Rising Stars: Florence Pugh

Ever since watching Lady Macbeth last year I have been a huge fan of Florence Pugh. Along with Eliza Scanlen she is, for me, the most exciting and talented young actress out there - and how wonderful that they will share the screen very soon in Little Women.

Florence was born in 1996. She grew up in Oxford in a creative family, one of four children. Her dad owns a handful of restaurants in the city, her mother was a dancer and her older brother, Toby Sebastian, who is also an actor played the Dornish prince on Game of Thrones.

Rising Stars: Chris Pratt

It's always so cool when things go well for an actor you root for - with Guardians of the Galaxy killing it at the box office everyone is noticing its leading man - Chris Pratt. I am a huge fan of Parks and Recreation, a fantastic show that is still watched by too few and really, everyone should be watching it, where Pratt plays hilarious character of Andy Dwyer. I'm just so happy for him finally having a proper big break into the movie world.

Chris was born on June 21st 1979 (I'm kinda shocked to find out he is not younger, he has such an infectious, youthful energy) in Virginia. His first roles include flicks called Cursed Part 2 and Strangers with Candy, so it wasn't always easy at the beginning. Chris went on to appear on popular series Everwood and The O.C. but it's Parks and Rec that was his big break into getting recognized and finally having a shot at big roles.

Rising Stars: Saoirse Ronan

"Be the person I'm playing. That's what acting is. You're pretending to be someone else."

I noticed I haven't written anything in this feature for a while. Also as with Performances I Love it seems to be dominated by women. I don't even know why that is and I will try to change it soon, but not just yet. Saoirse Ronan seems to be involved in a lot of projects nowadays and the new trailers for Byzantium and Violet and Daisy were released recently, so she is the star of today's post.

Saoirse Una Ronan was born on April 12th 1994 to  parents Paul and Monica Ronan in New York City. Although she was born in the United States, Saoirse moved to Ardattin, Ireland with her parents when she was 3 years old. Her father, Paul Ronan, is an actor in his own right, starring in films like The Devil's Own with Brad Pitt. As a baby, Saoirse accompanied her father to the set of that movie and was carried and held by Pitt.

Rising Stars: Juno Temple

Chances are that even if you don't realize that, you know who Juno Temple is - the girl from Atonement with red curly hair, Selina Kyle's sidekick in The Dark Knight Rises and Cate Blanchett's daughter in Notes on a Scandal. Temple, with her wild hair, innocent face and natural charisma can be in the movie for barely few minutes and you will remember her after the film is over.

Temple was born on July 21, 1989 and she owes her name to butte of Cape Final known as Juno Temple, where her parents went when her mother was pregnant. She is the daughter of a producer Amanda Temple and director Julien Temple.

Born in England, she decided she wanted to be an actress at the age of 4. Her father cast her in his film Vigo but ended up cutting her out of the film. Two years later, age 11, her father cast her in another of his films, Pandaemonium. When she was 15 she won an audition for Notes on a Scandal. That led to her role in Atonement, which went on to win Golden Globe for Best Drama, where Juno played Lola, a girl involved in incident that will change the lives of main characters forever. She also appeared as Anne Boleyn's brother's wife Jane in The Other Boleyn Girl and as Anna in terrific and criminally under seen Mr. Nobody. She is also known for her role in St. Trinian and its sequel and indie movie Dirty Girl.

Rising Stars: Taissa Farmiga

Today in Rising Stars segment I'm looking at the extremely lovely and incredibly talented Taissa Farmiga, younger sister of mesmerizing Vera Farmiga. I first noticed her last fall when I started watching American Horror Story - I love horror films and TV series so this one was a must see for me and every week I'd end up being genuinely freaked out by that excellent series and impressed by the acting of the cast. When I was watching the first episode I thought to myself "Hey, that girl looks just like Vera!" and then it turned out to be her sister. No wonder she is so great - apparently acting talent is something that runs in their blood.

Taissa was born on August 17, 1994. She is the youngest of seven children and is the younger sister of Vera, who is 21 years her senior. Unlike her older sister, Taissa had no interest in becoming an actor. However Vera managed to persuade Taissa to make her acting debut in Vera's directorial-debut Higher Ground - Vera wanted to cast someone who was physically similar to play the younger version of her character. Taissa was 15 and, apart from a school play, had no previous acting experience. The film showcased at the Sundance film festival and she received great reviews. It was after Sundance that Taissa officially decided to pursue acting.

Rising Stars: Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara was born on April 17th 1985. She is one of four children of NFL football team New York Giants executive Timothy Christopher Mara and Kathleen McNulty, the granddaughter of Art Rooney, Sr., the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers football franchise. Her paternal grandfather was Giants founder Tim Mara. As a child Rooney did not want to be an actress but later on in her life, inspired by old movies she took a risk and started to appear in films. Her first film was Urban Legends: Bloody Mary where she starred with her older sister Kate (127 hours, Brokeback Mountain).

She starred in David Fincher's The Social Network as Erica Albricht, Mark Zuckerberg's girlfriend who breaks up with him in the film's opening scene. Though her performance was quite short, Mara was impressive enough there was even some Oscar buzz surrounding her work. For me the look of hurt, pain, shame and betrayal on Erica's face in one of the beginning scenes of the film is simply unforgettable.

Rising Stars: Elle Fanning

Today is the 14th birthday of Elle Fanning, one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood. It's hard for me to believe she is just 14 - perhaps because she is so tall (5' 7" (1.70 m)) or perhaps because she was starring in films for such a long time now. She began her career by playing younger versions of her sister Dakota's characters in "I am Sam" and "Taken". Then she started appearing in other films such as "Babel", "Deja Vu" and "Reservation Road". She played young Daisy in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and two major roles in "Phoebe in Wonderland" and opposite Stephen Doriff in Sophia Coppola's "Somewhere" - that role brought her "Actress of the year" award at Young Hollywood Awards. But the real fame came in 2011 with her magnetic and wonderful performance in "Super 8". For that role she won Spotlight Award at Hollywood Film festival and was nominated for Saturn and Empire Awards. And while I adore Elle's sister Dakota and I consider her work to be very good, none of her performances captivated and impressed me quiet as much as Elle's work in "Super 8".  In 2011 she also appeared in "Twixt" a movie by Francis Ford Coppola nobody seems to have seen and Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo".