I really enjoy Jena Malone as an actress, and I think she’s one of the more promising young actresses working today. She got her start at a very early age with her role in the 1996 movie Bastard Out of Carolina, which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award. The following year, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the TV movie Hope, and since then her star has been on the rise. After taking supporting roles in movies like Contact and Stepmom, she landed a leading role in the cult hit Donnie Darko, which earned her loads of acclaim and fame, and went on to play parts in Saved!, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Cold Mountain, Pride & Prejudice, The Ruins, Into the Wild, The Soloist, The Messenger and Sucker Punch. Malone is working harder than ever these days, and at the time of this writing she has no fewer than five projects on the horizon, which is great, because it means we’ll be seeing a lot more of her very soon! Jena Malone turns 27 today.