Ever since Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant's newsroom shenanigans in "His Girl Friday," Hollywood has been fascinated by the Working Girl—that chic, career-driven leading lady who kicks ass, takes names and looks fabulous in a pencil skirt. Driven by pure professionalism, the Working Girl excels at the office, intimidates her male coworkers, sacrifices her personal life to work extra hours and, of course, would never, ever get caught using an office Xerox to make illicit photocopies of her butt.
The latest star to take on a working woman role is Rachel McAdams, who we'll get to see play a hotshot morning show producer when her latest film, "Morning Glory" premieres this week. And today, we're taking a look at all the ladies who paved the way before her, with a list of our favorite working girls throughout cinematic history. Which of these actresses would we most want to share a cubicle with? Check it!
1. Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada"
Poor Anne sacrifices everything—her love life, her self-esteem, and even her deep, abiding love of onion bagels—in the service of an evil editor who in no way is based on Anna Wintour, at a magazine which in no way resembles Vogue. Her only solace? A closet full of stolen samples from fashion photo shoots.
2. Julia Roberts in "Erin Brockovich"
Julia won an Oscar for her excellent portrayal of real-life go-getter Erin Brockovich, who took down an environmentally-poisonous corporation using nothing but hard work, keen investigation...and her boobs.
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Secretary"
This might be what people mean when they talk about a "hostile work environment." Maggie plays a secretary to the sadistic-but-weirdly-sexy James Spader, who punishes her proofreading errors by spanking her. Not exactly our recipe for workplace romance, but hey, whatever tickles you.
4. Gwyneth Paltrow in "Iron Man"
Tony Stark might be Iron Man, but he'd be nothing without the cool intellect and devoted assistance of Gwyneth's Pepper Potts.
5. Scarlett Johansson in "Scoop"
It's a credit to Scarlett's acting skills that despite being one of the most gorgeous women on the whole damn planet, she still managed to make us buy her performance as an overeager journalism student who stumbles onto an aristocratic scandal. (The doofy glasses helped.)
6. Sanaa Lathan in "Something New"
Sanaa plays a busy lawyer with a classic Working Girl conundrum: pursuing a career at the expense of her love life. Good thing she's got Simon Baker to, er, landscape her yard, if you know what we mean.
7. Christina Applegate in "Anchorman"
Starring opposite Will Ferrell as a plucky newscaster, Christina's go-getter role can best be summed up as follows: "Mr. Harken, this city needs its news. And you are going to deprive them of that because I have breasts? EXQUISITE BREASTS?"
8. Katherine Heigl in "Knocked Up"
Katherine is a struggling entertainment reporter when she has a one-night stand with a slacker played by Seth Rogen. The good news: It turns out that carrying Seth Rogen's babyspawn is great for your career.
9. Melanie Griffith in "Working Girl"
Despite being an under-appreciated secretary with blond hair and a breathy voice, Melanie's Tess McGill is the ultimate driven career girl: a secret finance whiz who uses duplicity to get her foot in the door on Wall Street, pitch a major merger between two companies, and—of course—seduce Harrison Ford while she's at it.
10. Zooey Deschanel in "(500) Days of Summer"
It's never really clear just what Zooey's professional role is at the greeting-card company where she meets Joseph Gordon-Levitt... but if we had to guess, it's probably something like "Senior Manager of Epic, Soul-Rending Heartbreak."
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Who's your favorite cinematic Working Girl?
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