These 20 actresses are the first ladies of sci-fi

Of course we're kicking things off with Princess Leia, the Princess of Alderaan and one of the leaders in the Rebel Alliance. Without Carrie Fisher, there's no "Star Wars" franchise – she played a major role in the original trilogy and was a key character in "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi." She is the epitome of sci-fi royalty.

If there was a Mount Rushmore for sci-fi actresses, Sigourney Weaver would definitely be up there (along with Carrie Fisher and maybe Linda Hamilton). Weaver portrayed Ellen Ripley, the heroine in the "Alien" franchise. She was also Dr. Grace Augustine in "Avatar," and Gwen DeMarco in the very underrated and funny "Galaxy Quest."

Natalie Portman might not be the first actress that comes to mind when it comes to sci-fi, but she's most definitely deserving of her place here. For starters, she played Padme Amidala in the "Star Wars" prequels. Portman also plays the lead in "Annihilation," the Alex Garland film (he made "Ex Machina"), and who could forget her as Taffy Dale, the president's daughter in Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!"

Zoe Saldana has earned her sci-fi stripes multiple times over. She played Neytiri in James Cameron's "Avatar" (and she's reprising the role in the billion sequels currently in the works). She's also Nyota Uhura in the last three "Star Trek" reboot films, and as if that's not enough, Saldana portrays Gamora in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.

Hamilton played Sarah Connor in "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," one of the most kick ass female characters in all of sci-fi (a role later played by "Game of Thrones" cast members Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke). Hamilton was also Mary Bartowski, a former CIA agent and long lost mother to Chuck Bartowski, the titular character in the TV series "Chuck."

Even if you ignore her work as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Johansson's sci-fi roles are plentiful. She voiced Samantha, the artificial intelligence character Spike Jonze's forever lovely "Her." She played the titular role in the peak Luc Besson movie, "Lucy." Other notable sci-fi performances include "Under the Skin" and "The Island." (Johansson also played Major in "The Ghost in the Shell" live action adaptation, but that film was largely panned.)

The South African actress isn't really known for her sci-fi roles, but perhaps she should. Most recently, she played Imperator Furiosa in "Mad Max: Fury Road," easily the lead character post-apocalyptic dystopian movie that proves that the future really is female. Before that, she starred in "Prometheus," "Æon Flux," "The Road" and "The Astronaut's Wife," just to name a few.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead resume includes forrays into soap operas (she was in "Passions"), comic book adaptations ("Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"), and of course, sci-fi. Last month, it was announced she would star in the upcoming Ang Lee thriller "Gemini Man," and most recently acted in "10 Cloverfield Lane." Previously, she's starred in the tragically short-lived comedy series "BrainDead," the 2011 remake of "The Thing," and was also in "Sky High."

Another Oscar winner with sci-fi bona fides, Halle Berry makes her way on to this list thanks to her portray of Storm in the "X-Men" franchise, "Extant" (a CBS drama about an astronaut that somehow gets pregnant in space – it lasted two seasons), and "Cloud Atlas," the divisive Wachowski siblings' multi-generational and multi-world epic about connectedness or something (it's a terribad movie, sorry haters).

You can't talk about women in sci-fi without talking about "Battlestar Galactica," and you can't talk about the women of "Battlestar Galactica" without talking about Katee Sackhoff, who portrayed Captain "Starbuck" Thrace. Outside of the BSG universe, Sackhoff was also in the "Bionic Woman" reboot (it lasted less than a season), has voiced Bo-Katan Kryze in several "Star Wars" animated series, and was also in "Riddick."

The Oscar winner portrayed Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, a country girl turned Battle Royale-style game winner who leads the oppressed masses to revolution. She's also shape-shifted her way through the "X-Men" movies as Mystique and was trapped in space with Chris Pratt in "Passengers."

Another "Battlestar Galactica" alum, Grace Park portrayed Boomer, a member of the BSG fleet who may or may not be a Cylon (spoiler alert: she is). Although she's mostly known for this character, Park previously made a living starring in an episode here and there for a slew of sci-fi shows, including "Stargate SG-1," "The Outer Limits" and "Dark Angel."

Henstridge is largely known for playing Sil and Eve, an alien and its clone, respectively, in the sci-fi franchise "Species." She also played Lieutenant Melanie Ballard in John Carpenter's "Ghosts of Mars," and was the lead in the forgettable time travel Stan Lee show, "Time Jumper."

The Swedish actress portrayed Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in "Prometheus," the prequel to the "Alien" franchise. Other ventures into the genre include playing seven cloned sisters in "What Happened to Monday," a kidnapped woman trying to break free in "Rupture," and an evil elf in Netflix's panned "Bright."

The youngest person on this list, Daisy Ridley's list of sci-fi roles isn't very long, but none of that matters because she's Rey, the orphaned scavenger who becomes the hero in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

Tricia Helfer played Number Six, the first Cylon we meet in "Battlestar Galactica" and the reason for why the remaining humans spend their entire time in space. Other notable works include a recurring role in the superhero show "Powers", voicing The Grid in "Tron: Uprising," and just as importantly, voicing Sarah Kerrigan/The Queen of Blades in the iconic game "Star Craft II."

The soon-to-be Marry Poppins has more than dabbled in the sci-fi genre. She starred in "Looper," the future-noir film directed by now "Star Wars" auteur Rian Johnson, as well as the "Edge of Tomorrow," the severely underrated Tom Cruise movie. Blunt was also in "The Adjustment Bureau" with Matt Damon, but let's pretend that movie never happened. 

When she's not busy making Fast and Furious movies, Michelle Rodriguez apparently likes to spend her time starring in sci-fi movies and shows. Among the genre stuff in her resume are the upcoming Robert Rodriguez flick "Alita: Battle Angel," "Lost," "BloodRayne," the "Resident Evil" franchise, and "Avatar."

Gillian Anderson's sci-fi resume isn't very long. In fact, besides the "The X-Files," the only other thing that qualifies is "Robot Overlords," a 2014 movie that nobody saw, and if they did, chances are they hated it. But Anderson does portray FBI agent Dana Scully in "The X-Files," one of the most beloved and cultural significant titles in the sci-fi cannon. So yeah, Gillian Anderson most definitely is a first lady of the genre.

Jovovich became a sci-fi fan favorite in 1997, when she played the ass kickin' Leeloo in Luc Besson's wonderful "The Fifth Element." Since then, she's played Alice, the ass kickin' main character in the "Resident Evil" franchise, and the (yep, you guessed it!) ass kickin' Violet Song Jat Shariff in the futuristic "Ultraviolet."