From being the B in apartment 23
to the super-strong Jessica Jones,
Krysten Ritter is a delight
whatever show or movie she's cast in.
And now we get to see her try her hand
at playing an evil witch in Netflix's Nightbooks.
Boo.
But first, let's pay tribute
to her incredible career so far
and take a look at her road to Netflix.
Back to the 2000s and to the start
of Krysten's budding acting career.
Here she is in a 2002 Fiat advert.
Then a model signed to Wilhelmina.
No big deal.
She dazzled casting directors
with her bubbly personality,
which made her transition from modelling to acting
a natural fit.
Her early roles were bit parts in film and TV,
such as the role of one of the art history students
in Mona Lisa Smile.
"Funeral Mask," Mycenaean, 1200.
By 2005, Krysten was popping up
as a recurring character on long-running shows.
From 2005 to 2006,
she played Gia Goodman
on the murder mystery teen drama Veronica Mars.
Her character was the daughter
of a wealthy baseball team owner,
attending Neptune High
alongside Kristen Bell's Veronica.
She reprised this role in the 2014 film,
where Gia returns,
now a wealthy socialite in the frame for murder.
So many mixed emotions right now.
I kind of hated you, like a lot, but I don't anymore.
Just trying to remember my progress,
because blaming you for telling the whole world
that my dad was a paedophile
is what my therapist calls "misplaced aggression."
So, basically, we're totally cool.
Following her original stint on Veronica Mars,
she appeared on another hugely beloved show,
Gilmore Girls.
-Is that too much popcorn? -Uh, yeah.
I'm really hungry.
Between 2006 and 2007,
she played one of Rory's classmates at Yale, Lucy.
From 2008 to 2010,
she cropped up in some classic romantic comedies,
from playing the goth bride in 27 Dresses,
to the best friend in Confessions of a Shopaholic,
and She's Out of my League.
Kirk, Molly's into you.
And here's one you'll remember
if you're a big fan of Gossip Girl.
In 2009, there were plans
for a potential spinoff prequel series
about a young Lily van der Woodsen's life
in the 1980s.
An episode in the second series of Gossip Girl
served as a backdoor pilot,
with Krysten playing Lily's rebellious older sister,
Carol Rhodes.
Come on, it's us.
We travel in style, no matter how we travel.
Arguably, her breakout role
was as Jane Margolis in Breaking Bad.
Because what I know about you,
high-school teacher turned drug dealer
with a brother-in-law in the DEA,
that would make one hell of a story.
National news, I'll bet.
Do right by Jesse tonight,
or I will burn you to the ground.
Jane was Jesse's neighbour and eventual girlfriend,
struggling with drug addiction.
Thanks to Walt, Jane dies a pretty horrible death,
which had major repercussions
on Jesse's character
throughout the rest of the series.
This was Krysten's meatiest role to date
and cemented her acting chops outside of comedy.
Having starred in her fair share of romcoms,
Krysten decided to write her own in 2011.
Life Happens starred Krysten in the main role of Kim,
a woman who gets pregnant after a one-night stand
and becomes a single mother still living
with her two roommates.
Nobody tells you it's going to be so hard.
Yes, they do, Kim.
That's pretty much all people say.
In an interview, she said she and director Kat Coiro
came up with the plot after Kat had a baby.
Staying with comedy, but with a dash of camp horror,
we've got 2012's Vamps,
in which Krysten starred alongside Alicia Silverstone
as two vampires trying to stay youthful and trendy.
Krysten's character, Stacy, gets herself into a pickle
when she finds herself accidentally dating the son
of none other than legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing.
-He's goofy but cute. -What's his name?
His name is Joey…
Van Helsing.
What?
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
saw Krysten play wild New York party girl Chloe,
next to Dreama Walker's idealistic June,
in an odd couple sitcom
about an unlikely friendship.
Fun fact, Dawson Creek's James van der Beek
also starred in the show
as a fictionalised version of himself.
I'm gonna send this.
-To who? -Everyone.
Krysten's Chloe was the perfect vehicle
for her comedic talents,
a character who was lovable
despite being completely irresponsible.
While the show was cancelled after two seasons,
it proved popular with fans,
who have even set up petitions
for it to be renewed,
and was nominated for a few Teen Choice Awards.
On to 2014, and Krysten had a whole host of movie roles.
But her biggest film that year
was Tim Burton's Big Eyes.
It dramatizes the life
of American artist Margaret Keane,
whose famed paintings of characters with big eyes
were initially attributed to her husband.
Playing the outspoken Diane, Krysten fulfilled her goal
of working on a Tim Burton movie with this role,
telling Nylon it was "a total dream come true."
Strange, you know,
Walter doesn't really strike me
as a cute, hungry kitten type.
And in 2015,
we got to see Krysten on Netflix for the first time
as the incomparable Jessica Jones.
In this role, her star power was fully realised
as the conflicted, hard-drinking and, well,
hard-hitting former superhero.
Starring alongside
David Tennant's terrifying Kilgrave,
Krysten got rave reviews
for her work on the Marvel series,
which explored themes like sexual assault and PTSD.
Come back here!
Whoa.
She also directed an episode
in the final series of the show.
In 2017, she starred in The Defenders,
where Jessica Jones teams up with Luke Cage,
Iron Fist and Daredevil.
Bullet-proof. Blind ninja.
-Whatever it is you are. -Classy.
Another Netflix role she reprised
was that of Jane from Breaking Bad,
in a surprise flashback cameo
at the end of 2019's El Camino.
I've gone where the universe takes me my whole life.
It's better to make those decisions for yourself.
That brings us to 2021
and Krysten's latest Netflix project, Nightbooks.
This time she gets to play a villain as a witch
who takes a young boy named Alex prisoner.
In order to save his life, he convinces her
to let him write a scary story for her each night.
Did you say…
scary stories?
But at the same time,
he teams up with another prisoner to try
and figure out a way to escape her clutches.
This will hurt you far more than it hurts me.
Make sure you don't miss Nightbooks,
now streaming on Netflix.
And for more on your favourite
actress trajectories to Netflix
and the stories behind your favourite shows and movies,
make sure you subscribe to the channel.
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