Why 'The Girl on the Train' Star Haley Bennett Is Being Called the Next Jennifer Lawrence
After nearly a decade of struggling to make it in Hollywood, The Girl on the Train star Haley Bennett has finally arrived in a big way!
Just this year alone, the 28-year-old actress is appearing in The Magnificent Seven (opposite Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt), A Kind of Murder (with Jessica Biel) and Rules Don't Apply (alongside Warren Beatty), but it's her performance in The Girl on the Train that's getting the most buzz.
The Girl on the Train follows a train commuter named Rachel (Emily Blunt) who fantasizes about a perfect couple living in a house that her train passes every day. When the woman in the couple (Bennett) goes missing, Rachel becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.
Bennett's twisted performance in the film adaptation has led some to draw parallels between the newcomer and Hollywood's reining box office queen, Jennifer Lawrence.
Bennett responded to the comparisons, telling ET, "I really admire her and I think she's had an incredible career and I guess we both have blonde hair."
The two actresses got their starts at around the same time. While Bennett landed her first film role in 2007's Music and Lyrics, starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant, Lawrence scored her first high-profile job as Lauren Pearson on The Bill Engvall Show the same year.
RELATED: Director Tate Taylor Reveals Which Oscar Winner Wanted a Cameo in 'The Girl on the Train'
Another similarity is their musical talents, although they both have reservations about singing.
In December, Lawrence (who sang in The Hanging Tree, The Hunger Games and Joy) told ET she hates singing on camera.
"It's the weirdest thing ever," she admitted. "I've never once put it out there that I think I can sing or that I even enjoy singing. Now it seems like I keep having to do it in every damn film!"
Bennett showed off her vocal abilities in Music and Lyrics, but admitted singing in public didn't come easily in her early performing days.
WATCH: Jennifer Lawrence Sings in 'Joy' -- Even Though She 'Hates' Doing It!
"I was so terrified before an audience that I would break out in these ugly red hives, and my lips would quiver at the sight of a word or a song," Bennett told Interview.
After their initial roles, Bennett picked up small parts in movies like Marley & Me and The Haunting of Molly Hartley, while Lawrence became a household name and went on to take home an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook.
Now the tide is turning, and it looks like Bennett is quickly becoming Hollywood's next "It" girl, but just in case things slow down again, Bennett told the Los Angeles Times she has a backup plan.
"If acting doesn't work out, I'm probably going to be a professional chef," the Ohio native told the newspaper. "You'll see me on Top Chef someday. My Midwestern hospitality needs an outlet, you know?"
The Girl on the Train is in theaters now!