ONE-TO-WATCH: Emily Meade

Name: Emily Meade 
Age: 21
Where you've seen her: As the drug addicted bff of the hottest girl in school in Joel Schumacher's Twelve, as the abusive older sister in the teen horror film My Soul to Take, and as Jimmy's scarred prostitute on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire."
Why she's One-to-Watch: I've only had the pleasure of seeing Meade as a doomed prostitute in Martin Scorsese's gangster drama. But in just two episodes, she managed to win the heart of not only one of the lead protagonists, Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt), but the viewers as well. Despite her character's occupation, she dreamed of a better life, where she'd be a beloved actress, worshiped instead of fondled. We began to wish that life for her too, and once any possibility of that ever happening was taken away, our heart broke with hers. She went from an independent, optimistic runaway to a damaged, needy drug addict. Such a transformation in such a short amount of screen time is impressive for a newbie. And having been approved by Scorsese himself is a coup in and of itself. Her first lead role in the tepidly recieved teen horror My Soul to Take may not have been the right spring-board, but she proved she could be as evil as she is adorable. If word of mouth spreads fast enough, she could easily be the dark alternative to Amanda Seyfried—sweet and sinister. Of course, one wrong move and she could be stuck in the horror movie spin cycle that Emily Browning (Ghost Ship and The Uninvited) was once sucked into.

Where you can see her next: In the indie coming-of-age comedy Sin Bin, where she'll play the center of a love triangle alongside musical comedian Bo Bournham and Disney star Michael Seater ("Life with Derek"), and the drama Silver Tongues, where she'll play a pawn trapped in the dark game of a traveling con artist couple.