The 15 Best Krysten Ritter Roles

Krysten Ritter has built one of the most versatile résumés in modern film and television, moving smoothly between noir-tinged superhero stories, sharp sitcoms, prestige dramas, and genre-bending indies. She’s led series, stolen scenes in ensemble casts, and even co-written a feature—usually anchoring her work with precise character choices and crisp comic or dramatic timing.

This list gathers standout turns across her career, from breakout supporting parts to franchise-defining leads. You’ll find quick context on each project, the creative teams and co-stars involved, and what each role contributes to the story world—so you can decide what to watch next or where to revisit a favorite performance.

‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’ (2015–2019) – Jessica Jones

Ritter headlines this neo-noir Marvel series created by Melissa Rosenberg, produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios for Netflix. The show follows a private investigator with superhuman strength working cases in New York, with recurring ties to other street-level heroes. Key collaborators include co-stars Mike Colter, Rachael Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss, and David Tennant, whose antagonist threads through major arcs.

The series integrates serialized investigations with a character study of trauma, consent, and coercive control framed through comic-book mythology. Ritter’s character also intersects with other cornerstones of the shared universe through crossover appearances and storylines that expand the Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem settings, weaving legal, journalistic, and vigilante spheres into one continuity.

‘Breaking Bad’ (2009–2010) – Jane Margolis

Created by Vince Gilligan for AMC, this crime drama charts Walter White’s escalation in the meth trade and the fallout around him. Ritter appears as a tattooed landlord and artist who becomes entwined with Jesse Pinkman, bridging the show’s domestic, criminal, and recovery narratives. Her character connects to additional figures including an air-traffic controller father, deepening consequences beyond the central duo.

The role is embedded in pivotal episodes that influence Jesse’s relapse, business choices, and loyalties, and it sets up plotlines that ripple through later seasons. Production collaborators include Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, and directors such as Michelle MacLaren and Rian Johnson, whose episodes frame the character’s arc with meticulous visual motifs.

‘Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23’ (2012–2013) – Chloe

Nahnatchka Khan created this ABC sitcom about an unapologetically chaotic New Yorker whose new roommate navigates friendship and survival in the city. Co-stars include Dreama Walker and James Van Der Beek playing a satirical version of himself, with a supporting ensemble of workplace and neighbor characters that feed rapid-fire A- and B-plots.

The show blends single-camera punchlines with long-running gags and industry in-jokes, often staging elaborate cons and social chess matches. Ritter’s character drives episodic engines—roommate pranks, career pivots, and celebrity misadventures—while the writing staff uses bottle episodes and themed set pieces to escalate stakes within the apartment building, office settings, and midtown nightlife.

‘Marvel’s The Defenders’ (2017) – Jessica Jones

This limited series unites four New York vigilantes introduced across separate Marvel shows under showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez. Ritter’s investigator teams with Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand to counter a clandestine organization that threads through prior seasons. The production brings together casts from multiple series, including Charlie Cox, Mike Colter, Finn Jones, Élodie Yung, and Sigourney Weaver.

The crossover advances lingering mysteries about ancient factions, corporate fronts, and legal entanglements while giving each hero a focused investigative or combat lane. Ritter’s character supplies skeptical strategy and forensic legwork, linking surveillance, client interviews, and paper trails to the martial-arts and courtroom components driving the ensemble’s intersecting missions.

‘Orphan Black: Echoes’ (2024) – Lucy

Set in the world of the original clone thriller, this series comes from creator Anna Fishko with executive producers connected to the franchise’s earlier run. Ritter plays a woman who wakes with limited memory and a violent survival instinct, pulling viewers into questions of identity, biomedical experimentation, and found family. The cast includes Keeley Hawes, Avan Jogia, Rya Kihlstedt, and James Hiroyuki Liao.

The narrative explores cutting-edge genetics, black-site research, and the ethics of consciousness transfer, using lab settings, urban safe houses, and underground clinics to stage revelations. Ritter’s character acts as the audience’s entry point into new factions and scientific agendas, tying together investigative threads that connect corporate backers, whistleblowers, and reluctant participants.

‘Nightbooks’ (2021) – Natacha

This dark fantasy film adapts J. A. White’s children’s novel under director David Yarovesky for Netflix. Ritter plays a witch who imprisons a boy and demands a scary story every night to delay dire consequences, placing narrative creation at the center of the plot. Co-stars include Winslow Fegley and Lidya Jewett, whose characters collaborate and clash inside a shifting, enchanted apartment.

The production leans on practical sets and visual effects to realize a magical library, a treacherous garden, and a labyrinth of illusions. Story excerpts become mini-movies that reveal rules of the prison and foreshadow twists, while the antagonist’s backstory threads through costume design, set dressing, and prop lore to explain the residence’s traps and bargains.

‘Veronica Mars’ (2004–2007) – Gia Goodman

Rob Thomas’s teen-noir series follows a student PI in a coastal California town shaped by class divides and political scandals. Ritter recurs as the daughter of a prominent local figure, intersecting with school politics, mayoral controversies, and the show’s layered mysteries. The ensemble includes Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, and Percy Daggs III.

Her character threads into season-spanning arcs involving civic cover-ups, press manipulation, and extracurricular networks. The role places her in storylines with journalists, athletes, and campaign staffers, using party scenes, council meetings, and off-campus hangouts to seed clues, red herrings, and witness interviews that connect personal history to public fallout.

‘Veronica Mars’ (2014) – Gia Goodman

The feature follow-up reunites the series’ principal cast for a high-profile case that draws the lead back to Neptune during a milestone reunion. Ritter reprises her role, now positioned within adult social circles and business interests that complicate reputations and legal exposure. The film retains the franchise’s voice-over, flashback structure, and layered suspect lists.

