Film & TV

Kristen Bell's Top 10 Movies

In honor of the actress's birthday, L'OFFICIEL rounds up her best roles.

Kristen bell in a yellow dress holding a platter of shrimp

Born in Michigan, Kristen Bell's career didn’t officially begin until she made her first appearance in a film, Polish Wedding, in 1998. The same year, she began attending NYU Tisch for acting and she starred in stage productions there. Today, she’s known for her popular television roles, such as the titular character in Veronica Mars and Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place. However, she’s also been successful in a handful of movies, from Forgetting Sarah Marshall to Frozen and Frozen II.

Despite her cheerful personality on and off-screen, she has played a few antagonistic characters here and there, like the jealous sister in You Again and the forgotten-about burlesque dancer in Burlesque. She even voiced the character of Gossip Girl in the original show (and reprised her role in the reboot). In her 25-year-long career, the actress has racked up several People’s Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, an MTV Movie Award, and an Emmy nomination. To celebrate her 43rd birthday, L'OFFICIEL looks back at some of her best films. 

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Bell’s breakout role was none other than Sarah Marshall in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.' In this hilarious film, she plays an actress who ends her five-year relationship with Jason Segel’s character, Peter Bretter, a composer for her television show. Segel’s character spends the duration of the movie trying to get over her while they’re both on vacation at the same resort in Hawaii.
In 'Burlesque,' Bell plays Nikki, a has-been burlesque dancer at their same club who’s jealous of Christina Aguilera’s character, Ali Rose. We see her dancing skills in this film as well.
Bell stars in the rom-com 'When in Rome' as an unhappy New Yorker who spontaneously takes a trip to Italy and meets several suitors after stealing a coin from the “fountain of love.”
'You Again' features Bell among an all-star cast of actresses Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, and Betty White. In this comedy, Bell’s character Marni Olsen flies back to her hometown of Ridgefield, California for her brother’s wedding only to find out he’s marrying her high school arch-nemesis. 
In 'Hit and Run,' Bell stars alongside husband Dax Shepard as the two play a fictional couple of Charlie, a former getaway driver, and Annie, his girlfriend. Plus, Bradley Cooper plays a mobster who begins to follow the couple with a federal agent (Tom Arnold) to track them down.
'Stuck in Love' is about a family trying to get through life amidst the parents splitting up after the husband cheats. In this one, Bell plays the woman that the husband had a long-term affair with, Tricia.
Ten years after the original show premiered, 'Veronica Mars' was made into a movie in 2014 where Bell continued her role of the teenage investigator in the crime and mystery film.
The comedy film 'Bad Moms' stars Bell as the overworked stay-at-home mother of four to contrast the other partying mothers and PTA parents.
Perhaps her most well-known role—at least for Gen Zers—is Princess Anna in "Frozen" and "Frozen II," in which she showcases her vocal training. In these classic animated Disney movies, she voices the cheerful, lovable princess to contrast Idina Menzel’s cold Elsa (pun intended).

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