I missed Marilyn Monroe’s first screen appearance, apparently so did almost everyone else, but I was told that in one of her early films, before she was known, she unmistakably exuded star quality.

There are a dozen actors, maybe more, where I recall asking myself, “Who is that?”  Natalie Portman, Leonardo Di Caprio, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain, Edward Norton, Jennifer Lawrence quickly come to mind.

In a few of these instances beauty caught my eye, but very few. Star quality is clearly something more. Talent helps, but this alone was not enough to ensure these actors’ fame. (I will leave our Hollywood icons for another time.)

Perhaps it is an inexplicable allure, an alchemy, or confluence of perfect storms?

The explanation alludes me, but few of us are asking when these faces now light the screen, “Who is that?” anymore.