The 10 Best Kaley Cuoco Roles

Kaley Cuoco has built a career that stretches from family sitcoms to prestige dramas and animated antihero adventures, with lead performances on broadcast, cable, and streaming. Across live-action and voice roles, she’s anchored hit ensembles, headlined original series as a producer, and carried feature films with sharp comic timing and grounded emotion.

Below are ten standout performances that showcase range and longevity. You’ll find network staples, buzzy streaming originals, voice-acting turns that became fandom favorites, and films that paired her with heavyweight comedic and action stars—all organized by the projects themselves, with her character noted in each heading.

‘The Big Bang Theory’ (2007–2019) – Penny

As Penny, Kaley Cuoco joined a core ensemble centered on scientists and engineers living in Pasadena. The series built its storytelling around apartment-hallway neighbor dynamics, romantic arcs, and workplace plotlines at a research university, eventually expanding to marriages, career progressions, and family milestones. The show became one of the most-watched comedies on television, earning multiple industry nominations and wins for the cast and creative team over its run.

Cuoco’s role spanned the pilot through the finale, evolving Penny from an aspiring actor and waitress to a successful pharmaceutical sales professional and spouse. Her scenes frequently bridged the scientists’ jargon-heavy world with everyday life, and she was central to cross-season arcs involving Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper’s living arrangements, and the friend group’s move from dating to long-term commitments.

‘The Flight Attendant’ (2020–2022) – Cassie Bowden

Produced by Cuoco’s Yes, Norman Productions, this darkly comic thriller follows Cassie Bowden, an airline crew member thrust into an international web of crime after a layover turns catastrophic. The series blends mystery, jet-setting locations, and psychological drama, using visual motifs like split screens and inventive “mind-palace” sequences to track Cassie’s attempts to piece together what happened.

Cuoco served as star and executive producer, guiding the show through its initial limited-series design into a broader character study with an expanded ensemble. The role earned major awards attention for acting and producing, and the production filmed across multiple countries, coordinating airline-set logistics, on-location shoots, and stunt-driven set pieces anchored by Cassie’s point of view.

‘Harley Quinn’ (2019– ) – Harley Quinn (voice)

This animated series reimagines DC’s Gotham through Harley Quinn’s perspective, pushing serialized storytelling, humor, and adult-animation sensibilities. The show’s arcs revolve around villain crews, complicated friendships, and shifting alliances with characters like Poison Ivy, Joker, and assorted Gotham mainstays, while remixing comic-book canon with fast-paced original plots.

Cuoco voices Harley and serves as an executive producer, shaping the character’s vocal identity across multi-episode arcs that include crew-building, super-villain politics, and relationship milestones. The production is known for witty dialogue, deep bench cameos, and season-spanning storylines that introduced new antagonists and reworked familiar ones, with Harley’s narration and reactions driving the comedic rhythm.

‘Based on a True Story’ (2023– ) – Ava Bartlett

Set in Los Angeles, this satirical thriller centers on a couple who spin a sensational crime trend into a venture that tests their ethics and marriage. The series threads together true-crime culture, startup ambitions, and suburban pressures, using cliffhangers and shifting power dynamics to move from domestic comedy into suspense.

Cuoco’s character, Ava Bartlett, is a real-estate agent balancing career demands with personal upheavals while navigating the fallout of the couple’s risky idea. The show pairs her with Chris Messina and builds out a supporting cast of neighbors, clients, and potential collaborators, with production mounting set pieces in upscale homes, gyms, and boutique venues to underscore the contrast between everyday life and escalating danger.

‘8 Simple Rules’ (2002–2005) – Bridget Hennessy

This family sitcom follows the Hennessy household as parents guide three teenagers through school, dating, and sibling rivalries. Early seasons center on rules for dating and household boundaries, later incorporating workplace and extended-family arcs, with episodes structured around school events, holidays, and rites of passage.

Cuoco plays Bridget, the fashion-forward eldest daughter whose storylines include academic surprises, romantic misadventures, and leadership roles among her peers. The show’s ensemble format gave her recurring partner scenes with siblings and parents, and production moved through multi-camera stages with live audiences, shaping timing, blocking, and comedic delivery developed over many episodes.

