favorite new “She’s so cool!” actress

I’m all about the actors, you know, and believe that movies are only as good as the people playing the characters. If I see Christian Bale or Jodie Foster or Harrison Ford in a film, I expect it to be a quality production with a complex story. If it’s a movie featuring Steven Seagal, that’s an entirely different animal. That’s just the way it is. And while actors can certainly jump between serious drama and explosive action without damaging careers, there is still an expectation from certain actors that doesn’t allow many to transcend or descend past a certain level of craftsmanship. But thank Hollywood when they do!
 
Today I read a single blurb in EW’s Fall Movie Preview that said, “Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington star as Mossad agents hunting Nazis to collect on the THE DEBT.” Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington?!! Bless him, but Worthington just hasn’t reach a high level of esteem with me. I had great hopes for him when I first saw Terminator Salvation, but Avatar and then ::sigh:: Clash of the Titans put him firmly into a lesser category than people like James McAvoy, who can play frivolous roles and still come off as skilled and graceful. Matching Worthington with Mirren is either a stroke of genius or the craziest idea ever. And yet…
 
This makes Helen Mirren officially my favorite new “She’s so frakkin’ cool!” actress of the year! I mean, it’s Dame Helen! She does Shakespeare and British aristocrats. She’s played the Queen of England. The first Elizabeth and the reigning queen. She’s royalty in her own right. But this year our current generation has the privilege of seeing Mirren in a whole new light. First up is RED, in which she plays a former CIA agent who is part of a team now targeted by the Agency and on the run for their lives. Her team members? Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich. The film? Based on a graphic novel from DC Comics. Seriously? That’s pretty cool. She even went to Comic-Con this year to promote her work. Seriously. She’s also currently filming a role in the new Captain America movie. Seriously. The woman is cool. I never really put her in the same box as Angelina Jolie before, but I’m thinking Mirren just might be a great role model for Jolie! I have no problem imagining them cut from the same cloth. At least, not anymore.
 

image from ComingSoon.net and linked to source
 

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September Listography | Day Seven

 

100 things that I love in the world — part 2
 
1.  that today is the birthday of my best good friend, Cerella
2.  that we have so much in common despite a 10-year age difference
3.  that we have become best friends over the past 10+ years without ever meeting in person
4.  that she accepts my random thought processes and sometimes finds them inspirational
5.  that she first contacted me because she loved my writing
6.  that her own writing dream was finally realized this year
7.  that she reminds me to write for myself first and not for perfection
8.  that we share an obsessive love of pop culture
9.  that she allows me to gush over celebrity crushes even when she doesn’t see the appeal
10. that she introduces me to British film projects that I might never check out on my own
11. that I think of her every time I watch a Heath Ledger film
12. that we can have texting marathons one day and then not feel slighted if we don’t contact each other for days afterward
13. that we both appreciate Atretes from Mark of the Lion series but she doesn’t begrudge me the Russell-Crowe-in-Gladiator comparison even though one is a German barbarian and the other is Roman
14. that she loves Disney with all of her heart and can’t wait to reintroduce me to it later this year
15. that she gets very excited when I branch out and try new foods
16. that both of us are afraid to speak on the phone for fear we’ll run off at the mouth and never be able to hang up
17. the fact that #16 is not a bad thing
18. that we share the same faith in Jesus Christ and One True God
19. that we each consider each other to be just like a sister
20. that I managed to complete her birthday gift in exactly the way I intended… and on time!
 
Happy Birthday, Love!    You are the absolute greatest!
 

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this particular topic was taken from list-maker extraordinaire Andrea at hulaseventy while My Listography was inspired by the site of the same name