Chloë Sevigny

Before she ever set foot in front of the camera, this indie darling was dubbed the "It Girl" in a seven-page New Yorker spread by Bright Lights, Big City author Jay McInerney who saw her walking down the street and was taken with her unique style. After a couple of modeling jobs, Sevigny made her film debut in the controversial, out-of-control-teens-with-HIV flick Kids, penned by her on-again, off-again boyfriend Harmony Korine. The blonde bohemian continued to make her name in art-house features, turning in fine if indistinct performances in films like Trees Lounge as a teen in love with an older man; Boys Don't Cry, as a naive girl whose boyfriend is actually female, a turn that earned her an Oscar nod; and The Brown Bunny, in which she performed some much-gossiped-about on-screen oral sex on her director/costar/rumored boyfriend Vincent Gallo. Turning down mainstream offers in favor of eccentric fare, Sevigny worked with some of indie cinema's most celebrated directors (Lars von Trier, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron) and when she finally did accept a more commercial gig, it was on the decidedly offbeat HBO polygamy drama Big Love.