Acting credits
96
Prolific
Very extensive acting filmography.
Actor
Jennifer Beals
Acting
Career Snapshot
ExplainedThese indicators come from TMDB. They are relative signals, not review ratings.
TMDB popularity
2.4
Moderate attention
TMDB internal trend index. Higher usually means more searches and page activity now.
Movies: 67Series: 31Crew credits: 4
TMDB ID: 3130
IMDb ID: nm0000884
Known for: Acting
Born: December 19, 1963
Age: 62
Place of birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Gender: Female
Adult content flag: No
Career span: 1944 - 2025
Years active: 82
Average TMDB rating: 6.46
Wikidata: Q181229
Other jobs
Co-Producer (1)Executive Producer (1)Producer (1)Thanks (1)
Biography
Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former. She has appeared in more than 50 films. Beals was born on the South Side of Chicago, the daughter of Jeanne (née Anderson), an elementary school teacher, and Alfred Beals, who owned grocery stores. She is multiracial; her father was African American, and her mother is Irish American. She has two brothers, Bobby and Gregory.Her father died when Beals was nine years old, and her mother married Edward Cohen in 1981. Beals has said her biracial heritage had some effect on her, as she "always lived sort of on the outside", with an idea "of being the other in society". She got her first job at age 13 at an ice cream store, using her height at the time (she is now nearly 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)), to convince her boss she was 16. Beals was inspired to become an actress by two events: doing a high school production of Fiddler on the Roof and seeing Balm in Gilead with Joan Allen while volunteer-ushering at the Steppenwolf Theatre. Beals graduated from the progressive Francis W. Parker School. She also was chosen to attend the elite Goodman Theatre Young People's Drama Workshop. Beals attended Yale University, receiving a B.A. in American literature in 1987; she deferred a term so she could film Flashdance. While at Yale, Beals was a resident of Morse College.
Photos
Movies
Movies
Movie credits linked with Jennifer Beals.
Hello Out There
as Judith
2025 Movie
6.5
Luckiest Girl Alive
as Lolo Vincent
2022 Movie
6.8
Sweet Thing
Producer
2020 Movie
7.1
After
as Karen Gibson
2019 Movie
5.5
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
2018 Movie
5.5
The White Orchid
as Vivian
2018 Movie
7.0
Before I Fall
as Mrs. Kingston
2017 Movie
5.9
Manhattan Night
as Lisa Wren
2016 Movie
7.2
Full Out
as Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
2015 Movie
6.2
A Wife's Nightmare
as Liz
2014 Movie
4.5
Cinemanovels
as Clementine
2013 Movie
6.6
A Fuller Life
as Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
2013 Movie
5.4
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
as Angela Fox
2010 Movie
5.4
A Night for Dying Tigers
as Melanie
2010 Movie
6.8
The Book of Eli
as Claudia
2010 Movie
6.6
Queen to Play
as L’Américaine
2009 Movie
7.6
My Name Is Sarah
as Sarah Winston
2007 Movie
3.7
Troubled Waters
as FBI Agent Beck
2006 Movie
5.6
The Grudge 2
as Trish Kimble
2006 Movie
4.2
Desolation Sound
as Elizabeth Storey
2005 Movie
3.1
Break a Leg
as Juliet
2005 Movie
5.6
Catch That Kid
as Molly Phillips
2004 Movie
6.9
Runaway Jury
as Vanessa Lembeck
2003 Movie
4.2
They Shoot Divas, Don't They?
as Sloan McBride
2002 Movie
Series
Series
Series credits linked with Jennifer Beals.
7.5
The Book of Boba Fett
as Garsa Fwip • 4 eps
2021 Series
7.9
Law & Order: Organized Crime
as Cassandra Webb • 5 eps
2021 Series
7.6
The L Word: Generation Q
as Bette Porter • 28 eps
2019 Series
6.4
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self • 1 eps
2019 Series
7.4
Swamp Thing
as Lucilia Cable • 9 eps
2019 Series
6.5
Taken
as Christina Hart • 26 eps
2017 Series
6.5
Proof
as Dr. Carolyn Tyler • 10 eps
2015 Series
7.5
The Night Shift
as Dr. Syd Jennings • 7 eps
2014 Series
5.9
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self - Guest • 1 eps
2014 Series
4.0
Off Camera with Sam Jones
as Self • 1 eps
2014 Series
6.4
Motive
as Sophia Balfour • 1 eps
2013 Series
7.6
The Chicago Code
as Teresa Colvin • 13 eps
2011 Series
5.0
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
as Self - Guest • 1 eps
2009 Series
8.0
Castle
as Sophia Turner • 2 eps
2009 Series
7.9
Lie to Me
as Zoe Landau • 6 eps
2009 Series
6.7
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self • 1 eps
2005 Series
5.6
Best Week Ever
1 eps
2004 Series
7.6
The L Word
as Bette Porter • 71 eps
2004 Series
5.5
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self • 1 eps
2003 Series
7.5
Where Are They Now?
as Self • 1 eps
1999 Series
9.0
Nothing Sacred
as Justine Madsen Judd • 7 eps
1997 Series
4.3
The View
as Self • 2 eps
1997 Series
6.0
The Hunger
as Jane • 1 eps
1997 Series
8.1
E! True Hollywood Story
1 eps
1996 Series