Some actresses have been very successful from the very beginning of their careers. Here is a list of female actors who started out strong and played the main character in their first projects.

Zendaya

Zendaya’s first role was as Rocky Blue in Disney Channel’s Shake It Up. This started her successful career, leading her to big franchises like Spider-Man and Dune.

Rachel Zegler

Rachel Zegler got the main role of María Vasquez in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, beating out 30,000 other actors.

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz’s first role was as Tina Carlyle in The Mask. She was recommended for the role by a modeling agent.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan found the casting call for Never Have I Ever through a tweet from Mindy Kaling and was cast as Devi Vishwakumar.

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis played the main character, Laurie Strode, in Halloween (1978) and later reprised the role in other movies.

Maisie Williams

Maisie Williams got the role of Arya Stark in Game of Thrones, even though she felt out of place during the audition.

Barbara Streisand

Barbra Streisand played Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway and later in the movie adaptation.

Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson’s first role was as Ruby in Kids, which she got after a chance encounter during a commercial shoot.

Emma Watson

Emma Watson auditioned eight times to play Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Gabourey Sidibe

Gabourey Sidibe’s first role was as Precious in the movie Precious, which earned her an Oscar nomination.

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana’s first role was as Eva Rodríguez in Center Stage. She went on to become one of the most successful actors of all time.