Teen movies have always introduced us to the up and coming hotties of tomorrow. Here are 25 babes that made a splash early.
Amanda Bynes has sort of lost the plot a little bit in recent years, but let's remember when she burst onto the scene in a streak of incredibly well-received teen comedies. Most notable was
She's The Man, a modern re-imagining of Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night transplanted to high school. She also shone in
Hairspray and
Easy A. Her month-long retirement from acting was a bit of a shock, but she's back in full force now.
Heroes' Hayden Panettiere made her teen movie debut in the sadly underrated I Love You, Beth Cooper as the titular object of affection. She's just a classic beauty who looks to be avoiding the trap of dirty living that plagues other teen starlets, and she also likes to date dudes who can kick your ass without breaking a sweat.
Credit: Universal Pictures
We're gonna step back a few decades to the golden age of teen movies with Phoebe Cates in
Fast Times At Ridgemont High. This lovely lass is responsible for one of the most iconic moments in film history during a dream sequence, where she steps out of a pool and doffs her bikini top to the self-loving pleasure of Judge Reinhold.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
The future Buffy the Vampire Slayer had one of her juiciest roles in Cruel Intentions, an incredibly nasty teen melodrama based on the same source material as Dangerous Liaisons. As Kathryn Merteuil, she extends her sinful tentacles throughout upper Manhattan prep school life, ruining reputations and getting revenge. Also kissing Selma Blair, which is a bonus.
I think that we'll always have a thing for Elisha Cuthbert - the 24 hottie is one of the foxiest things to grace the big or small screen. She was unforgettable in The Girl Next Door, the hit teen movie about a lucky dude who takes his smut-star neighbor to the Prom. The only bad thing: no nude scenes.
Kat Dennings is a girl who has done a lot of movies in a little time. Her biggest teen movie splashes have been in
Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist and
Charlie Bartlett, but we really wanted to see more of her in
Thor, where she was horrendously wasted. She also graduated from high school at 14, so you know she's a little smart.
John Tucker Must Die certainly isn't in the top tier of teen movies, but it did introduce us to the toothsome Ariell Kebbel, so it can't be all bad. She made her debut in Soul Plane, which is something few actresses can brag about.
Credit: Universal Pictures
Rachael Leigh Cook earned a place in this gallery for starring in Josie & The Pussycats, one of the smartest teen movies ever made. The hilarious anti-product placement message and the presence of Parker Posey and Alan Cumming as the villains make it very worth watching.
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Mandy Moore always seemed like she was trying to move beyond the "teen movie" stigma to be a Real
Actress, but whatever. She shined in the hilarious Christian spoof
Saved! and
Southland Tales, one of my favorite "total mess" movies ever. Plus she's insanely hot and loves MMA.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
Not many people saw 2010's The Virginity Hit, but I thought it was one of the best teen movies of recent memory. It didn't hurt that the girls were all pretty hot, especially Nicole Weaver as the main love interest. Capable of getting dirty with the dudes while still looking good, she is quite a find.
Credit: Universal Pictures
It's funny to think about Jennifer Connelly as a teen movie actress, given what a strikingly beautiful woman she's grown into, but 1991's Career Opportunities had her in a white wifebeater and no bra, making it one of the most important films ever shot by human hands.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Here's another one who never ascended to the heights of her teen movie fame - Alicia Silverstone peaked with
Clueless, but what a peak. Since then, it's been
Scooby-Doo sequels and veganism. I am disappointed.
We first saw Kelli Garner in the quirky teen movie Thumbsucker, about (no surprise) a dude who keeps sucking his thumb as he tries to come to terms with impending adulthood. She kept on the underground tip with Lars And The Real Girl, and has appeared in a pair of Green Day videos.
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Not all teen movies are fluffy feel-good comedies - in the case of 2002's dark Swimfan, Erika Christensen played a horrifying stalker of a high school swim star, and her performance was both deranged and sexy. How often do I get to say that?
Credit: Columbia Pictures
For my money, Jessica Alba has never looked hotter than she did in
Idle Hands. Maybe it was the bloom of youth, maybe it was the short haircut. Whatever it was, this demented comedy-horror flick that marked the start of her career had her looking absolutely stunning.
Emma Stone first won our hearts in Superbad, but she showed she could carry a movie all by herself with Easy A. She's playing Gwen Stacy in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, which should be the jumpstart she needs to get to the next level of superstardom.
"Who the hell is Margarita Levieva," I hear you asking. Do you remember the super-hot Lisa P. in Adventureland? That's Margarita Levieva, dude. Born in the Soviet Union, she began training to be a gymnast at the age of three, because that's what they do over there. Thankfully, she fled to America and became an actress instead.
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You may not associate Lost's Emile De Ravin with teen movies, but she was in one of the most unique and interesting ones of recent years - 2005's noir-influenced Brick. Her willowy good looks served her well in playing the beautiful corpse that kicks off the movie's bizarre tale of drugs and betrayal.
Credit: Universal Pictures
The lovely Milla Jovovich is probably most closely associated with the Resident Evil movies now, but we'll never forget her role as Michelle Burroughs in Dazed And Confused. The Richard Linklater joint is one of the most emotionally poignant teen movies ever made, and Milla owns in the role.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Oh, Li-Lo. You were such a prime piece of jailbait in Mean Girls. It's too bad that you decided to be actual jailbait in the sense that drugs were the bait to make you go to jail. But we still have our memories of Lohan in the prime of her pulchritude in this classic teen flick.
Credit: Universal Pictures
It's virtually a crime that Shannon Elizabeth retired from acting to play poker professionally, but at least we got to see her naked as a jaybird in American Pie. Playing the sexy foreign exchange student, she featured in one of the gross-out comedy's most memorable scenes across from a very lucky Jason Biggs.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
I have a soft spot for Not Another Teen Movie - unlike the plethora of lowbrow spoof movies that have cluttered theaters for the past decade, it actually had something to say about the bizarre universe of teen flicks. And it starred the comely Chyler Leigh as the weird girl who gets hot when she takes off her glasses.
I'm as sick of Michael Cera as the next guy, but I got a chuckle or two from Youth In Revolt, the 2009 comedy in which he foppishly pursued the very fetching Portia Doubleday. Sure, she followed it up with the Big Momma's House sequel, but we all have to pay the bills somehow.
Megan Fox has pretty much aged out of the teen movie demographic, but her last one was a pretty intense flick. Jennifer's Body didn't burn up the box office like people predicted, but it offered some good scares and some sweet shots of Fox's perfect body.
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I have a real soft spot for Roll Bounce - just the absurdity of doing a 70s-style teen rollerskating comedy set in the hood earns it points. It doesn't hurt that the flick casts the luscious Meagan Good as the main character's love interest. I just wish she hadn't gone on to The Love Guru. That movie hurt us all.