Top 10 Kristen Bell roles

Between playing a teenage private investigator to an animated Disney princess, Kristen Bell has had an interesting career. She’s been on TV, movies and even a video game character. To pick her best roles was a difficult task. However, these ten characters stuck out.

Although starting her career with minor roles on Pootie Tang and American Dreams, Bell’s breakout roles were in Spartan and Veronica Mars. Spartan was a film and Veronica Mars was a television show on the CW. After those breakout roles, her career has included multiple romantic comedies and a few dramas.

While Bell does not like to talk about her personal life, she is married with a daughter. She welcomed a daughter with her husband, fellow actor Dax Shepard, in 2013. She and Dax were engaged at the time because they refused to get married until gay marriages were accepted. After the Supreme Court repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, Bell asked Shepard to marry her via Twitter.

Bell is also a big fan of sloths. She broke down in tears after Shepard hired a sloth for her birthday party. The video went viral after she showed it on Ellen. She is also a frequent guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and helped him co-host for his show.

Here are Kristen Bell’s top 10 best roles. If your favorite isn’t on the list, comment and let me know!

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10. Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl is a television series that was based on a book series of the same name. The show followed Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and teens in the Upper East Side of New York City. The cast also included star such as Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Taylor Momsen.

Bell was the narrator for the series, seemingly playing the Gossip Girl who ran a website, detailing the lives of those on the Upper East Side. However, in a confusing twist, it was revealed that another character Dan (Badgley) was actually the Gossip Girl.

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9. Burlesque

In Burlesque, Bell plays Nikki, a drunk, arrogant performer at a dance club owned by Tess (Cher). In the film, Nikki is always late and drunk for her numbers. She and Tess do not get along due to Nikki’s poor work ethic. Nikki is the lead dancer until Ali (Christina Aguilera) takes the limelight away from her.

Burlesque was not popular with the critics. It has a 36% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the soundtrack was had two Grammy nominations and was nominated for two Golden Globe and won one.

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8. When in Rome

When in Rome follows Beth (Bell), a hardworking art curator, through her rough romantic life. After she attends her younger sister’s wedding in Rome, Tess meets Nick (Josh Duhamel) at the wedding. They flirt but she sees him with another woman. Due to that, she gets drunk and picks up coins out of the “fountain of love.” It turns out that, if you take coins from the fountain, the people who throw the coins in will fall in love with you.

Her life is flipped upside down as three men are obsessed with her. At the same time, Beth begins to fall for Nick. Beth doesn’t know who really loves her and if her love with Nick is real.

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7. Safety Not Guaranteed

While Bell does not have very much camera time, her character, Belinda, is a major driving force in the film. Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass) puts an ad in a newspaper for a partner to help him travel back in time to save Belinda from dying. A newspaper reporter, Jeff (New Girl’s Jake Johnson) takes interns to help him write the story. Darius Britt (Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza) volunteers to help Kenneth.

Safety Not Guaranteed received high critical acclaim. It has a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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6. Spartan

Spartan was Bell’s breakout role. She plays Laura Newton, the president’s daughter, who has gone missing. Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is trying to save her. Spartan is a political thriller that leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat. It also hints of corruption within the government and secret service.

The film received mixed reviews and has a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics did agree that the ending of the movie was done very poorly.

(The volume on the clip below starts out pretty loudly. If you watch it, be sure to turn the volume down.)

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5. Big Miracle

Big Miracle follows the true story of a newspaper reporter, Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), a Greenpeace worker and citizens of Alaska as they try to save whales that are trapped under ice in the Arctic Circle. The whales caught under the water were two parent whales and an infant, Fred, Wilma, Bamm-Bamm, After there is trouble on a local level, Rachel (Drew Barrymore) makes getting the whales out a state and national issue. Bell plays Jill Jerard, a local news reporter who reports on the whales’ progress in the water.

The movie flopped at the box office, opening with only $7 million. The film was critically successful. It currently has a 73% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The website says that it is a “satisfying family drama.”

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4. House of Lies

House of Lies follows Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle), a management consultant who is manipulative and willing to do his job no matter who gets in his way. At the beginning of the series, he was a partner at a consultancy firm but he leaves to start his own firm, Kaan and Associates. The series also stars Ben Schwartz, Josh Lason an Dawn Olivieri.

Bell plays Jeannie van der Hooven, a partner at Kaan and Associates. The series is in its fourth season, which will air in 2015 on Showtime.

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3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall stars Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand and Bell. Bell plays the title role of Sarah Marshall.
The film follows Peter Bretter (Segel), a composer for a TV show that stars Sarah. Sarah breaks up with Peter and he takes a vacation to Hawaii to forget about her. However, when he arrives, he discovers that Sarah is there on a vacation with her new boyfriend (Brand). Peter begins to spend time with Rachel (Kunis) and they fall for each other.

The film has multiple celebrity cameos from Paul Rudd to Kristen Wiig. Bell made a cameo in the movie Get Him to the Greek as her character, Sarah Marshall.

The film received raving reviews. IT has an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also featured puppets that were made at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

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2. Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars was one of Bell’s most classic characters. She played her in both a television series and in a movie that was released this year. The television series follows Veronica as she is a teenage private investigator. She helps her father with cases as well as helps her classmates. The show was cancelled due to low ratings in 2007.

The film, which is released on disc on May 6th, follows Veronica ten years after high school. Her on and off flame, Logan, had been accused of murder and Veronica was going to help him.

The film was created after fans made a kickstarter campaign to fund the film. Almost all of the original characters from the television show returned for the film. Along with the original stars, there were also celebrity cameos.

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1. Frozen

Bell’s best role, so far, is playing Princess Anna in Disney’s Frozen. The animated film was released in 2013 and the songs are still stuck in everyone’s head.

Her spunky character, Anna, spends the film trying to end winter by searching for her sister, Elsa. Due to a curse (or birth defect?) , Elsa can turn things into ice. While she tried to hide it, Elsa got made at Anna and accidentally turned their entire kingdom into an endless winter. After Elsa ran away, Anna searched for her. The film also stars Josh Gad and Idina Menzel.