Cast & creator
Jennifer Beals
Best known for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Law & Order
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jennifer Beals, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
71
film credits
36
television credits
103
1944–2026 · acting roles
6.2
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (107)
Showing 107 of 107 credits
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
Law & Order
Sofia Archer
1990
The Daily Show
Self
1996
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self
2019
Castle
Sophia Turner
2009
The View
Self
1997
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Self
2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
Frasier
Dr. Anne Ranberg
1993
The Outer Limits
Robin Dysart
1995
Golden Globe Awards
Self
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Law & Order: Organized Crime
Cassandra Webb
2021
Lie to Me
Zoe Landau
2009
Pulp Fiction
Thanks
1994
Taken
Christina Hart
2017
Off Camera with Sam Jones
Self
2014
The L Word
Bette Porter
2004
Motive
Sophia Balfour
2013
The Hunger
Jane
1997
The Book of Boba Fett
Garsa Fwip
2021
Best Week Ever
2004
The Word
1990
The Night Shift
Dr. Syd Jennings
2014Where Are They Now?
Self
1999
Faerie Tale Theatre
Cinderella
1982
Swamp Thing
Lucilia Cable
2019
The Book of Eli
Claudia
2010
After
Karen Gibson
2019
The L Word: Generation Q
Bette Porter
2019The L Word: Generation Q
Executive Producer
2019Seitenblicke
self
1987
Runaway Jury
Vanessa Lembeck
2003
The Chicago Code
Teresa Colvin
2011
Flashdance
Alex Owens
1983
Devil in a Blue Dress
Daphne Monet
1995
Before I Fall
Mrs. Kingston
2017
Manhattan Night
Lisa Wren
2016Manhattan Night
Co-Producer
2016
Four Rooms
Angela
1995
Luckiest Girl Alive
Lolo Vincent
2022
The Grudge 2
Trish Kimble
2006
Vampire's Kiss
Rachel
1989
Proof
Dr. Carolyn Tyler
2015
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
Nothing Sacred
Justine Madsen Judd
1997
NCIS: New York
Robyn Wells
2026
The Prophecy II
Valerie Rosales
1998
Catch That Kid
Molly Phillips
2004
A Wife's Nightmare
Liz
2014
2000 Malibu Road
Perry Quinn
1992
The Last Days of Disco
Nina
1998
The Thief and the Cobbler
Princess YumYum (voice)
1993
My Bodyguard
Clifford's Friend (uncredited)
1980
The Bride
Eva
1985
Feast of All Saints
Dolly Rose
2001
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Gertrude Benchley
1994
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
2018
Let It Be Me
Emily Taylor
1995
Blood and Concrete
Mona
1991
A Night for Dying Tigers
Melanie
2010
The Twilight of the Golds
Suzanne Stein
1996
Dr. M
Sonja Vogler
1990
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying
Jessica
1999
Troubled Waters
FBI Agent Beck
2006
The White Orchid
Vivian
2018
Caro diario
Jennifer Beals
1993
Full Out
Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
2015
That's Dancing!
1985That's Dancing!
Self (archive footage)
1985
My Name Is Sarah
Sarah Winston
2007
Militia
Julie Sanders
2000
In the Soup
Angelica Pena
1992
They Shoot Divas, Don't They?
Sloan McBride
2002
Roger Dodger
Sophie
2002
A Fuller Life
Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
2013
The Anniversary Party
Gina Taylor
2001
The Big Pardon 2
Joyce Ferranti
1992
Cinderella
Cinderella
1985
A House Divided
Amanda Dickson
2000
Indecency
Ellie Shaw
1992
Sweet Thing
Producer
2020
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
Self
1988
Break a Leg
Juliet
2005
Queen to Play
L’Américaine
2009
Split Decisions
Barbara Uribe
1988
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
Angela Fox
2010
13 Moons
Suzi
2002
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion
Virginia
1992
The Madonna and the Dragon
Patty Meredith
1990
Out of Line
Officer Jenny Capitanas
2001
The Spree
Xinia Kelly
1998
Sons
Transvestite
1990
The Gamble
Lady Olivia Candioni
1988
Something More
Lisa
2000
Body and Soul
Gina
2000
The Search for One-eye Jimmy
Ellen
1994Starz Inside: Fashion in Film
Self
2008
Dead on Sight
Rebecca Darcy
1994
Cinemanovels
Clementine
2013
Wishful Thinking
Elizabeth
1999
Joy Will Prevail
Esther Kahn
Desolation Sound
Elizabeth Storey
2005
Without Malice
Samantha Wilkes
2000
Night Owl
Julia
1993
Hello Out There
Judith
2025