The Destined Dozen: Television Stars Destined for Greater Things
4. Anna Paquin
Paquin’s inclusion on this list can certainly be debated. At age 11, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Jane Campion’s The Piano. That made her the second-youngest Oscar winner in history after Tatum O’Neal (and let’s hope her career turns out better). Paquin followed up her Oscar win with a series of roles, although generally in smaller films and general of a supporting nature. The one major exception was her role as Rogue is the popular X-Men trilogy. If you’ve won an Oscar and appeared in major motion pictures, can you be destined for greater things? In this case I believe the answer is yes. Paquin has yet to become a leading lady in Hollywood, and after headlining the popular HBO vampire drama True Blood, she may be in line for such a promotion.
Major Television Roles: True Blood, Sookie Stackhouse (2008-present)
Select Filmography: In addition to her role in the X-Men trilogy, Paquin may be most recognized for her roles in Fly Away Home, Finding Forrester, and as Polexia Aphrodisi in Almost Famous.
Upcoming Project: Margaret, Paquin co-stars in the Matt Damon drama about a young woman who witnesses a bus accident and is caught up with consequences.
3. Blake Lively
Lively can thank her brother for her career, as he made his agent send out auditions on her behalf despite her disinterest in acting. One of the auditions landed her the role of Bridget in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie, and Lively’s career was launched. Her first film was only in 2005, but in that short time period Lively’s star has been on a meteoric rise. After a Teen Choice Award nomination for the Pants movie, she really began to gain in popularity last year after landing the starring role on the teen TV series Gossip Girl. This time she won two Teen Choice Awards for her work. With the blonde bombshell only a few years into her career, Lively should have plenty of big roles in the future.
Major Television Roles: Gossip Girl, Serena van der Woodsen (2007-present)
Select Filmography: In addition to her role in the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie and its sequel, Lively has starred in the college comedy Accepted.
Upcoming Project: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a star-studded drama about Pippa Lee a woman who engages in a period of reflection and finds herself heading toward a quiet nervous breakdown.
