The bestArielle Kebbelmovie and TV roles show her range, as she has taken on everything from romantic comedies and horror movies to supernatural television and police procedurals and excelled at them all. Kebbel was a star from the start, moving to Los Angeles and landing the first role she auditioned for, latching on to the seriesGilmore Girlsas Lindsay Lister. This got her foot in the door, and she never looked back. She has also always kept her foot in the door of the television industry while also taking some movie roles.
Throughout her career, Kebbel has appeared in some of the biggest TV shows airing,with major roles onGilmore GirlsandThe Vampire Diaries, as well as one-shot appearances in franchise shows likeCSIandHawai’i Five-O.She tried her hand at horror movies likeThe Grudge 2andThe Uninvitedand rom-coms likeJohn Tucker Must Die. While she hasn’t taken home any major awards, Kebbel continues to get major roles on television and remains a familiar that many fans have followed for over two decades now.
Arielle Kebbel Plays Olivia Charity
In 2010, Arielle Kebbel appeared in one episode ofTrue Blood— “I Smell a Rat.” That HBO urban fantasy series is based onThe Southern Vampire Mysteriesby Charlaine Harris which likelyopened the door for Kebbel seven years later to join the seriesMidnight, Texas. This NBC series is based on another Charlaine Harris novel series. This time the series follows a young psychic whose ghost of his grandmother tells him to go find refuge in the city of Midnight, Texas.
Kebbel plays Olivla Charity, a freelance assassin who is married to Lem, a vampire.
When he arrives, he finds a community of “monster” who can help him, including a vampire, a half-demon, a fallen angel, a witch, a werecreature, and more. This leads to battles from the outside world as the community tries to deal with the new psychic in town. Kebbel plays Olivla Charity, a freelance assassin who is married to Lem, a vampire who came to Midnight in the 1950s. The series lasted for two seasons and 19 episodes.
Cast
The Uninvitedis a 2009 horror movie and was Arielle Kebbel’s third film in the genre, following the low-budgetReeker(2005) and the 2006 sequelThe Grudge 2. This specific film is aremake of a critically acclaimed South Korean horror movie calledA Tale of Two Sisters,and like mostHollywood remakes of Asian horror movies, it was not quite up to the level of the original. In the film, Emily Browning stars as Anna, a teenager who returns home after a suicide attempt after her mother died in a house fire.
Anna suspects that her father’s new wife (Elizabeth Banks) might have had something to do with her mom’s death. Anna is determined to find out what really happened the night of the fire and takes extra precautions to protect her sister Alex (Kebbel) as well. This was a tough role for Kebbel since her character is not what it seems, but she does a great job in her small part of the horror movie. The film has a 32% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but much of the problems come from comparisons to the superior original.
The Grudge 2
The Grudge 2 is a sequel to the 2004 remake of Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge. Like its predecessor, the film is also directed by Shimizu. The Grudge 2 tells three different stories, one about a woman in Tokyo looking for her lost sister, another about a high school prank, and one about a woman with a dark secret moving into a Chicago apartment.
In 2004, Hollywood remade the Japanese horror movieJu-On,and used its American language title,The Grudge. That movie saw people terrorized by a demonic spirit that results in their deaths. The first movie had a few big-name actors, including Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Clea DeVall, and Bill Pullman. The sequel arrived two years later and featured Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia) in the lead role. She was joined by Arielle Kebbel and Jennifer Beals.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is back as the sole survivor from the first movie, Karen Davis, and Amber Tamblyn plays her younger sister, Aubrey. As for Kebbel, she plays Allison, an exchange student from Chicago who attended Tokyo International School. She is one of three school girls who break into a house on a dare and then end up hunted by Kayako and Takeo, the demonic spirits. The movie was bashed by critics, but the audience score was slightly higher. It was a box office success, making $70.7 million on a $20 million budget (viaBox Office Mojo).
John Tucker Must Die
John Tucker Must Die is a teen comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The story follows three high school girls who learn they have been dating the same guy, John Tucker, and team up with a new girl to exact revenge. Their elaborate plan to bring him down takes unexpected turns, leading to humorous and insightful moments about relationships, popularity, and self-identity. The film stars Jesse Metcalfe, Brittany Snow, and Ashanti.
Arielle Kebbel joined her first major romantic comedy in 2006 with the teen movieJohn Tucker Must Die. The movie stars Jesse Metcalfe as John Tucker, a popular high school basketball player who is dating three different girls, but asking them to keep it a secret since he “can’t date during basketball season.” However, the three girls soon learn about each other and set out to create a plan to get revenge against Tucker for his infidelities and lies.
…it helped Kebbel show she could do more than just horror and fantasy.
Kebbel plays one of the three girls, a chronic overachiever.The other two girls are Heather (Ashanti), a cheerleader, and Beth (Sophia Bush), a vegan activist. Brittany Snow plays Kate Spencer, the girl who they enlist to get revenge against John Tucker. The film received poor reviews from critics but was much more accepted by the audience, who gave it a 69% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes and it helped Kebbel show she could do more than just horror and fantasy.
9-1-1
9-1-1 is a television series that explores the intense experiences of police officers, paramedics, and firefighters. Premiered in 2018, it follows these emergency responders as they navigate high-pressure situations and attempt to balance their demanding work with personal challenges in their own lives.
