Several years ago, whenever a young actress stood out in a movie role, she was almost always labeled as "The Next Julia Roberts." However, as we all know, there's only one Julia Roberts (although her adorable niece, Emma Roberts, is certainly garnering her fair share of attention these days).
There's also only one Sandra Bullock, one Cate Blanchett, one Renee Zellweger, and one Nicole Kidman. The question that keeps arising for me, however, is this one: "Who's next?"
Let's face it, sometimes it's hard to get older. At least it is for me. And it's even harder when I see my peers getting older, as well. For some reason, that's when it really sinks in: there will always be another generation behind us, waiting for their turn at the top.
And when it comes to the next generation of actresses, the challenge, as I see it, is that there seem to be very few women poised to begin taking the roles that Julia, Sandra, Cate, Renee, and Nicole are stepping out of or moving away from. So while these women (definitely women - not girls), are busy moving on to the next phase of their careers, who exactly is taking their place?
Sure, there's a couple of names that come to mind: Kate Winslet & Reese Witherspoon among them. But who else is out there? Who are those young women making up the next generation? And what are they doing to make a name for themselves?
When Meryl Streep, Kathy Bates and Glenn Close moved forward in their careers, the natural transition seemed to happen automatically with Julia, Sandra, Cate, et al. stepping into those roles. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be happening between them and the generation after them.
And when you read about the next, next generation (think Lindsay Lohan), it would appear that the door is really wide open. Sure, there's a few standouts (think Scarlett Johannson and Keira Knightly), and there's a long list of those with potential (including Lindsay), but I'm scared for this generation because no one appears to really be stepping up and standing out.
I'm not sure what has happened that has caused this new generation of young people to appear so lost. Has the business changed that much? Or, do these young actors just have too much time and money on their hands, and too little support from those people on their "business" teams? Either way, something needs to change.
What exactly that change looks like can be open to interpretation. For me, however, it involves two things: (1) This generation of actors accepting full responsibility for their lives and their careers, and (2) All of the agents, managers, lawyers et al., who represent these young actors, having the best interest of their clients at heart, instead of the best interest of their wallets.
Working together, I truly believe that we can help these young people step into their greatness and fulfill their potential, while succeeding in their lives and their careers at the same time.
Ciao,
Sharon
