In this case, the three names thing makes sense.

Since I know that among my vast readership are a number of Once & Again fans, I thought I’d mention this: I was puttering around the internets on my lunch break, as I often do, and I came across this article on MSNBC.com about Evan Rachel Wood, which posits that she may be “America’s Next Great Actress.” It caught my eye because I just watched The Upside of Anger this weekend, in which she co-stars with a number of other notable young female actors, not to mention the formidable Joan Allen, and it reminded me of how much I like her and how easily she stands out even among very talented ensembles. (Verdict on the movie: great acting, yes; some interesting writing but also some clichés; weird, jarring ending; overall, left me kind of...meh.)

Of course Evan was a regular on the late great O&A, where her baby-dyke-coming-out story was handled better than I’ve ever seen anywhere, both by the writers and by her, and where I first noticed her--her pale ethereality, especially set against her darker, earthier castmates, made it hard not to. She was the standout among acting standouts in the otherwise overwrought Thirteen, and, as I said, she continued to shine in The Upside of Anger. So, I don’t know if she’s America’s Next Great Actress, but I’m certainly looking forward to her future projects.