Some actresses are famous because they’re everywhere. Some because they’ve been everywhere for so long they feel woven into pop culture itself. And some because right now—this exact moment—they sit at the intersection of talent, relevance, cultural conversation, and visibility.
Fame isn’t just box office numbers or awards. It’s about being recognizable. It’s about staying power. It’s whether your name works as shorthand. With that in mind, here are the actresses who genuinely define global fame right now—and how they got there.
Zendaya
She might’ve started as a Disney child star, but Zendaya refused to be boxed in. She quickly shifted her focus and established a significant reputation for herself.
She’s wrecking us emotionally in Euphoria one day, making us laugh in Spiderman another day, and she’s at the center of the Dune franchise. Not to mention her ability to dominate a red carpet with her fashion choices. Zendaya doesn’t just have fame, she’s got gravitas.
Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie’s rise to fame was all about momentum. She started out on Australian TV in a soap opera called Neighbours, then made a jump across the ocean to the American TV series Pan Am, and then came her big break—The Wolf Of Wall Street. That really launched her movie career, and Margot made sure not to get stuck in that “hot new blonde” role for long, she used the momentum and got strategic.
Margot doesn’t only star in movies, she’s making sure she’s increasingly becoming a person who makes movies happen. She started a production company LuckyChap with a goal to make more female-focused projects and chose to shape the conversation in media instead of just keeping up with it. And then Barbie happened, which wasn’t just a hit—it was a full-blown cultural weather system. Throw in big recent swings like Babylon and her ever-growing producer slate, and you get a very modern kind of stardom: the kind where you don’t wait to be chosen. You choose yourself.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson possesses a level of fame that warrants caution. Playing the part of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise basically hardwired her into the brains of an entire generation (and potentially more than one). However, similar to the intelligent character of Hermione that she portrayed, Emma never aimed to become a celebrity merely for the sake of fame.
She chose her next projects (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Little Women) because that’s what she was interested in, not because it was going to be the next big thing or it was good for the brand. She doesn’t care about celebrity buzz. In fact, her next choice was one that Hollywood would never understand. She stepped back from acting and put her weight into activism, education, and sustainability. Her public perception grew beyond just being an actress into something bigger and broader. And that’s why even though she’s not always in your face, her fame still holds and hits like a reference everyone understands.
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett is so famous that people forget that there was a time before Black Widow, and she actually started out as a child actress. But that’s the thing with Scarlett, her rise to fame wasn’t an accident—it was a slow progression of smart choices, pure talent, and undeniable charisma. Lost in Translation was probably the turning point in her career, where she stopped being the “talented young actress” and became a star. Each subsequent movie served as a crucial milestone in her career, solidifying her status as an A-lister.
And then she joined the Marvel Universe as Black Widow and entered mega-stardom. At this point, you could see a poster with just a silhouette, and people would still know it’s her. But she didn’t stop there, in between the Marvel blockbusters, she still showed up in very different kinds of movies like Jojo Rabbit, Marriage Story, Her, Asteroid City, etc. These types of choices prove that she’s not just famous, she’s good. Her type of celebrity doesn’t feel like a trend, it feels permanent.
Emma Stone
Emma Stone started out as “the funny, charming one” and then quietly proved she’s also the most talented person in the room. She came up through comedy roles, ones that make you feel like you know her, and she used that momentum to level up.
She was already famous and very recognizable before, but La La Land turned her into awards-season royalty. Yet Poor Things is the real statement piece: weird, bold, fully committed, and with zero interest in being palatable. That’s the thing with Emma Stone—she doesn’t chase safe choices. She chases interesting ones. And at this point, her fame runs on a kind of audience trust that’s hard to manufacture: if her name is on it, people assume it’s worth watching.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence was launched into stardom by the Hunger Games franchise. She became so famous so quickly that people who’ve never read the books or watched those movies still knew who she was. And then she went and won an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook and tripped on her way up the stage. That’s like winning the jackpot of movies while also winning the best meme on the internet at the same time.
She’s been in so many movies since, but what makes her stick isn’t just her resume but her ability to live through peak internet celebrity and come out on the other side still herself. When you watch interviews with her she’s still the same warm, funny, witty Jennifer Lawrence but even more self-aware and sharper. These days she’s choosing her next moves instead of going along with Hollywood, and we love this new more mature Jennifer.
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway might’ve started out as the awkward teen princess of Genovia with big hair and big feelings, but she pivoted pretty quickly from cute to unforgettable with roles in The Devil Wears Prada and, of course, her Oscar-winning role in Les Miserables.
The Dark Knight Rises was an interesting choice for her, and Interstellar really added to her credibility as an actress. More recently, she’s been having a very specific kind of renaissance—the one where a new generation rediscovers you, the fashion world never stops loving you, and your name alone still sells the idea of a movie. Anne’s fame isn’t a phase. It’s a long game, and she’s been winning it for years.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston doesn’t need an introduction. Thanks to Friends she’s not just a celebrity, she’s a pop-culture fixture. Rachel Green’s haircut became a global event. Her love life became tabloid infrastructure. Even people who’ve never watched a full episode can still picture her instantly, which is basically the definition of real-world fame.
She could’ve easily faded into sitcom nostalgia, but Jennifer is bigger than that. She’s starred in movies, she’s won awards, but she also moved on from Friends without abandoning her love of the cast and the show itself. She built a whole other second act of her career with The Morning Show, where she moved away from that image of “America’s sweetheart” and became more of a “woman who knows exactly what’s going on behind the scenes.” Jennifer isn’t trying to follow trends, she’s just doing her thing and trending cause the media never stopped paying attention.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman has the kind of career that makes “child actor” stories look like they can actually end well. She broke out insanely young in Léon: The Professional and somehow managed to grow up in the industry without turning into a cautionary tale. Instead, she became the blueprint for “serious actress” fame—the kind that comes with both global recognition and actual respect.
She’s moved between massive franchises (Star Wars, Thor) and prestige roles like it’s no big deal, but the real cement was Black Swan—that full-body, no-net performance that turned her into an Oscar-winning pop-culture reference point. More recently, she’s kept one foot in glossy mainstream visibility and the other in sharper, weirder work like May December. Her fame isn’t loud, but it’s permanent — the kind that doesn’t need constant attention because it’s already built into the story of modern Hollywood.
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh didn’t gradually “work her way” up, instead, she showed up and started taking roles as if she owned the place. Early on, she captivated audiences with her intense, high-control performances (Lady Macbeth), and subsequently, she found a unique place where critics, directors, and the internet unanimously acknowledged her as a genuine talent.
What makes her fame feel so current is how effortlessly she moves between prestige and blockbuster. One minute she’s breaking your heart in something serious, the next she’s standing in the middle of a cultural event like Oppenheimer or turning up in Dune: Part Two and still managing to feel like the person you can’t stop watching. She’s also got that modern-star quality of being both glamorous and brutally human—funny online, blunt in interviews, and never trying to sand herself down. Florence isn’t just famous because she’s booked. She’s famous because she has presence, and you can’t teach that.
So… who’s the most famous?
There isn’t one answer—and that’s the point. Fame in 2025 isn’t a throne; it’s a rotating spotlight. Sometimes it belongs to whoever dominates the box office. Sometimes it belongs to whoever defines the cultural mood. Sometimes, it’s attributed to a name that has remained constant.
These women don’t all hold the spotlight at the same angle—but they’re the ones it keeps coming back to.