Lake Bellcan do it all: she acts, does voice acting, directs, and writes. She’s one of the best-supporting actors any film or show can have, and in the last few years, she has finally gotten lead roles. These are her best performances, ranked.
10Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)
Mr. Peabody and Shermanis a film based on the “Peabody’s Improbable History” segment onRocky and Bullwinkle,where Sherman uses his time machine to impress his friend Penny, and, as usual in time-traveling films, things don’t go according to plan, and the future is changed. They must fix it before history changes forever. Bell plays one of the many historical figures they find along the way: Mona Lisa, and makes the most of this small part giving her a furious streak, as she’s bored out of her mind of sitting there all day while being painted.
9No Strings Attached (2011)
Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kutcher) start a casual sex relationship withNo Strings Attached. Will they fall in love? Probably. This is the first script Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) ever made, and it has an incredible cast with Portman and Kutcher at the front, but full of other actors who would become stars in their own right: Greta Gerwig, Jake Johnson, Mindy Kaling, and Lake Bell. Bell plays Lucy, an awkward co-worker and almost love interest for Adam. It’s not a big role, but Bell makes the best of it, showing the awkwardness, eagerness, and shyness of her character, who likes Adam from the start, and tries to be casual about it.
8Childrens Hospital (2008-2016)
Childrens Hospitalwas a short-form comedy series that spoofed medical dramas, and how the doctors were usually more interested in getting laid than in saving patients (in this case, children). The show ran for eight seasons and was full of improv geniuses like Rob Corddry, Ken Marino, and Lake Bell. She played Dr. Cat Black, the beautiful, unlucky-in-love doctor.
About how Children’s Hospital helped her improve her directorial work,Bell told Indie Wire: “You got a lot of big personalities, we’re all goofing off, and you got two days to do an episode; we shoot two at a time in four days, really quick, all out of sequence… it’s insane. It was the perfect boot camp though in terms of managing large personalities that are also my friends, but also moving very quickly and efficiently.”
7Million Dollar Arm (2014)
Million Dollar Armtells the story of sports agent JB (Jon Hamm), who goes to India to recruit talented Indian cricket players with the objective of them becoming Major League Baseball players. Bell plays Brenda, JB’s tenant and possible romantic interest. Although her character is supporting, Bell creates a real person with the screen time she has, making audiences understand what makes Brenda tick.
6Bless This Mess (2019-2020)
The first Liz Meriwether TV show afterNew Girl,Bless This Messis about Rio (Bell) and Mike (Dax Shepherd), who live in the big city and move to Nebraska with the hopes of living a slower, more rural life. Once there, they discover that rural simple life is not that simple. Bell co-created the show with Meriwether and even wrote and directed some episodes of this lighthearted, quirky, fun show that lasted only two seasons.
5The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The Secret Life of Petsis an animated movie about the life of a terrier named Max (Louis C.K.) and how his life changes when his owner takes in a stray named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). There are other dogs and cats in the movie, like Kevin Hart’s Snowball or Jenny Slate’s Gidget. Bell plays Chloe, a sarcastic, fat tabby cat who is only interested in herself and getting more food. Bell’s voice work is always great, and in this movie she has fun being the overeater, sarcastic with the heart of gold cat. Every animated film about animals needs a not-so-gracious-at-first friend, and Bell’s Chloe is the one here. The movie franchise was so successful thatit’s getting its ride at Universal Studios.
Related:Kevin Hart’s 10 Funniest Movie Characters, Ranked
4How to Make It in America (2010-2011)
Born as an East Coast answer toEntourage,How to Make it in Americatold the story of Ben (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam (Victor Rasuk) while they were trying to start a clothing business in New York, with no contacts or experience in that world. The show had one of the best opening sequence titles ever, scored to Aloe Blacc’s “I Need A Dollar”. Bell plays Rachel, Ben’s ex-girlfriend, with whom she still hangs, and in the long run, love interest to Domingo (Kid Cudi). Although her role wasn’t always as rich and full as the two leads, this was the place where many met Bell for the first time, including many in Hollywood, becoming her stepping stone to everything that would come later.
3Man Up (2015)
Nancy (Bell) wants to get out there and find love, so when Jack (Simon Pegg) mistakes her for his blind date, she decides to roll with it, and in the process finds love. After many supporting roles in romantic movies, Bell finally plays the lead inMan Up, and she does a great job with it, as audiences fall in love with her at the same time Pegg’s character does. The actress plays Nancy as adorably insecure, while also flirty, and dirty-mouthed, and shows the evolution of her character, who starts as a cynic and finishes as a hopeless romantic who just found love.
Related:Best Simon Pegg Movies, Ranked
2Harley Quinn (2019-Present)
The animatedHarley Quinnshow might be the filthiest, funniest version of Gotham ever made. It all starts when Harley (Kaley Cuoco) decides to break it off with the Joker (Alan Tudyk) and become a genius criminal on her own. Bell voicesone of the best characters on the show: Poison Ivy; half ofthe relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Bell plays her characters on many levels and emotions greatly, as both the exasperated, straight woman in the world of Harley Quinn, but also the maniacal, plants-over-everything ideals her sometimes villain character has. It’s a fun show,perfect for Venture Bros. Fans, where Bell can show her voice-over talents, as she does many more characters over the TV series, giving each its own accent, diction, and affections.
1In a World… (2013)
In a World…was the first film written, directed, and acted in by Bell, and tells the story of Carol Salomon (Bell), a vocal coach, who will fight to become the next great movie-trailer voice-over. The film shows us the competitive world of voice-over while also telling the story of the difficulties of a father-daughter relationship where both do the same job. Bell lets her character be messy, and every other actor shines best, but she’s the anchor of the film, creating a tridimensional person audiences want to succeed.
About writing, directing, and acting in the movie,Bell told Tribeca Film: “We shot this in 20 days - we didn’t have the luxury of rehearsing too much. We had a lot of dinners and lunches where I would say, hey, bring your scripts and we’ll talk about characters and scenes. We did read-throughs, but I didn’t have the time to overly rehearse it.”
