If you’re thinking “I wonder if its Padme?”, slap yourself across the face right this instant!

Nope, this Empire chosen great character happened to be her first – Mathilda.

“Is life always this hard, or is it just when you’re a kid?” – Mathilda

Played By: Natalie Portman
Film: Leon

Why She’s On The List: The coolest kid in movie history – fact. Mathilda is 12 years-old when a corrupt cops kills her family, forcing her to seek solace with hitman neighbour Leon. But, for most of the movie, this frightened little kid acts like someone twice her age. Sassy and hyper-confident, even in her blossoming sexuality, the Louise Brooks-bobbed Mathilda served notice of an astounding new talent in Portman.

Finest Hour: Trembling with fear and uncorked rage, a kid again, as she fails to kill her own personal bogeyman, Norman Stansfield, in a police station’s men’s room.

Check out the full list here.