Emma Roberts plays Nancy Drew.
If it's starting to seem as if the state of young female celebrity has devolved into an endless stream of DUIs, spray tans and Adderall prescriptions, take heart. There is a crop of actresses in the wings who have never been to jail, nor have they been photographed pantyless or passed out. Promises, to these young women, means things you keep, not a rehab in Malibu.
"One is slightly put off if you're constantly seeing lurid stories about an actress," says Julian Jarrold, director of Becoming Jane, a Jane Austen biopic starring go-to good gal Anne Hathaway, due in August. "It colors your view of a character. When the audience goes to the cinema, they bring those expectations with them." Thankfully, Hathaway and others have arrived to keep summer safe for the sweet:
Emma Roberts
Age: 16
Spiritual Mother: Julia Roberts
Screen Cred: The niece of Julia and daughter of Eric is the star of Nickelodeon's tween comedy hit, Unfabulous; her first gig was a bit darker, as coke dealer Johnny Depp's daughter in Blow.
New project: Young Roberts is more Burberry than bare midriff as the smart would-be Sherlock in the Nancy Drew movie opening Friday, June 15.
Good girl factoid: This summer, Roberts promoted reading with Laura Bush at an all-girls' middle school
Emma Watson
Age: 17
Spiritual Mother: Emma Thompson
Screen Cred: As honor student Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, the British actress believably delivers goody-goody lines like, "I'm going to bed before either of you comes up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled!"
New projects: The Potter series has Watson booked till 2010. The fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is due in July.
Good girl factoid: During the filming of Prisoner of Azkaban, Watson put director Alfonso Cuaron's Hair in pigtails.
Mandy Moore
Age: 23
Spiritual Mother: Reese Witherspoon
Screen Cred: Like Witherspoon, Moore knows how to add an appealing edge to her pep — she played an overzealous Evangelical Christian in Saved and an overzealous reality show contestant in American Dreamz.
New Projects: Now she's ready to be extraordinary — or at least that's what she sings on the first single from her new album, Wild Hope, due June 19. Moore will also endure pre-marital counseling by Robin Williams in her July film with John Krasinski, License to Wed.
Good girl factoid: She decided she wanted to be a singer after watching Oklahoma!
Anne Hathaway
Age: 24
Spiritual Mother: Audrey Hepburn
Screen Cred: From The Princess Diaries to The Devil Wears Prada, Hathaway has steadily built her good-girl resume. But for the right pic — Brokeback Mountain — Hathaway took a walk on the R-rated side and took off her top.
New projects: She plays Jane Austen in the August biopic of the novelist Becoming Jane. "Anne came back from her day off and she announced that she had just reread Mansfield Park," says Jarrolds.
Good girl factoid: For fun she goes antiquing.