Zoe Kazan: Exploding/It Girl

Hollywood’s search for the next “It Girl” is perpetual, almost humorously unending, and occasionally it leads them down strange paths, but if I had to lay money on the staying power of a female up-and-comer outside An Education‘s Carey Mulligan, I’d most likely turn eyes to the 25-year-old Zoe Kazan, the cherubic-faced granddaughter of Elia Kazan, and daughter of screenwriter-directors Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord. More Amy Adams than Rachel McAdams, Kazan made an impression in a small but pivotal role in last year’s Revolutionary Road, getting bedded by Leonardo DiCaprio (which, hey, boded well for Elizabeth Banks in Catch Me If You Can), and she’s an absolute airy delight in Richard Linklater’s Me & Orson Welles, which hits screens in late November. She only figures in three scenes, as part of a loose framing device for the larger narrative proper, but she creates a whole-bodied character who spills over into its frames, and makes you wish there was some spin-off companion piece. Now comes word that indie distributor Oscilloscope has picked up the North American rights to Bradley Rust Gray’s The Exploding Girl, for which Kazan won Best Actress honors at the Tribeca Film Festival. So… check back in two years; Adams and Zooey Deschanel can’t hold down all the ingenue roles.