Chloë Sevigny

Before Chloe Sevigny ever set foot in front of the camera, the indie darling was dubbed the "It Girl" in a seven-page 1994 New Yorker spread by Bright Lights, Big City author Jay McInerney who was taken with her unique style. The year before, Sevigny moved from Connecticut to Brooklyn and was spotted by a fashion editor at Sassy magazine who offered her an internship, which led to modeling jobs and design work. But Sevigny's acting career began when she met aspiring writer-director Harmony Korine in Washington Square Park. Their friendship resulted in her being cast in the controversial art-house hit Kids, which Korine wrote. First cast in a minor role, Sevigny snared the lead part just before filming began and turned in a powerful performance as a teen who learns she is HIV-positive. The blonde bohemian continued to make her name in art-house features in films like Trees Lounge, Gummo (for which she also designed the costumes) and The Last Days of Disco. Hollywood finally took notice in 1999 and gave Sevigny a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Boys Don't Cry, in which she held her own against eventual Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank. But mainstream stardom still eluded her so Sevigny continued to accept roles in eccentric films directed by independent cinema leaders, like Mary Harron (American Psycho), Lars von Trier (Dogville) and Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers). She garnered unwanted headlines for ex-boyfriend Vincent Gallo's 2003 The Brown Bunny, in which she performed some much-gossiped-about on-screen fellatio. Sevigny finally turned to TV in search of financial security and more commercial fare. She auditoned for HBO's Deadwood but was turned down. However, she was later cast in the cable network's polygamy drama Big Love for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2010. ~ Rovi