Last Updated on August 3, 2021
#1. SCARLETT JOHANSSON (LUCY, UNDER THE SKIN)
F*ck Ebola, 2014 has been the year of Scarlett Fever! After lending one of her most impressive acting turns in the equally audacious UNDER THE SKIN, Scarlett teamed with Frenchman Luc Besson to absolutely blow-away the box-office competition in LUCY. Two wildly disparate performances, yet both predicated on Scarlett’s intrinsic sex-appeal and the complete power derived over men as a result. In UNDER THE SKIN, she plays a cold, quiet, calculating alien seductress – completely internalized – while in LUCY she’s a plays a much more gregarious, superhuman physical specimen – utterly externalized. Both sides of the coin were exposed, the yin and yang, with Scarlett’s unparalleled sensuality equally effective in both!
#2. EVA GREEN (PENNY DREADFUL, 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE)
Damn! Who’d have ever thought that French stunner Eva Green would emerge as such a venerable scream queen in 2014? Hell, I’m still beating off to her nude scenes in Bertolucci’s THE DREAMERS from ’03 for crying out loud! Yet here we are a decade later and Green is as busy in the genre world as perhaps any Dame on our list. She not only appeared in 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE earlier this year, she headlined the new Showtime series Penny Dreadful as well. Not to be outdone, Green flashes some skin in SIN CITY 2 this Friday, and has recently been cast in Tim Burton’s newest flick, MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. She also did THE SALVATION and WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD this year, both genre-tinged thrillers! Oh and she’s French…an instant Top 3 qualifier!
#3. ANGELINA JOLIE (MALEFICENT)
Strike one up for the elder stateswoman! Oh I kid the not yet 40 year old Angie Jolie, who saw her Disney-based passion project MALEFICENT cast a spell over its box-office competitors to the tune of more than $230 million. That currently ranks as the 4th highest grossing film of the year…not to mention easily Jolie’s biggest hit to date! She murdered that shite! And that she got to enjoy such success by playing a dastardly, larger-than-life wicked-witch with giant black horns surely must have made the result that much sweeter. I mean, you can almost see Jolie reveling in the wickedness, getting the chance to personify pure evil in a safely anodyne family outing. There’s a sly subversion there. And hey, at 39, Angie still looks f*ckin’ dynamite!
#4. VERA FARMIGA (BATES MOTEL)
Coming off an Emmy nod for her sterling work as the murderous matriarch on A&E’s Bates motel, Vera Farmiga is too damn talented and too damn good looking to ignore! Real shite, it’s acting talent of this caliber that continues to raise the televisual bar, regardless of genre. And we should be thankful! Of course, Farmiga is no stranger to the macabre having headlined James Wan’s THE CONJURING, not to mention being currently attached to the tentatively titled CONJURING 2: THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST. But make no mistake, it’s her devastatingly complex turn as Norma Bates – so far a 20 hour-long exploration of a single character – that has us so excited for what abounds for the twisted Bates family dynamic. And those eyes…best in the game!
#5. MIA MAESTRO (THE STRAIN)
Anyone watching new FX series The Strain is sure to have already caught the infectious smolder of Argentine hottie Mia Maestro, and rightly so, chick’s a goddamn bombshell! So when you throw her in a lab-coat and a pair of nerdy specs as Dr. Nora Martinez? For f*ck’s sake, I’m trying not to STRAIN my groin! Now, I can’t speak to the season one fate of Ms. Maestro’s character, but I can report the promising update that FX just renewed the Guillermo del Toro inspired series for a second season. Good shite, right?! Let’s cross our digits and hope the good sexy Doc Martinez makes it out of the first frame unscathed so we can see another 13 or so hours of her fine behind!
#6. EIZA GONZALEZ (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN)
Y’all been watching the El Rey network’s small-screen rendition of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN? Yeah, me neither. But hey, there’s no way in hell we’d let a chica this caliente go undetected, and neither should you! Even with the thankless and arduous task of reenacting Salma Hayek’s Santanico Pandemonium – one of the sexiest stripteases ever seen in a non-X-rated film – 24 year-old Mexican smokestack Eiza Gonzaelz seems to have acquitted herself quite well. I mean, look at her!!! She’s not only the female lead of the show, her gorgeous face gracing the poster, but she’s also one of the only authentic Mexican actors in the cast. For a show on a Mexican network and a from Mexican showrunner, at least they got the most crucial piece of casting right!
#7. KAREN GILLAN (OCULUS)
Longtime Doctor Who alumna Karen Gillan, the inextinguishably sexy Scottish firecracker, has had herself quite a 2014 so far. Never-mind the mega-success of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which she starred in, the 5’11” looker also played the lead in what’s possibly the most underrated horror flick of the year, OCULUS. In fact, Gillan hit such a torrid pace in ’14 that she’s currently filming a lead turn in Ti West’s new vengeful-western IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE, opposite Ethan Hawke and John Travolta. The lass has arrived! Not limited to just the horror however, Karen also opened her new TV series “Selfie” here in the states just a few days ago. Chick’s blazing! Remember the name…Karen Gillan…here’s one fiery import on the uptick!
#8. JULIE ESTELLE (THE RAID 2)
Never have I been so comfortable with the thought of a chick hammering me to a bloody pulp than I am with Julie Estelle from THE RAID 2. Holy f*ck! Have you seen this girl? Love at first sight, right? Seriously, the gorgeous 5’7” Indonesian native could bang me to death any day! And as badass is she is in THE RAID 2…one of the best genre joints of the year…it’s the gig she booked directly afterward that has us just as excited. You see, Julie will next star in a hyper-violent revenge thriller called THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, from THE RAID scribe Gareth Edwards and director Timo Tjahjanto (the two previously collaborated on by far and away the best segment of VHS-2, “Safe Haven”). Let’s hope Estelle is given a role even more to-die for than Hammer Girl!
#9. CARMEN EJOGO (THE PURGE: ANARCHY)
Good gravy Carmen Ejogo, you make a boy want to PURGE the contents of his nards! Real shite, who caught the surprise summer hit sequel, THE PURGE: ANARCHY? Yeah well, the most impressive thing I took away from the flick was – even in the blandly unflattering garb and lack of makeup she was forced to rock – how utterly smoking the honey-skinned British goddess still appeared! And hey, let’s give the gorgeous gal props for bouncing back from the cancellation of her ABC sci-fi series Zero Hour and not just landing a hit in ANARCHY, but also aligning the star-studded MLK pic SELMA, which is currently filming. Oh and the lovely Carmen happens to be married to one hell of an actor in Jeffrey Wright. Who else wants to PURGE dude’s house now?!
#10. JUDY GREER (DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES)
Score one for the ubiquitous Judy Greer, the statuesque ginger-headed stunner – who I swear appears on every other TV commercial these days. And when she isn’t fending off that creepily Gothic “Gor-Dawn” fella, the lovely Judy is fighting off a race of pissed-off apes. That’s right y’all, Judy had a small supporting role in the summer-super-hit DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. But that’s not all for Greer in ’14. My girl also appeared in thriller JAMIE MARKS IS DEAD, not to mention was cast in the high-profile JURASSIC WORLD, due next June. Greer also played the principal in the CARRIE redo last year, continued her voice-work in TV show Archer, landed her own sitcom in Married, and is currently filming ANT-MAN. Like I said, chick’s everywhere!
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