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Laura Linney
The Grown-up

WHY HER The 43-year-old proves that there is rich work to be had for fortysomething women with brains.

THE GOOD FIGHT With her and Philip Seymour Hoffman as leads, it took years to get The Savages, about sibs caring for their father, made: ''Phil hadn't won the Oscar yet.''

WHY HOLLYWOOD ISN'T HOME ''I don't care how beautiful you are, how talented, how educated... L.A. will make you feel like s--- about yourself.''

NEXT The Nanny Diaries this September, and HBO's John Adams miniseries.