It's time that Kerry Washington became a star

WHERE YOU KNOW HER FROM Ray (2004), where she played Della Bea, long-suffering wife of Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx)

WHERE ELSE? She was Alicia Masters, the blind woman who takes a liking to The Thing (Michael Chiklis) in Fantastic Four (2005), and she was Jasmine, assassin Angelina Jolie’s colleague, in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).

MUST-SEE ROLE She stars as Niecy, an upwardly mobile shoplifter, in Lift (2000).

WHY SHE SHOULD BE A STAR She’s classy, beautiful, and smart, and she deserves more than girlfriend roles.

NEXT She’s appearing opposite Forest Whitaker, who stars as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, in next year’s The Last King of Scotland.