Introducing ELLE Vanguard: A Power List Celebrating 50 Trailblazing Women In Film And Television
Meet the visionaries reframing their industry and inspiring the ELLE woman.
ELLE today unveils the inaugural ELLE VANGUARD: Women in Film and Television, a curated power list charting the visionaries and trailblazers of on-screen storytelling in partnership with Malone Souliers.
These 50 industry disruptors are dismantling Hollywood’s archaic frameworks with quiet authority and radical imagination. Operating both in front of the lens and behind the scenes, this collective of directors, screenwriters and transformative actors is redefining the visual zeitgeist and storytelling today.
ELLE VANGUARD is nominated by a jury that includes: Hannah Walters; Emma Corrin; Raine Allen-Miller; Nicola Coughlan; Claire Ingle Finch; and Lashana Lynch. Each have chosen women they feel are impacting the world of film and TV in 2026.
This list marks ELLE’s commitment to using our platform to amplify a brave and brilliant generation who are pushing the needle and changing storytelling forever. Welcome to the new vanguard...
Caitríona Balfe - Actor
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Caitríona Balfe has become one of Ireland’s most respected screen talents, admired for performances marked by strength, nuance and emotional depth. Since her acclaimed turn in Belfast, she has continued to expand an already impressive body of work. Her role in this year's Sense and Sensibility, alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esme Creed-Miles and George Mackay, further affirms her place among the most captivating actors working today.
See full list of 50 at Elle
Remember… an actress I have been championing to anyone who will listen – and not just because she’s a fellow Irish! – since Kenneth Brannagh’s Belfast — Claire Ingle Finch
