Top 30 Actresses I Can't Wait To Work With!!

How could anyone make a list of actresses they are dying to work with and not start it off with Meryl?!

Seriously, how?

She's simply what every actor aspires to be. The. Best. There. Is.

Few actresses have the grace and beauty that once typified the projected image of Hollywood. If anyone has the glitz and glamor today, it's Nicole.

Any actress that can get into the skin of Rob Schneider and then turn around and knock us all out with "The Notebook" is in a class all their own.

"The Constant Gardener" made me hate and then fall in love with Rachel Weisz. She has great power that ascends to a height far greater than the roles she's been cast in.

I love Amy Adams. Who doesn't love Amy Adams? Seriously, if you don't love Amy Adams, there's something seriously wrong with you.

A brilliant, young actress who isn't afraid of taking risks. She could have made a solid career of playing it safe, but to her credit, she seems to have a good sense of her own potential and refuses to rest on her laurels.

I find this list much harder to write than the one I made about the actors I want to work with. It's so hard to remain completely nonpartisan here. First of all, women have less opportunity since they don't generally have parts written for them that compare to those for men. Secondly, when you're watching Kate Beckinsale doing high kicks in tight vinyl pants, your objectivity tends to go out the window. So bare with me, will you?

"Monsters Ball." The movie sucked, but Halle Berry gave a performance that was rather remarkable on every level. I want to write a movie that stretches her like that one did. Only make it good.

She's a phenom. She's been acting since she was - what, a fetus? Only actress to ever challenge the ruling against in vitro Oscars.

Ellen Page is wry, quirky, and capable of displaying a wide array of emotional range with a curl of her lip or a change in those big eyes of hers. She's spunky without being fiery, intelligent without being condescending, and cool without being crazy.

It's pretty crazy to think that the world fell in love with this girl when she was 12, going on 13, but we did. I think it's time for us all to finally admit it, Hit-Girl was the dream girl we wish we had a poster of when we were going through puberty.

It's mind boggling to think of how many hearts she'll break in four years. You know, when she hits the age of consent and all.

If Shakespeare lived today, and assuming the sonnets he wrote about the young man weren't - let's say, in his natural voice, I think he'd be below the balcony of Emma Thompson, trying to court her to be his Juliet. You know, assuming he didn't want a boy to play the part.

I don't think I'd be too out of line if I confessed this to you all. I'd shoot Reagan to get a chance at casting Jodie.

Okay! Fine! I admit it! J. Love is predominantly on here because I've had a crush on her since "Party of Five." There, I said it!

BUT... It's not the only reason she's on here. I've also had a crush on her when she was in "Heartbreakers," "The Tuxedo," "Ghost Whisperer," heck, even "Garfield!"

Again, this is an actress who hasn't been offered too many opportunities to show her chops. Good for us that she doesn't sit around waiting for offers. She has carved out her own path, and she's been both commercially and critically successful.

I'm from the generation that grew up watching "E.T." Who would have thought that all these years later I'd be marveling at movies that little Gertie had starred in, produced, and even directed. Even at six years of age, she had the foresight to learn what she could from Mr. Speilberg.

Witty and charming, intelligent and fierce, Kathy Bates is the woman you cast if you want someone to give the audience a full meal instead of a snack. She caters the party and brings the beverages.

Along with Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchette brings the glamor that is otherwise buried somewhere on Sunset Boulevard. She doesn't wait for people to write great roles for women. Nope, she'll play a man too!

Even with the brilliance of casting in the series, Helena Bonham Carter manages to steal every scene she's in in "Harry Potter." She's a refined, classical actress who has a freshness that seems to reinvent our very language.

The first female head writer on SNL. She's snarky but kind, offbeat but desirable, the bespectacled girl we only wanted to be friends with in high school but the hot teacher we wanted to seduce in college.

A great actress with a great laugh. She's so good, she opted not to get the boob job most actresses would have tripped over themselves to get to play Erin Brokovich and instead opted for good acting.

There was a time when America was mad about Helen Hunt. Now I think most of us are just mad that she's disappeared. WTF, H. H.? You think you can win us all over in 2000 and then take a three year long break, only to divorce us like you did to Paul Buchman!

She was in "Ghostbusters" for heaven's sake! I'll go on record right now and say I will cast ANYONE from "Ghostbusters." That includes the guy in the orange jumper that just spins around and around by the fountain. BUT. . .

Sigourney Weaver has a strength few actresses have, but she never losses her femininity, which is often sacrificed by others. She's like Kathy Bates with a killer body. No, that's not a great analogy. Sure, Kathy Bates can break a man's ankles with a sledgehammer, but only Sigourney Weaver can take on a dripping alien the way she does. Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez and Angelina Jolie wish they were half the hero Weaver pretends to be.

If you read my "actors" list, you already know about my post-college love affair with "Even Stevens." Yep, a grown man watching Disney Channel marathons of a teen comedy sitcom. You have to understand, Shia and Christy are really, really good at what they do.

Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are raising a child together.

True story, yes, but also an incredible concept for a movie! Oh, and how we all laughed and laughed.

Amy Poehler can pee in a sink or make a perfectly normal man named Jerry feel inadequate, but she never ever loses her likability.

This heavenly creature has become a titanic star, but it was her turn as Ophelia that put her on this list. She was twenty years old and playing across from Kenneth Branagh and his crew of Shakespeare monsters, and she more than carried her own.

Oh, and her spot on "Extras" kinda cemented the deal for me.

How can one person be a T.V. star and one of the biggest movie stars simultaneously? Well, you have to be a good writer, a great actress, and have an appeal that gets you the attention necessary. That trifecta seems to be solely limited to Kristen Wiig.

Nope, Lucy didn't do it. Carol Burnett didn't do it. Although, I've got to admit, I'm starting to cast an impossible sequel to "Bridesmaids" right now in my head.

Interestingly enough, I don't lust for Scarlett Johansson in the way that so many others do. Even huge movie stars go on and on about how hot she is. Honestly, I was reluctant to list her here based solely on that.

However, her abilities make her place on this list an undeniable inevitability. She holds her own and lights up every scene she's in with an effortless charm that few possess. She simply has that it factor we're all looking for, and she puts it to good use.

No where will you find an actress who is more mentally, physically, and spiritually prepared for this work. Her education, fitness, and faith have culminated in roles like Nina Sayers, Queen Amadala, and Jane Foster. And even though she's been acting since she was a little girl, I think most of us know that her true potential lies in her future.

The first movie star I ever ran into in Hollywood.

I have admired many, many of her roles, and her part in "Snake Eyes" had me fantasizing for weeks.

She's a superhero that evokes nostalgia. She's a mom that can kick dad's butt. She's giving and caring and oh so cool.