At the age of 11, Julia Stiles was prescient enough to write a letter to a stage director convincing him to hire her for an avant-garde production. The ambitious actress employed a similar tack, penning a note to Michael Steinberg and landing her breakthrough role in the dark comedy "Wicked" (1998), an Electra-like fable set in the immaculate suburbs. Blonde and fair, with wise eyes set in an otherwise childlike face, Stiles played the perfect angelic villain Ellie Christianson, a seductive, calculating and driven young teen. She offered an exceptional and acclaimed performance that conveyed
