Which Young Latina Stars Could Fill The Roles Of Their Older Counterparts?

Life&Style’s cover story is all about how tattooed, dark-aired, pouty Megan Fox is stealing the life and career and mojo of tattooed, dark-haired, pouty Angelina Jolie. There’s a part of us that seriously doubts Angelina is even aware that Megan exists (no offense!), much less that she’s worried about her career. Then again, they’ve both worn yellow dresses (!!!!!), so who knows.

But Life&Style’s story does have a (perhaps unintentional) point: It sucks to be an aging woman in Hollywood, because there will always be someone else who is younger and less expensive to swoop in and fill your niche.

We know of a few Latina actresses who, while irreplaceable, haven’t been acting in too many movies lately. And we really want them to! So why not speculate which up-and-coming young actresses could possibly be the recipients of their torch?

Quirky & Sexy

Former beauty queen Maria Conchita Alonso has made a career of playing highly sexual womanfolk both onscreen and on stage (hi, Kiss of the Spider Woman), but she is so animated and… kind of weird… that she brings an extra dimension to roles that tip precariously on the edge of caricatures.

Melonie Diaz, who has appeared in Be Kind, Rewind and Raising Victor Vargas is totally gorgeous, but she also bring a sweetness and quirkiness to her roles, even to something so gritty as the role of Anna in Itty Bitty Titty Committee .

Ass-Kicking Bombshell

For all that we don’t like Jennifer Lopez, she just so happens to be the star of one of our favorite movies in the whole world ever: The Cell. Fact is, we like Jennifer more when she’s kicking ass and slinking her way though thrillers like Enough than when she’s half-heartedly mugging her way through some cheesy formulaic rom-com.

Similarly, we felt totally embarrassed for Zoe Saldaña when she was trying to get out of Crossroads with some dignity, but we loved that she didn’t take any of Kirk’s crap as Uhura and we can’t wait to see her in Avatar.

The Triple Threat

Buskwick-born Rosie Perez can act, dance and produce circles around most anyone else and we love the combination of cute and tough she brings to her roles. We mean, hi, she choreographed dances for Janet Jackson and, more importantly, the Fly Girls.

Karen Olivo can sing, act and dance - and she has the Tony to prove it. Hell, even Prince approves.

Sultry & Smart

Salma Hayek brought a certain intelligence to her role as Frida Kahlo, probably most evident in the scene where she’s looking at her unborn child and remains perfectly still instead of going to the clichéd route of screaming and asking “Whyyyyyyyy?” Plus, in case you hadn’t noticed, she’s pretty hot.

We think Colombian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno has the same knack for tempering her gorgeousness with a sense of thoughtfulness in her roles which, admittedly, have run the gamut from pretty intense - like Maria, Full of Grace - to satirical - like Fast Food Nation.

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