7 women who rock on screen: from Lupita Nyong’o to Michelle Yeoh

It’s inspiring to see so much progress in pop culture when it comes to a new wave of film and music icons, towers of strength and femininity. Now front and centre, this generation of stars is taking charge and proving catsuits and high heels are a footnote best left in the past.  

Built on decades of empowerment, this refreshing and long overdue change in direction means women can kick ass without pandering to sex appeal or outmoded stereotypes of yesteryear. Here are seven bad-ass battle-ready stars you don’t want to mess with… 

Shania Twain: Women Who Rock

Shania Twain became a global superstar after the release of her record-breaking and Grammy award-winning album Come On Over in 1997. Featuring seven tracks that cracked the Billboard Top 100, it became the bestselling studio album by a solo female artist of all time, selling more than 40 million copies worldwide. Unapologetically herself, Twain embraced her curves, harnessing her “sexy and smart” appeal to become an icon for empowerment without abandoning her femininity. Described by her peers as a “bad-ass”, Twain managed to straddle country and pop music, catapulting her hit album into the mainstream. 

Featured in Women Who Rock, the pop star’s legacy remains firmly intact, still hugely influential. Able to infuse attitude and personality into her lyrics, Twain shines through in her music whether singing a love ballad or rock song. Having started performing from the age of eight in a small mining town, she sang Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar and Heart covers before launching into her own music. Undeterred by rejection, Twain became fearless and unstoppable in her quest for respect and success. 

Emily Blunt: A Quiet Place Part II

There’s no one quite like Emily Blunt. After a critically acclaimed breakthrough performance in the period drama Young Victoria, it’s like Blunt automatically unlocked every door in Hollywood. Her defiant spirit, understated confidence and versatility are her secret weapon, whether she’s teaching Tom Cruise how to blast alien scum in Edge of Tomorrow or stealthily dodging sound-hunting extraterrestrial creatures in A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place II. 

Pairing up with real-life husband, John Krasinski, the A Quiet Place series has grown in stature from a post-apocalyptic horror thriller to an epic horror thriller to rival the likes of I Am Legend and Jurassic Park. As its headline act, Blunt has led the charge as Evelyn, playing the courageous mother of a young family who must navigate their path to safety as the odds of survival continue to stack up against them. 

You’ll also see her taking on the forces stacked against her character in the Western series The English, now streaming on Showmax.

Zoë Kravitz: Kimi

American singer-songwriter and actor Lenny Kravitz is the guy who brought us the smash hit Are You Gonna Go My Way?. He and Lisa Bonet’s daughter, Zoë, decided to go both of her parents’ ways when she became a singer and an actor. Being the daughter of a rock star, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Zoë Kravitz wouldn’t kick ass. 

The luminous star of Steven Soderbergh’s apartment-based thriller, Kimi, she shows she’s more than up to the task with a commanding and defiant lead performance. When Angela discovers a sinister audio recording that points to an unreported violent crime, the agoraphobic young tech worker must conquer her fear and take to the streets of Seattle to confront her callous Siri-type company in order to see that justice is served. 

Jessica Chastain: The 355

One of our generation’s finest acting talents, Jessica Chastain has trailblazed her way through Hollywood over the last decade, finally winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Having conquered the world of drama, the prolific actor set her sights on action, demonstrating she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. This is what prompted her to star in the sleek espionage crime mystery thriller Ava and more recently the Mission Impossible-inspired spy actioner The 355. 

Starring as CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown, likely a tip of the hat to Murphy Brown, Chastain showcases a much more physical side to her performance range. From close combat to sharpshooting, her killer instinct shines through as the no-nonsense secret agent assembles an elite team of women in a bid to eliminate a secret weapon with the power to wreak absolute havoc across the globe, tracking the device from Paris and Morocco to Shanghai. 

Lupita Nyong’o: Us

Lupita Nyong’o burst onto the scene with an Oscar-winning supporting performance in 12 Years A Slave. Having decorated her mantlepiece with an Oscar so early in her career, she’s effectively been given licence to do whatever the hell she pleases! While Nyong’o has taken the full tour of “Disneyland” with Black Panther, Star Wars, Queen of Katwe and The Jungle Book, her best work has been in zombie comedy Little Monsters and Jordan Peele’s horror thriller Us. 

Nyong’o headlines this edgy and dark horror mystery thriller about a family of four whose breezy beach vacation turns into a terrifying nightmare when their doppelgängers descend upon them. An ambitious and inventive psychological home invasion horror in the wake of Get Out, Nyong’o plays Adelaide as well as her sinister “twin”, Red, delivering a critically acclaimed and award-winning performance of two halves.  

Michelle Yeoh: Gunpowder Milkshake

It’s incredible to see just how far Michelle Yeoh has come. Gaining prominence after noteworthy performances in Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, more than 20 years later she became the first Asian Best Actress Oscar winner for her role in the runaway dark horse Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Playing one of three gatekeepers in Gunpowder Milkshake, it’s easy to see how this slick Tarantino meets John Wick actioner set the platform for her barnstorming role as the universe-jumping, sometimes hot-dog-fingered Evelyn Wang. Co-starring alongside Carla Gugino and Angela Bassett as a trio of undercover gun-toting vigilantes and part-time librarians, the women blast their way through scores of bad guys to help a rogue hitwoman protect an eight-year old girl. 

Milla Jovovich: Resident Evil

Having started as an innocent in Two Moon Junction and Return to the Blue Lagoon, Milla Jovovich’s beauty and undeniable screen presence eventually made way for her trademark husky voice in Resident Evil and Monster Hunter. Surprisingly funny in real life, the popular video game adaptation series helped Jovovich tune into her “Dirty Harriet” frequency. After donning a crimson dress and wielding guns in each hand for her first outing, she truly found Alice’s voice in the sequel. 

A revolutionary in her own right, the Ukrainian-born actor has made action an art form, blending gritty zombie-slaying fight choreography with elegant acrobatic stunts. Her take-charge performance has been the driving force behind the action horror sci-fi series, effortlessly commandeering vehicles, wielding weapons and executing kills to thwart the onslaught of an army of virus-riddled undead and the nefarious Umbrella Corporation.