Haley's Comet

Her performance in The Girl on the train has rocketed her to sudden fame and generated Oscar Buzz. But Haley Bennett is no blushing ingenue. Meet the actress we can't stop talking about.

- Isabella Biedenharn

SHORTLY AFTER TATE TAYLOR agreed to direct the adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ best-selling thriller The Girl on the Train, a strange thing happened. He started getting phone calls from industry friends— casting directors, costume designers, even the film’s star, Emily Blunt—with a similar message. They’d each met an actress who was perfect for the part of Train’s most enigmatic character, Megan Hipwell—the beautiful young woman whose seemingly perfect marriage captivates Blunt’s depressed alcoholic, Rachel Watson. To a one, Taylor says, colleagues would mention a certain actress, then say something like, “I can’t really put it into words, but she is Megan. She’s kinda kooky, but she’s cool...you’ve just gotta meet her.” So he did.

When Haley Bennett visited Taylor’s Mississippi home in the summer of 2015 for a get-to know-you meeting that included ATV races, he quickly understood what everyone had been raving about. “It was one of those situations where you love her personality, you love her look, you love her energy, her sexuality,” he says. “And you think, God, I hope she can act.”