Time Announces Its 100 Most Influential People List

Claire Danes, Kristen Wiig | Photo Credits: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com; Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com
Claire Danes, Kristen Wiig | Photo Credits: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com; Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com

Kristen Wiig, Claire Danes, Chelsea Handler and Jessica Chastain are among Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

As part of the honor, each recipient's entry is written by a notable friend or colleague. Judd Apatow calls Wiig's breakout Bridesmaids performance "vulnerable, explosive and hilarious." Former CIA covert-operations officer Valerie Plame Wilson says that Danes "goes against the clichés of what a female CIA officer is supposed to do and look like." Kathy Griffin comments that Handler "should be Person of the Year just for putting up with Khloe [Kardashian]." On Chastain, Gary Oldman says, "I knew when I saw Wilde Salomé that I had better learn the name, that I was watching an actress from whom we could expect great things in what, no doubt, will be a long, very successful future."

Other notables on the list include Adele, Viola Davis, Matt Lauer, Ron Paul, Tim Tebow and repeat 2011 honorees President Barack Obama and Kate Middleton.