After well over 100 days under quarantine, we’ve watched many, many shows and movies on Netflix and have developed very healthy crushes on the female leads we’ve seen on these projects. So here we’re listing our 10 favorite female crushes on Netflix shows, in alphabetical order.
Here are some criteria:
1. No Korean stars—they deserve a list of their own as they represent an entire subgenre on the streaming giant;
2. The stars on this list may have other projects on other networks or platforms but they do have their own projects on Netflix, which we will point out in a later list;
3. Even if the productions are foreign coproductions, they are included as long as they considered Netflix Original Series.
1. Alba Baptista
If her name isn’t familiar to you yet, that’s because you haven’t seen “Warrior Nun,” the incredible armed nun-fighting-demons action show, based on the Ben Dunn comic book “Warrior Nun Areala.” Baptista, 23, who is Portuguese-Brazilian and fluent in English, is appearing in her first English show, and boy, does she appear. Accidentally given the angelic Halo, she is brought back to life (yes, she was dead) and now has superhuman powers with which to battle the evil forces. Baptista shows a broad range of fighting skills on the show but is also a winning presence.
2. Alexis Bledel
Probably the most familiar name on this list because she’s been playing the same role for so long, Bledel, believe it or not, is the oldest on this list as she’s already 38. Of Argentine origins, Bledel began playing the role of Rory Gilmore on Amy Sherman-Paladino’s “Gilmore Girls” when she was 15, opposite her onscreen mom, Lauren Graham. Though she has had parts in movies like “Tuck Everlasting” and the two “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” she is still best known as Rory. In fact, the reason she is on this list is because she appeared in the four-episode Netflix revival “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” which ended the show. Like Rory’s decisions or not, we stayed around to find out what happened to her. Outside of “Gilmore Girls,” she’s found a new gig, as Ofglen on Hulu’s dystopian “The Handmaid’s Tale,” for which she won an Emmy.
3. Ursula Corbero
Okay, you probably won’t know who Corbero is unless we give you her code name: Tokyo. Yes, she is the horny, devious femme fatale on the Spanish-
language “Money Heist,” the worldwide crime hit now on its fourth season. Corbero, 30, is one of Spain’s biggest actresses, a fashion icon, a devoted supporter of Catalan independence and a philanthropist. Just wait a little longer, and you will see her in her biggest role yet: She has been cast as the iconic Baroness in the upcoming “G.I. Joe Origins: Snake Eyes.”
4. Pauline Etienne
Etienne is a name you may not be familiar with. The 31-year-old has appeared in a ton of award-winning Belgian movies, becoming arguably their top actress. But you will instantly recognize her as the damaged but take-charge helicopter pilot Sylvia Dubois in “Into the Night,” who must fly an airliner continuously away from sunrise because the sunlight will kill all of them—as it has everyone else. It’s the kind of role that will no doubt lead to future Hollywood roles.
5. Joey King
Our Joey King is all grown up now—she’s 20! You probably saw her first in the kids’ show “Ramona and Beezus” (she was Ramona, duh), but she played a great part as the young Talia al-Ghul in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” was utterly terrified in “The Conjuring” and earned Golden Globe and Emmy noms for “The Act.” The truth is, she started acting so early she appeared in so many shows already. Her coming-of-age turn came on Netflix in 2019’s romantic comedy “The Kissing Booth” (which involved a lot of kissing, again, duh) and in the sequel 2020’s “The Kissing Booth 2.” One gets the feeling King is just getting started.
6. Katherine Langford
She is the queen of Netflix, one of Hollywood’s hottest—if not the hottest—young actress at the moment. Yes, she had a quirky turn in Rian Johnson’s whodunit “Knives Out,” a cute turn in “Love, Simon” and a deleted scene as a grown-up Morgan Stark in “Avengers: Endgame” (which was included in the Disney+ release due to popular demand), but the 24-year-old actress from Perth, Australia, rocketed to stardom with her charismatic and tragic turn as doomed Hannah Baker (hey, people still refer to her as “Hannah Baker” instead of her real name) on the first two seasons of the controversial “13 Reasons Why,” based on Jay Asher’s book. And now she takes the lead as the Excalibur-wielding Nimue in Netflix’s “Cursed,” a reimagining of the Arthurian legends—she even sings the theme song, “I Could Be Your King.” We are going to be seeing a lot of her in the future.
7. Camila Mendes
Yes, Mendes is one of the veterans of his group, already 26 and best known for her portrayal of rich girl Veronica Lodge on “Riverdale.” But this graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts is now moving into her own projects, including 2019’s “The Perfect Date” with Noah Centineo and now in the Netflix movie “Dangerous Lies.”
8. Isabela Merced
She used to be called Isabela Moner, but she changed her name to honor her grandmother. Merced—who identifies as Peruvian and considers Spanish her first language—is the youngest on this list at 19, but she has been busy, as she is both an actress and a singer. Many would remember her as Izzabella in “Transformers: The Last Knight,” Isabel Reyes in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” and most memorably, the goofy but adorably clueless slightly grown-up Dora in “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.” Together with Shipka, she played the colead as Julie in the Netflix Christmas special “Let It Snow.” She is taking her musical career (girl has pipes and moves) seriously with an album in the works. In the meantime, you can catch her songs “Papi,” “Lovin Kind” and “Apocalipsis” on YouTube.
9. Florence Pugh
Yes, yes, the 24-year-old British Pugh is now one of the incandescent talents in Hollywood, following her amazing filmic turns as Dani in “Midsommar,” the real-life pro wrestler Paige in “Fighting with my Family,” Amy March in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” and her upcoming role as Yelena Bolova in Cateshortland’s “Black Widow,” where she is expected to take on the mantle of the next Black Widow from Scarlett Johansson. She knows how to play spies: She had a spectacular turn as Charlie in the 2018 remake of John Le Carre’s “The Little Drummer Girl.” But let’s not forget she got a big boost from her role as Elizabeth de Burgh in Netflix’s “Outlaw King” opposite her on-screen husband, Robert Bruce, played by Chris Pine in 2018.
10. Kiernan Shipka
Shipka may have enchanted her way into popular consciousness as Sabrina the Teenage Witch from the Archie universe, but that show, “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” was actually on Netflix, doubling down on its horror content. She has been acting since she was a child, and actually has a pretty good side career as a voice actor (check out her work in the English translation of Studio Ghibli’s “When Marnie Was There”). The 24-year-old is now stepping out into older roles, as she did with the lead role of Angie in the Netflix Christmas special “Let It Snow.” INQ
