NEED TO KNOW

The Girls of Summer 2009

by Matt McDaniel    April 7th, 2009

Megan Fox She'd been working steadily on TV and in films for over five years, but all it took was that shot of her leaning over the open hood of a car in "Transformers" to turn Megan Fox into a bona fide movie star. Since then, she's been seen on countless red carpets and magazine covers, and was chosen as FHM's "Sexiest Woman in the World" of 2008. With her sultry features and cascading brunette locks (not to mention her penchant for tattoos), Megan was quickly pegged as "the next Angelina Jolie."

Megan is set to conquer the summer box office season again this year in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which reunites her with Shia LaBeouf and those gigantic robots in disguise. By the looks of the latest trailer -- which you can watch exclusively below -- the second installment could very well be the biggest hit of the summer.

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Watch the Exclusive Trailer for 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'

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But if Megan Fox is actually the next Angelina, then who will the next Megan? This summer brings a big roster of new movies, and with them, some talented and gorgeous actresses are hoping to break out into big-screen success. Here are nine up-and-comers set to shake up Hollywood this movie season.

 

Lynn Collins LYNN COLLINS
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1)
Texas-born and Julliard-trained, Collins had just a few credits to her name when she auditioned for a small role in an adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." She ended up getting the female lead of Portia opposite Al Pacino. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is her biggest mainstream role to date, and apparently she really does like her guys hairy and tough. She's married to Steven Strait, the prehistoric hunk from the movie "10,000 B.C."

 

Zoe Saldana ZOE SALDANA
Star Trek (May 8)
The bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise can be a bit of a boy's club, but Zoe Saldana is used to being the only woman on a ship full of guys. She played the pirate lass Anamaria in the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Zoe did talk to the original Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, to prepare to take over the role, but in this movie she plays a more integral part than in previous ones. Even hardcore Trekkies will be surprised where Uhura boldly goes in this flick.

 

Moon Bloodgood MOON BLOODGOOD
Terminator Salvation (May 21)
Korinna Moon Bloodgood's parents met while her American father was stationed in Korea. She started off as a dancer, became a Laker Girl at 17, and appeared in music videos. She got the lead in the short-lived series "Day Break," which lead to bigger roles in movies like "Eight Below." In "Terminator Salvation," Moon plays a soldier in the human resistance who becomes involved with Marcus, a mysterious man with no memory of how he got to the future.

 

Alison Lohman ALISON LOHMAN
Drag Me to Hell (May 29)
Looking young is certainly an advantage for an actress in Hollywood, but for Alison Lohman it's nearly been a liability. She played teenagers in 2002's "White Oleander," 2003's "Matchstick Men," and 2006's "Flicka" (when she was actually 27 years old). But in "Drag Me to Hell," director Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre, she gets the grown-up role of a mortgage officer who forecloses on the wrong woman. That lady puts a curse on her which will send her to Hell in three days unless she can find a way to reverse it.

 

Anna Friel ANNA FRIEL
Land of the Lost (June 5)
Anna Friel started acting on TV in the U.K. at age 13, and has barely taken a break since. But she was mostly unfamiliar to American audiences until her role as the resurrected beekeeper named Chuck on the show "Pushing Daisies." She was nominated for a Golden Globe, but the show was cancelled after two seasons. Anna's moving on, though, in the big-budget comedy adaptation of the '70s cult kids' show, "Land of the Lost," opposite Will Ferrell.

 

Olivia Wilde OLIVIA WILDE
Year One (June 19th)
Olivia Wilde claims she is "really critical and analytical," a trait apparently passed down from her parents, who are both acclaimed journalists. And it seems to suit her as one of the medical mystery solvers on "House." She also has had some real-life preparations for her role as Princess Inanna in the Biblical comedy, "Year One." Her husband, Tao Ruspoli -- in addition to being an award-winning filmmaker and musician -- is an Italian prince.

 

Hayden Panettiere HAYDEN PANETTIERE
I Love You, Beth Cooper (July 10)
Hayden's biggest movie role to date as the "Beth Cooper" of the title will hit theaters a month before her twentieth birthday. That's pretty young for a movie star, but not when you consider she's been working since she was four months old. Of course, she became a nationwide sensation playing the indestructible cheerleader on "Heroes." For her first leading movie role, though, she's going against type; she's playing a destructible cheerleader.

 

Rachel Nichols RACHEL NICHOLS
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (August 7)
Rachel Nichols is a force to be reckoned with. She stands 5'10", she graduated from Columbia University with a double major, and she was an international fashion model. When she decided to try acting, she got the first role she ever auditioned for (a bit part on "Sex and the City") and went on to fill in for Jennifer Garner on "Alias." In August, you'll see her get tough as Scarlett, G.I. Joe's counter intelligence expert in the fight against Cobra. Rachel can also been seen looking a little green around the gills (and everywhere else, for that matter) as an alien in "Star Trek."

 

Vanessa Hudgens VANESSA HUDGENS
Bandslam (August 14)
Can anyone who has already been on Forbes' "High Earners Under 30" list and twice been one of People Magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" still have a breakout movie role? Yes, when it means stepping away from the "High School Musical" franchise that made you a star. Vanessa's costar (and more) Zac Efron did it when "17 Again" opened big, and she's hoping to match his success with "Bandslam." Though the movie -- where Vanessa is the guitarist in a battle of the bands -- will be a little more rockin' than her days at East High, there are plans for her and her costars to do a live tour to support the movie, just like she did with "HSM."