting a few years later. In 1995, she starred in All My Children’s and Aaron Spelling’s NBC adolescent drama Malibu Shores in the ABC soap opera.
Ward first appeared on Spelling’s soap drama Sunset Beach in late 1996, playing virginal Meg Cummings from 1997 to 1999. She made her film debut in 1999, playing the insane Brittany Foster in the teen drama The In Crowd. The film was a box office flop in theaters, but it did well on television and home video. Ward had a supporting role in the Farrelly Brothers film Shallow Hal the following year. She’s also been in several other direct-to-DVD films and had guest appearances on several TV shows, including Friends.
In 2009, she was cast in the ABC Family drama series Make It or Break It as Chloe Kmetko, the mother of a young gymnast. During the first two seasons of the show, she was a regular central cast member. Susan Ward (born April 15, 1976) is an actress and model from the United States. Ward was the daughter of detective Eddie Ward and Sue Ward, a nurse and associate professor, born in Monroe, Louisiana. She went to River Oaks High School and graduated from Ouachita Parish High School. Ward began modeling when he was 13 years old, dropping out of school and traveling to New York City to pursue his dream. She started acting a few years later. In 1995, she starred in All My Children’s and Aaron Spelling’s NBC adolescent drama Malibu Shores in the ABC soap opera.
38. Thora Birch
Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an actress and producer from the United States. Purple People Eater (1988), for which she earned a Young Artist Award for “Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age,” was her cinematic debut. Birch rose to fame as a child actor in films such as All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1995). (1996).
In 1999, she had her breakthrough as Jane Burnham in the critically acclaimed film American Beauty, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to star as Enid in the cult classic Ghost World (2001), for which she received a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress. In addition, Birch was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance as the titular character in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story in 2003. Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004), Dark Corners (2006), Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009), and Petunia (2009) are among her other films (2012).
Birch returned to acting in 2016 after taking a vacation and has since been in several small films. In season 10 of The Walking Dead (2019–2020), Birch plays Whisperer Mary / Gamma. Birch will next be seen in the Netflix series Wednesday, directed by Tim Burton, alongside Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, and others.
39. Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an actress, comedian, and singer from the United States. She is best known for her role as Karen Walker on the NBC comedy Will & Grace (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she got eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won twice in 2000 and 2006 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She was also nominated for several other awards for her performance, including seven straight Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series. In addition, she won three times in 2001, 2002, and 2003 four Golden Globe Award nominations.
Mullally hosted the chat show The Megan Mullally Show from 2006 to 2007. She has since appeared in several television shows, including In the Motherhood, Party Down, Children’s Hospital, and Breaking In. Parks and Recreation, Happy Endings, Bob’s Burgers, 30 Rock, Up All Night, Boston Legal, and The New Adventures of Old Christine are among the comedy programs she has starred as a guest star or in recurring roles. In addition, Mullally has been in films such as Smashed (2012), The Kings of Summer (2013), and Why Him?, in addition to television (2016).
40. Idina Menzel
Idina Kim Menzel (born May 30, 1971) is an actress and singer from the United States. She gained prominence as Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent, reprised in the film adaptation. In 1996, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Rent. For her work as Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked, she earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2004. Menzel made her Broadway comeback in 2014 with a performance in the original musical If/Then, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for best actress in a musical. In addition, she received the Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2014 Billboard Women in Music Awards.
Menzel is most recognized as Shelby Corcoran on Glee, a Fox musical drama television series. This part resurrected her career, landing a two-year tour and a slew of new jobs. Nancy in the 2007 Disney film Fairy Tales in New York and the voice of Queen Elsa in Frozen are two examples. Her first album in six years, Holiday Wishes (2014), reached number six on the Billboard 200 album list. Menzel is the only Tony Award-winning actress who has ever released an album (competition awards only). Reached the top ten.
