Fame where fame is due

What's the magic dust that separates the true A-listers from a sea of hard-working Hollywood actresses doomed to indie gigs, best-friend roles and the occasional TV spot?

Sheesh, don't ask me.

The best I can figure out is that fame truly deserves its reputation for being fickle. Because when I consider my favorite actresses — talented young women I'd like to see lighting up the big screen — the average movie-goer is more likely to recognize their faces than their names.

Not that I don't love Angelina Jolie or Cameron Diaz, but for every $5 million salary they rake in (and I'm lowballing there), I could probably hire several of my beloved B-listers and have enough left over to pay the cinematographer.

True, some cult faves make the jump to mainstream stardom (we're thinking of you, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Scarlett Johansson) while others navigate the fine line between art and, say, “Wedding Crashers” (that means you, Rachel McAdams).

But for every deserving woman who gets her huge break, I can think of a half-dozen more who ought to be a household name. So many, in fact, that I can't even begin to list them all here. (Apologies in advance to Kerry Washington, Jena Malone, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Bergl and many, many others.)

I've settled on six underappreciated women who are simply irresistible on-screen. As you consider them, remember what Gabrielle Union, one of the six, told Kirsten Dunst in “Bring It On.”

"We've had the best squad around for years but no one's been able to see what we can do," she said. "Oh, but you better believe all that's going to change this year."

Right on. May all these ladies find great scripts and even better directors.

And if you're wondering about all the guys who find themselves in the same boat, we'll be honoring them next month.

Julie Delpy
Perhaps you weren't sure who she was, but chances are you remember the first moment you saw Julie Delpy on screen.  Maybe it was in “Killing Zoe,” when she played an art student daylighting as a bank teller moonlighting as a prostitute. Maybe it was in “Before Sunrise,” when she played the cool French chick of our Europass dreams.

This week, Delpy gets to break Bill Murray's heart in Jim Jarmusch's “Broken Flowers.” It's her sexy mix of casual approachability, slight disshevelment and, yes, Gallic attitude that makes her so compelling. She's lived among Americans long enough to know that a Frenchwoman who exudes a certain warmth, rather than the coolness we expect, will win a lot of hearts. Even if she's playing a character as screwed up as her recurring role as Nicole on “ER.”

Her roles are compelling because she brings so much texture to them.  She might have been damaged goods in “Zoe,” but it wasn't a big stretch to understand why Eric Stoltz was sweet on her. He calls her a whore, she smacks him, he gets a crush — typical romance, no? And even if “Sunrise” was an exercise in post-adolescent wish fulfillment, Delpy brought enough wistfulness to Celine that we all felt a bit crushed when she and Hawke's Jesse parted ways. (Doubly so when they met again a decade later in “Before Sunset.”)

True, Delpy has to answer for a clunker like “But I'm a Cheerleader,” but she can always point to her stunning turn in Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" series. Such is the life of a supporting actress: Sometimes you're Oscar fodder, and sometimes the work just plain sucks.

But when Delpy speaks perfect colloquial English with her slightly-perfumed accent, and flashes her winsome smile, you remain glued to the screen.

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