Kristen Bellhas become a popular name in the last decade, leading several films and popular TV shows. 2004 was her breakout year, and her performance in the belovedVeronica Marsgradually led to Hollywood taking notice of the wittycharm of the unique Bell, who is delightfully outspoken about everything from her love of food to herstruggles with mental health. Over the course of her career, she’s worked with several of the most popular actors today, the roles she landed alongside them helping to boost her career, and has become one herself in the process. She’s also worked for many of the biggest production companies out there, including Netflix and Disney.
Her most recent work with Netflix, the ridiculously titled parodyThe Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window, premiered recently and is gathering a lot of positive attention for her, quickly shooting to the streaming platform’s most-watch spot. As she works her way through the spotlight and continues to stay there, it’s nice to look back on how she got to where she is now. Take a look at Kristen Bell’s best performances, and look forward to what she’ll bring to us in the future.
6House of Lies
House of Liesis a TV series that focuses on the life of Marty Kaan, a management consultant who is manipulative and immoral, doing anything he can to close the deal. There are two firms he works for throughout the show, one where he was a business partner and one he owns. While seeing his and his coworkers' shady business practices, we also see some of his personal life, which is beginning to fall apart at the seams.
In this show, Bell stars as Jeannie van der Hooven, one of Marty’s closest coworkers. She’s been there for him through it all, even becoming a business partner when she leaves their old firm and joins his. The way Bell plays off of her co-star Don Cheadle is an experience you can’t see anywhere else– intimate yet cautious, comical yet realistic, she truly charms the audience with her acting.
5Gossip Girl
The teen dramaGossip Girlis based on a book series of the same name and was the first massive original hit for The CW. Narrated by the omniscient blogger known as ‘gossip girl,’ the show revolves around several upper-class teens and the multitudes of secrets they keep. However, the mysterious blogger seems to know everything about them, and keeps sharing this information online. As they live through their high school years, they have to keep up with the consequences of their personal lives spreading around the entire student population.
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What’s interesting aboutGossip Girlis that Kristen Bell isn’t even credited for her role in it during the show, and yet it wouldn’t be the same without her; she’s the great ‘gossip girl’ herself. The narrator and voice of the blogger is entirely Bell’s work, bringing life to the blog posts that would fall flat if the viewers were left to read it on their own. The personality she brings to the voiceover feels exactly like someone is gossiping with you, from the tone to the perfect inflections. In fact, she had such an impact on the show that shereprised her role for the 2021 reboot.
4Forgetting Sarah Marshall
InForgetting Sarah Marshall,the main character, Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), suffers a breakup with his girlfriend of five years, Sarah Marshall (Bell). After trying and failing to find a way to get over it, he takes a trip to Hawaii hoping it will help. His vacation is ruined when he finds out that Sarah and her new boyfriend are staying in the exact same resort he is at the same time. Over the course of the movie, he must get over Sarah while constantly seeing reminders of her—or just her in general—around every corner.
Bell plays the titular character in this movie with passive agressive, narcissistic perfection. She’s the one to break up with Peter in the first place, but then later discovers she is still in love with him (or at least jealous of his newfound relationship), so there were a lot of emotions that were needed to portray Sarah. Jealousy, guilt, love, lust, arrogance— Bell nails every single one of them. It’s hard to imagine the movie without her in it, as she really brings Sarah to life in her most delightfully love-to-hate-her roles.
3Veronica Mars
Veronica Marsis a TV show about the titular character who is moonlighting as a private investigator as she finishes out her high school career and moves onto college. Each episode sees her solving a stand-alone case, but a more complex mystery arcs over everything in the background, too. She must juggle her time at school with this job as her father helps her learn everything she needs to know about good detective work.
Bell plays Veronica in this show, which was one of her first and still most popular roles, and was definitely what helped her become who she is today. She holds most of the show’s award nominations, as well as two of their three award wins, and brings sass to Veronica that is wholly unique to Bell—no one else at the time could combine youth and sarcasm with emotional vulnerability and serious likability, and she’s exactly what the character needs. She was able to engage the audience easily and keep them enthralled as she unraveled the mysteries of her cases. Her character was so beloved that she even reprised the role ina movie follow-up, and then again ina fourth seasona few years after.
If you’ve been anywhere online since 2013, you’ve definitely heard ofFrozen. This Disney movie follows two princesses, Elsa and Anna; Elsa has some special ice magic that is hidden from Anna shortly after Elsa accidentally injures her, severing their sisterly bond. When their parents die as they are out at sea, Elsa is set to become the new queen. However, she’s still hiding her magic. When she gets overwhelmed after her coronation and accidentally uses it, she runs away out of fear, and Anna has to chase after her to save her sister and their kingdom.
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Bell gives her charming voice as Princess Anna. Her ditzy attitude and innocence are what win her over with the audience as she tries to travel outside the castle alone, something she hardly ever does. Bell brings just the right disposition to Anna, between her determination and her love for her sister, but also her honest hesitation and fears. Also,without Bell, Anna’s earworm songs just wouldn’t be the samewhen they’re stuck in our heads.
1The Good Place
The Good Placeis a popular TV series focusing on the idea of an afterlife, and all the philosophical and ethical ramifications it implies. Humans are either sent to the ‘good place’ or the ‘bad place’ depending on the numerical score they receive, which tracks their morality like an ethical FitBit steps-tracker. Elanor and Jason believe that they have somehow incorrectly been sent to the good place at the beginning of the first season, and attempt to better themselves in order to prove they’re worthy, using lessons from a recently-deceased professor of ethics. Over the course of the show’sbrilliant four seasons, however, they find that the afterlife is not what anyone was expecting.
The main character, Elanor, is played by Bell with rambunctious energy and constant growth. She brings just the right amount of entertainment needed for this comedy, but also knows how to curb it for the more serious moments of the show. She’s charming in all the right places, and really knows how to play the part of a once-amoral person genuinely trying to learn how to be better. Bell deserved a lot more than the single Golden Globe Award nomination she received, and the amount of awards her performance and this masterful, intelligent show didn’t receive comprises some of the greatestsnubs in awards showhistory.
