Best in Show

Jane Lynch: The willowy 6-foot-tall actress cut her comedy chops, as have many others, in the Second City comedy troupe, and went on to write and star in her own play, "Oh Sister, My Sister." She's become a reliable part of Christopher Guest's film troupe, making a splash as the... more masculine dog trainer partner of Jennifer Coolidge in "Best in Show," and playing her own guitar and singing her own songs in the folkie send-up "A Mighty Wind." And she's been as memorable in serious roles ("The L Word," "Veronica Mars") as she has in her many comedic ones ("Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"). She kept the laughs coming with her Lifetime series about an elite dating service, "Lovespring International," and many of us are still mourning that show's demise after one season. But there's much more to come: Lynch has parts in at least nine major films due out over the next year. She's clearly a comedic force to be reckoned with. (Sara De Boer/Retna Ltd.)