The Ten Coolest Actresses of this summer

Over here in Holland, the birds are falling from the roofs because of the heat. In times like these, you don't want to see a list with the 10 hottest actresses, which is why I thought it would be a better idea to make a list with the 10 coolest actresses around right now. Sure, most of these are 'hot' as well, but the main thing is that these are the actresses that can do more than just scream, pout or run away from big explosions. From unknowns to well-knows, from actresses in summer movies that have almost left the theaters already to actresses in summer movies that are still on the way, here are, in no particular order, the ten actresses whose movies you cannot afford to miss this summer.

Michelle Monaghan

She was in the summer's first big blockbuster, and it was definitely not her fault that the movie didn't become as big a financial success as expected. Michelle plays the girlfriend of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 3, but shows she can more than hold her own with a gun as well. She proved this last year in the fantastic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and also had small parts in flicks like North Country, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Supremacy. Next up for Michelle is Ben Affleck directed Gone, Baby Gone, in which she will star opposite the director himself, as well as his brother Casey, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.

Ellen Page

While European audiences can see Ellen this summer in disturbing yet highly praised Hard Candy, the world has seen her shine in X-Men: The Last Stand. In this last addition to the superhero trilogy she plays Kitty Pride, one of the younger X-Men, who is called into battle anyway when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Her performance had fans demanding a Kitty Pride movie, or at least a bigger part in any other upcoming X-projects, but so far it seems like in 2007 they will have to make do with An American Crime and The Tracey Fragments.

Emmy Rossum

What is it with Emmy Rossum and disaster movies? Two years ago she rose to prominence in The Day After Tomorrow (after registering with movie audiences everywhere for her role in Mystic River), and this year she was seen in Poseidon, a movie that had an American box office take as disastrous as the movie itself. It wasn't her fault, since she plays the spunky daughter of a former mayor, who is determined to survive the ordeal, together with her dad and fiancee. IMDB does not give any future projects for Emmy, but big things are sure to follow.

Kate Bosworth

Kate has played big parts in many movies before, but none of these movies is as big (or even close to that) as the movie that will forever propell her into the spotlights: Superman Returns. In it, she plays Lois Lane, Superman's girl, who has decided to not wait any longer when her beau dissapears and marries someone else. Shock! Her performance has apready been hailed as the sexiest Lois Lane ever, and since one of the actresses performing the legendary role was Teri Hatcher, you can understand you are in for something special.

Winona Ryder

One of the most popular actresses of the early nineties is going to show up in what could be her coolest movie ever. Winona will play the female lead in A Scanner Darkly, Richard Linklater's animated movie based on a book by Philip K. Dick. Yeah, you read that correctly: animated. But still it will be easy to recognize her, since the rotoscoping technique that was used means that her filmed image was drawn over, meaning her character looks exactly like her. There's even a nude scene for her in the movie, but for this she did not reveal her body parts in the flesh, these were animated by some lucky animators after shooting finished.

Keira Knightley

The actress that was named the most sexy actress of all time by Empire magazine, returns to the seas in this summer's blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. In this movie Keira gets to have a lot more fun, meaning she can swashbuckle and swordfight together with the boys. Right up Keira's alley, since she was a bit dissapointed that her character only saw little action in the first movie. Next summer Keira will be back, in the third Pirates-movie!

Bryce Dallas Howard

Ron's little girl emerges from the water in M. Night Shyamalan's latest, Lady in the Water. She's a mysterious woman that comes out of the pool in the building belonging to Paul Giamatti's landlord character, and pretty soon it becomes clear that she is not the only one that is on the way. The question is though: is she the only one that is friendly?

Rosario Dawson

There are many reasons for you to want to watch Kevin Smith's Clerks 2. Besides the obvious ones (it being the sequel to a classic movie, with some much beloved characters making a very welcome return), one of the main reasons is the performance of Rosario Dawson, who is quickly becoming the queen of summer movies, after her memorable turn in last years Sin City. And Rosario has many more exciting projects lined up, including, of course, Sin City2!

Evan Rachel Wood

Evan Rachel Wood is being compared to Nicole Kidman, but the young actress might have an even bigger future ahead of her. This summer does not see her in any blockbusters (Evan mostly showing her talents in smaller movies like Pretty Persuasion and Down in the Valley), but with four big movies coming up (including The Mermaids Singing and Running With Scissors), don't be surprised if she will slowly turn into one of the biggest names in movies.

Kristen Bell

So far, Kristen Bell's star has mostly been shining on television. Her lead role in Veronica Mars has made her a household name, but on the big screen she didn't get the same amount of fame. That will change this summer, when Kristen lights up the screen in horror movie Pulse, the remake of a movie that was a big hit in Japan.