Honourable Mention: Zooey Deschanel
Not included on the main list because, well, she isn't really "heroically-aligned," but I think we're coming to a point now where Zooey Deschanel's kooky Manic Pixie Dream Girl schtick is beginning to wear thin. Don't get me wrong: I'm a fan of Deschanel and will never turn down the opportunity to gawp at her, but how many times can she ever-so-slightly tweak the character that she epitomised in
500 Days Of Summer? The answer, of course, is "not many more times." This may sound like an insane suggestion, because who really wants to see Zooey Deschanel playing a bad guy? But at this point in her career, I think it would be genuinely awesome if - out of nowhere - this actress just threw caution to the wind and bagged a role that went completely against her established type. Crack whore? Ice-cold assassin? Supervillain in an upcoming Marvel movie? Could she pull it off? I dunno. I'd like to see her try, though. Go on, Zooey: you can do it.