The case architecture uses digital evidence, media spin, and past grudges to reframe earlier events, with supporting turns from returning characters and new players in entertainment and tech. Ritter’s character becomes a narrative hinge for motive and means, providing access to locations, contacts, and records that unlock the investigation’s final chain of revelations.

‘Gilmore Girls’ (2006–2007) – Lucy

Set in Stars Hollow and Yale’s social orbit, Amy Sherman-Palladino’s series centers on fast-talking family dynamics and academic life. Ritter appears as a student immersed in drama and arts circles, connecting to Rory Gilmore’s campus friendships and romantic subplots. The role adds threads involving theater rehearsals, gallery visits, and student organization events.

Her character’s scenes map Yale’s extracurricular network—venues, clubs, and parties that introduce new classmates and conflicts. These settings supply episode engines about miscommunication, etiquette, and loyalty tests, with dialogue-heavy sequences that weave her into group dynamics and give recurring access points for campus-based A- and B-stories.

‘Vamps’ (2012) – Stacy

Writer-director Amy Heckerling crafts a Manhattan-set comedy about two vampires adapting to modern life while resisting old-world obligations. Ritter co-leads opposite Alicia Silverstone, with supporting appearances by Sigourney Weaver, Wallace Shawn, and Justin Kirk. The film uses workplace scenes, night classes, and downtown clubs to ground the supernatural premise in everyday urban routines.

Plotlines involve abstaining from predation, romantic complications with mortals, and bureaucratic hurdles within vampire hierarchies. Ritter’s character anchors threads on technology, social media, and ethical consumption, while Heckerling’s script integrates immigration allegory and intergenerational mentorship through coven politics, formal hearings, and familial flashbacks.

‘L!fe Happens’ (2011) – Kim

Directed by Kat Coiro from a screenplay co-written with Ritter, this indie comedy follows three roommates whose careful balance upends after an unexpected pregnancy. The cast includes Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson, Geoff Stults, and Justin Kirk. Shooting locations in Los Angeles neighborhoods emphasize car-dependent logistics, childcare scheduling, and gig-economy workarounds.

The film’s structure traces practical hurdles: babysitting swaps, employment negotiations, and co-parenting agreements that collide with social plans and career goals. Ritter’s character sits at the center of apartment-share rules, support-network calls, and calendar juggling, with recurring beats that use agency visits, casting sessions, and side-hustle gigs to drive plot movement.

‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (2009) – Suze

Based on Sophie Kinsella’s bestselling novels and directed by P. J. Hogan, this comedy follows a journalist whose consumer habits jeopardize professional aspirations. Ritter plays the protagonist’s best friend and roommate, offering access to personal spaces, social events, and support systems that shape the lead’s choices. The ensemble features Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, John Goodman, and Joan Cusack.

The adaptation combines fashion-magazine settings, credit counseling offices, and televised segments to chart financial and reputational stakes. Ritter’s character bridges the home front with the media world, supplying introductions, alibis, and literal closets that become practical obstacles and solutions as the narrative moves through exposés, auctions, and reconciliations.

‘What Happens in Vegas’ (2008) – Kelly

Tom Vaughan directs this studio comedy about two strangers who marry after a wild night and are forced to cohabitate to protect shared winnings. Ritter appears among the friends orbiting the central couple, operating as a sounding board and instigator during strategy sessions and group outings. The principal cast includes Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Lake Bell, and Rob Corddry.

Scenes with friend groups frame legal maneuvers, pranks, and household rules that escalate the conflict toward mediation and court dates. Ritter’s character gives the leads access to additional social spheres—happy hours, work functions, and weekend trips—where allies and rivals exchange intelligence that influences the couple’s negotiation tactics.

‘Gravity’ (2010) – Lily Champagne

This dramedy from creators Eric Schaeffer and Jill Franklyn for Starz follows a support group for suicide-attempt survivors who navigate second chances. Ritter plays a central member of the ensemble, participating in sessions that structure each episode’s confessions, homework, and setbacks. The cast includes Ivan Sergei, Eric Schaeffer, Rachel Hunter, and Ving Rhames.

The series uses meeting rooms, home visits, and field assignments to explore grief processing, relapse triggers, and new relationships. Ritter’s character anchors arcs about identity reinvention, employment pivots, and family boundaries, connecting guest characters and case-of-the-week stories to the group’s evolving rules and accountability rituals.

‘Love & Death’ (2023) – Sherry Cleckler

Developed by David E. Kelley and directed in key episodes by Lesli Linka Glatter, this limited series dramatizes the real-life case surrounding a Texas church community. Ritter plays a close friend of Candy Montgomery, featured across social gatherings, worship events, and private conversations that establish the community’s alliances. The production stars Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Lily Rabe, and Patrick Fugit.

Her character’s proximity provides context for marriage classes, potlucks, and choir practices that supply alibis and rumors during the investigation. The show intercuts interviews, depositions, and courtroom scenes with neighborhood routines, using Ritter’s appearances to map how information travels among couples, clergy, and legal teams.

‘El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie’ (2019) – Jane Margolis

Written and directed by Vince Gilligan for Netflix, this feature continues Jesse Pinkman’s story immediately after his escape from captivity. Ritter returns in a reflective sequence that threads earlier philosophies and choices into Jesse’s subsequent decisions, linking back to the parent series without interrupting the film’s forward momentum. Principal collaborators include Aaron Paul, Matt Jones, and Charles Baker.

The production balances new set pieces—body-shop dealings, safe-house hideaways, and cash hunts—with intercut memories that inform motive and resolve. Ritter’s appearance functions as a thematic anchor, aligning with the film’s use of past conversations and road imagery to situate the lead’s final path among old mentors, adversaries, and lost connections.

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