From 2022 to 2023, Arielle Kebbel played Lucy Donato in the first responder TV series9-1-1. She appeared in the show in a recurring role that lasted for 10 episodes seasons 5 and 6.Lucy was a former firefighter who joined Station 118 in the LAFDin the fifth season and then transferred to the Air Support Division of the LAFD in the sixth season. She is also the only firefighter in a family that is mostly police officers.
9-1-1is a first responder series that centers on the workers at the 9-1-1 call center and their work at getting the police, fire department, and paramedics to emergencies to help save lives. Her last appearance was in season 6, and she didn’t make an appearance in the seventh season of the series, as there are several characters coming in and out of the stories. The hit series premiered its eighth season in 2024 after moving from Fox to ABC before its seventh season.
Be Cool
Be Cool is a 2005 crime-comedy film featuring John Travolta as Chili Palmer, who transitions from the movie industry to the music business. Along his journey, he becomes involved with the widow of a music executive, navigating the challenges and connections within this new industry landscape.
Be Coolwas one of Arielle Kebbel’s biggest movies early in her career as this 2005 film was the sequel toGet Shorty.Both movies are based on novels by Elmore Leonardand feature John Travolta starring as mobster Chili Palmer. InBe Cool, Chili sets out to enter the music industry and the trials and tribulations that come with that endeavor. The film has a huge list of talented stars, including Danny DeVito, Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman, and an early Dwayne Johnson role.
While the film wasn’t as successful asGet Shorty, it was just as entertaining with a lot of the credit going to the cast’s performances. Kebbel had a small role in the movie as Robin.Be Coolonly received a 30% Rotten Tomatoes critics score and a 42% Popcormeter rating. However, the movie remains a slight hit, with some great performances and arguably one of The Rock’s best early performances that showed he could be more than a popcorn action hero.
Ballers
Ballers is an HBO comedy series that stars Dwayne ‘The Rock" Johnson as a former football player-turned-financial manager for other players. This series looks at the lives of football players on and off the field as Johnson’s character navigates a complex minefield of rules required to manage a full team.
Arielle Kebbel re-teamed with Dwayne Johnson 10 years after they both appeared in the Elmore Leonard mobster movie,Be Cool. Johnson both produced and starred in the HBO seriesBallers, where he played Spencer Strasmore, a financial sports manager who over the course of the show became an NFL team owner and sought to make changes in the sometimes corrupt professional football league.
In the series, Kebbel starred as Tracy Legette, whereshe was a recurring cast member in the first and fifth seasons and a main cast member in the second. Tracy is a sports reporter on the series who is also Spencer’s love interest on and off throughout. The show was a critical favorite, with critics praising its first season and giving it an 81% fresh rating.Ballersended up lasting for five seasons before coming to an end in 2019.
The Vampire Diaries
Based on the novels by L.J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries is a story about the developing love triangle between Elena Gilbert and two vampiric brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Set in the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, the show follows the trio from high school through college as they battle for one another’s affection.
Arielle Kebbel also starred in one of the most popular supernatural TV shows of the last two decades when sheplayed Alexia “Lexi” Branson inThe Vampire Diaries.She made her first appearance in season 1 of the series as a vampirewho was Stefan’s best friend and companion. She had been friends with Stefan and Damon for over a century. However, she died in her first episode when Damon killed her to make the Town Council think she was the vampire terrorizing the town.
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She played an important role, though, as she became friends with Elena before her death. She later returned as a ghost in “Ghost World” to help Stefan, who had turned off his humanity at the time. Lexi was also back in season 5 when she saved Stefan from going to Hell and finally found her peace and disappeared.The Vampire Diarieslasted for eight seasons and has loyal fans who still rewatch it today. Lexi was an important enough character to appear in the series finale.
2Supporting Characters (2012)
Arielle Kebbel Plays Jamie
In 2012, Arielle Kebbel starred in the most critically acclaimed movie of her career. This was a smaller drama calledSupporting Characters. Alex Karpovsky and Tarik Lowe star as two close friends and co-workers named Nick and Darryl who work as film editors in New York. The film focuses on their lives as friends as well as their romantic relationships. Nick is dating a woman named Amy (Sophia Takal) and Darryl is involved with a demanding woman named Liana (Melonie Diaz).
As for Kebbel,she stars as a woman named Jamie who Nick considers cheating on Amy with.She is an actress in the movie he and Darryl are editing and he believes she might be the best woman that has ever been interested in him. The movie was ultra-low budget, costing only around $50,000 to make (viaTribeca Film Festival). The film has an 86% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was a huge success, picked up for a home video and streaming release.
Gilmore Girls
In the fictional town of Star’s Hollow, single mother Lorelai Gilmore raises her high-achieving teenage daughter Rory. Mother and daughter rely on each other throughout their own life changes, romantic entanglements, and friendships.
The biggest role of Arielle Kebbel’s career came when she moved to Los Angeles and the first big thing that she tried out for, she won the role. This was her part as Lindsay inGilmore Girls. The TV series is about Lorelai and Rory, a mother and daughter who live in the small town of Stars Hollow. Kebbel didn’t show up until the third season, even though she was a childhood friend of Rory. She played a big role in the story as she ended up dating Dean (Jared Padalecki) after he and Rory broke up.
However, Dean eventually cheats on Lindsay with Rory, which not only damages their relationship but also the friendship she had with Rory. This was made worse since Dean and Lindsay had married before he cheated. In one of the best moments of the series, Lindsay throws all Dean’s belongings out of their apartment window as the town watches. This endedArielle Kebbel’s time on the show, which ended up lasting for seven seasons plus a sequel season on Netflix.