‘Charmed’ (2005–2006) – Billie Jenkins

This fantasy series follows a sisterhood of witches balancing everyday life with supernatural responsibilities, featuring demon hunts, spellwork, and alliances with magical beings. Later-season arcs introduce protégés and legacy questions, expanding the lore with new mentors and apprentices within the witch community.

Cuoco portrays Billie Jenkins, a young witch whose powers and independent streak make her both student and catalyst for high-stakes conflicts. Her storyline weaves mentorship with solo missions that test loyalty and judgment, adding new locations, creature designs, and effects-driven battles to the show’s production playbook during its concluding season.

‘Meet Cute’ (2022) – Sheila

This romantic dramedy uses a time-loop premise to examine how people try to fix themselves and their relationships. The narrative structure revisits a single date repeatedly, layering in new information and consequences with each reset, and uses tight, dialogue-driven scenes to reveal character history.

Cuoco stars as Sheila opposite Pete Davidson, carrying scenes that alternate between confessionals, confrontations, and comedic misdirections as the loop deepens. The production leans on practical New York locations, compact supporting casts, and careful continuity management to keep each iteration visually distinct while tracking small-but-crucial changes in costume, props, and blocking.

‘The Wedding Ringer’ (2015) – Gretchen Palmer

This buddy-comedy setup pairs a socially awkward groom with a professional best man who supplies a full roster of fake groomsmen. The plot escalates through rehearsal mishaps, high-energy set pieces, and secrets that threaten to upend the ceremony, with venues ranging from bachelor-party haunts to church aisles.

Cuoco plays Gretchen Palmer, the bride whose expectations and family dynamics raise the stakes for the elaborate ruse. Scenes place her at the center of planning sessions, vendor showdowns, and reception-floor reveals, while the production balances large ensemble choreography—dance numbers, group photos, banquet timing—with character beats that drive the final act’s choices.

‘Hop’ (2011) – Samantha “Sam” O’Hare

Blending live action and animation, this family film follows a slacker at a crossroads who crosses paths with a reluctant successor to an iconic holiday role. Animated characters interact with human actors across Los Angeles landmarks and candy-factory set pieces, with VFX pipelines integrating on-set plates and later character animation.

Cuoco appears as Samantha “Sam” O’Hare, the protagonist’s sister, grounding the story’s family side with scenes that connect household expectations to the film’s fantastical elements. Production involved motion-capture and voice recording schedules layered over principal photography, requiring precise eyelines and timing from the live-action cast during effects-heavy sequences.

‘The Man from Toronto’ (2022) – Anne

This action-comedy teams a case-of-mistaken-identity everyman with a notorious assassin during an international plot involving multiple agencies and double-crosses. The film mixes hand-to-hand fights, chases, and comedic set pieces staged at gyms, safe houses, and conference halls, using stunt-driving units and second-unit photography for larger sequences.

Cuoco plays Anne, whose relationship with the lead character anchors the personal stakes amid the chaos. Her scenes track parallel travel and communication misfires that complicate the central ruse, while the production pairs her with leads Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, using alternating close-quarters comedy and wide-frame action setups.

‘Brandy & Mr. Whiskers’ (2004–2006) – Brandy Harrington (voice)

This animated Disney Channel series follows a pampered teen, Brandy Harrington, who ends up stranded in the Amazon rainforest with an excitable rabbit named Mr. Whiskers. Episodes track their efforts to adapt—building shelters, navigating jungle social hierarchies, and clashing with local fauna—while introducing recurring characters like Lola Boa, Ed, and the scheming Gaspar Le’Gecko. The show uses fast-paced humor, cutaway gags, and a bright visual style, with stories that revolve around friendship tests, survival missteps, and Brandy’s attempts to import mall-culture logic into a wild setting.

Kaley Cuoco provides the voice of Brandy, anchoring plots that mix fish-out-of-water comedy with small moral turns at the end of each segment. Production came from Walt Disney Television Animation, with episodes structured as paired shorts that allowed flexible scheduling and frequent character spotlights. The voice cast recorded ensemble sessions for comedic timing, and the series maintained a consistent jungle backdrop while rotating set pieces—treehouse neighborhoods, market areas, and vine-laced trails—to support Brandy’s evolving alliances and rivalries.

Share your favorite Kaley Cuoco role in the comments and tell us which performance you’d add to the list!