Anne Hathaway is Hollywood's new 'it-girl'

'IT' is that quality possessed by some which draws all others
with its magnetic force. With 'IT' you win all men if you are a woman -- all women if you are a man. 'IT' can be a quality of the mind as well as a physical attraction."
That's how English romance novelist Elinor Glyn defined the term "it-girl," a phrase that entered the public imagination with the 1927 film "It," based on one of her novels and starring the original it-girl, Clara Bow.



Hollywood is perpetually on the hunt for this elusive quality, this blend of sexuality and innocence, of materialistic chutzpah and good values, of swagger and sincerity, that tends to sell tickets. As the Cameron Diazes, Drew Barrymores and Gwyneth Paltrows age out of the ingénue role, a new crop of young actresses has emerged -- a group that includes Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley, contenders to the crown that for years belonged to Julia Roberts, perhaps the last woman movie star who everyone agrees actually guaranteed attendance in the theaters.