Fametracker :: 2 Stars 1 Slot :: Battle of the Battle of Heirs Apparent :: Kirsten Dunst vs. Julia Stiles vs. Maggie Gyllenhaal: First off, let's get this question out of the way: Of course we need a new Julia Roberts. Hollywood, obviously, can't function without a go-to romantic-comedy queen.Roberts was a mere twenty-three years old huh when Pretty Woman opened in 1990, and she immediately established herself as America's Sweetheart. And, in the ensuing fourteen years, no one female movie star has risen to challenge her seriously.
Kirsten Dunst is now twenty-one. Julia Stiles is twenty-two. Maggie Gyllenhaal is twenty-six. And all three are, of course, starring this week in Mona Lisa Smile, in which they play the rapt students to Roberts's wise teacher.Make no mistake: Roberts is still the star, but she's no longer the ingenue.
...Dunst, for her part, didn't defeat Reese Witherspoon so much as cede to her a certain niche of disposable fluff comedies, which Witherspoon -- her own impressive acting chops notwithstanding -- seems all too happy to dominate.
Gyllenhaal is, in every respect, the dark horse: she's the oldest, the brunette-iest, and the least conventionally good-looking. But who knows? A strong showing as the vamp in Smile might yet vault her to Next Roberts status, as opposed to simply Next Sherilyn Fenn status.