Maika Monroe

It might seem natural that a blonde born as close to Los Angeles as Maika Monroe would gravitate towards a career in Hollywood. However, before she hit the big screen, the Santa Barbara native was pursuing a very different career -kiteboarding. Monroe kiteboarded competitively for years prior to launching her acting career, and in 2013, she placed 2nd in the International Red Bull Big Air competition, held in the Dominican Republic.

While still a professional in the watersport, Monroe turned her focus to acting, making her debut as Cadence Farrow in "At Any Price" (2012), a Ramin Bahrani film that was featured in the 69th International Venice Film Festival. Monroe followed this effort up with a small role in the Sofia Coppola film "The Bling Ring" (2013), a fictionalization of a real-life teen criminal ring preying on celebrities in Hollywood, starring Emma Watson. While "The Bling Ring" was not a critical success, the poor reviews of the film had no negative affects on Monroe's traction in the industry. She quickly signed on to play alongside Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet in Jason Reitman's drama "Labor Day" (2014), and was cast in the psychological thriller "The Guest" (2014), directed by Adam Wingard. The film, in which Monroe has her first leading role, follows the events that unfold when a mysterious stranger enters the lives of a family struggling to cope with the loss of their son, a soldier in the war in Afghanistan.