Breakout Women of 2017

In 2017 Cuban beauty Ana de Armas appeared in Overdrive, a French action-thriller film, in which she played a character who becomes involved in a plot to steal cars from a ruthless tycoon. While the film received scathing reviews, De Armas' performance received praise from many critics. She then appeared in Blade Runner 2049 playing opposite Ryan Gosling in the role of Joi, a holographic computer program which is the main character's girlfriend. Her performance in the film received high praises and has been characterized as a breakout role. In 2018 Ana will star in Three Seconds, a British film based on the novel of the same name, along with Rosamund Pike, Clive Owen and Joel Kinnaman.

Sofia Boutella had worked primarily as a dancer for Jennifer Lopez and in music videos since 2005. But she quit dancing and went in to acting full time in 2014. Minor roles in Kingsman: The Secret service and Star Trek: Beyond got her noticed but she expanded her appeal big-time in 2017 with an entirely new look in The Mummy, opposite Tom Cruise. Sofia then starred as a French spy and love interest of Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde. The Hollywood Reporter called her Hollywood's Next Big Thing in June 2017 and GQ named her the Best New Action Star of 2017 in December. She will next be seen in Hotel Artemis and Fahrenheit 451 as her star continues to rise.

Some models are good at walking the runway during Paris Fashion Week. Others are good at doing campaigns for retailers like the Gap. Then there are those like Grace Elizabeth who can do both, and more. Grace was a breakout runway star in 2017, walking in over 50 shows in New York, Paris, London and Milan. At the same time she was the face of the new campaign for the Gap. She did all of this and more while also being a spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret PINK. In an industry where success is sometimes measured by the number of Vogue covers one gets, Grace snagged the covers of the Russian, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Mexican editions of Vogue in 2017. She ended the year with a nomination for Model of the Year for Models.com's annual year-end awards. This 20-year-old Florida native will be atop the fashion world soon enough.

We'd previously seen Gal Galdot in "Batman v Superman" and "Keeping Up with the Joneses." But nothing would prepare us for astronomical success she and the movie "Wonder Woman" would have 2017. She was also one of the few bright spots in the somewhat disappointing Justice League. Gadot now has three more films in the pipeline that will see her as Wonder Woman. Gal went straight to the top of the A-List in 2017 and it looks like she'll stay there for a long, long time.

Tiffany Haddish had been a working stand-up comic for years. But she hit the big time in 2017 with a star turn in "Girls Trip." She also had her first Showtime comedy special and became the first female African-American comic to host Saturday Night Live. Tiffany then made Variety's Top 10 comics of 2017 list. And looking ahead, she has four movies lined up for 2018.

Netflix's "Iron Fist" largely fell flat with viewers and Marvel fans, but they couldn't get enough of Jessica Henwick, who played martial-arts expert Colleen Wing. She enjoyed another surge of fan interest when "The Defenders" debuted in late summer. Aside from kicking ass with the Marvel, Henwick kicked ass in the seventh season of "Game of Thrones," reprising her role as Nymeria Sand. She also appeared in the second season of British thriller "Fortitude" and in 2018 will star with Kristen Stewart in "Underwater."

The long-awaited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 gave movie fans the return one of the big screen's most entertaining superhero teams. And it turned out, it was a newcomer to the squad, Mantis, played by French-Canadian actress Pom Klementieff, who ended up stealing the movie's funniest scenes. She also starred in the indie hit, Ingrid Goes West. Looking forward Pom is on board for Avengers: Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

It seems no other new TV show this year sparked as many conversations as Netflix's "13 Reasons Why." Aussie Katherine Langford's portrayal of suicidal teen Hannah Baker helped make the show a necessary watch, and Langford a star. She will follow up in 2018 with the role of Leah Burke in the film "Love, Simon" as well as a second season of "13 Reasons Why" on Netflix.

Kathryn Newton had quite a year in 2017. She made supporting roles in HBO's "Big Little Lies" and AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire" into star vehicles. On the film side, her roles in the indie sensations "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and "Lady Bird" cemented her status as a major talent. She ended the year playing Amy March in BBC's adaptation of "Little Women." 2018 projects for Newton include "Wayward Sisters," the "Supernatural" spin off from the CW, the teen sex comedy "Blockers" and "Ben is Back" where she will play the daughter of Julia Robert's character. And if that weren't enough, 20-year-old Kathryn has been cast as the female lead in the upcoming "Detective Pikachu" movie opposite Ryan Reynolds.

Lili Reinhart & Camila Mendes

The CW's "Riverdale" cast two unknown actresses to play the iconic characters of Betty and Veronica. Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes were suddenly thrust into the spotlight and handled it like seasoned pros. Talk show appearances, magazine covers and an advertising campaign for Bongo Jeans followed the success of "Riverdale." Both of them had fewer than 100 thousand Instagram followers before "Riverdale" premiered in January and more than 5 million by year's end. During the summer hiatus from "Riverdale" they each filmed a movie: Lili will star opposite Elle Fanning in "Galveston" and Cami will be the lead in "The New Romantic." And of course they will continue to play Betty and Veronica for years to come.