Arielle Kebbel (born February 19, 1985) is an American actress and model. She first gained recognition through television roles in Gilmore Girls and later The Vampire Diaries and 90210. She also became known for her roles in the films John Tucker Must Die (2006), Aquamarine (2006), and The Grudge 2 (2006).
Kebbel has since worked extensively in both film and television, with film credits including Think Like a Man (2012), Fifty Shades Freed (2018), and the After film series (2021–2023). Her television work has included leading roles in Midnight, Texas, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, Rescue: HI-Surf, and Marshals.
Arielle Kebbel was born on February 19, 1985 in Orlando, Florida. She was raised in Winter Park, alongside her two siblings.
She began taking riding lessons at the age of five and eventually owned a pony. She trained in competitive equestrian sports for seven years and also performed with horses in arena shows. Kebbel has credited her experience in equestrian sports with instilling a strong sense of discipline and dedication, saying: "I've always been non-stop, driven, and veracious, but riding taught me discipline, and to put my head down and do the work. If I wasn’t in school, I was at the barn."
Kebbel graduated from Crenshaw School in Winter Garden, Florida. She was actively involved in several sports and extracurricular activities, including cheerleading, track and field, competitive dance, and volleyball.
1999–2005: Career beginnings and early roles
In 1999, at age 14, Kebbel was hired as an extra for Creed's music video, "Higher". She was the first runner-up at the 2002 Miss Florida Teen USA beauty pageant. She began taking acting classes at age 16, and was trained at the Lisa Maile Image, Modeling & Acting School.
In 2003, her first television acting credit was on the third season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in the episode "Forever". She later recalled in an interview with TVLine: "I remember the day that I was filming, my friends were back in Florida, going to prom. I remember thinking, 'This is the path I chose. I'm doing what I want to get to do my way, and they're getting to do what they want to do their way. My high school prom was on set at CSI!"
She auditioned for films Freaky Friday (2003) and Mean Girls (2004), but did not get those parts. Instead she secured a management team and an agent in Los Angeles. In January 2003, she relocated to Los Angeles and during her first week there, Kebbel successfully auditioned for the role of Lindsay Lister on The CW's comedy drama series Gilmore Girls. She went on to play a recurring role throughout the third, fourth, and fifth seasons. During this period, she also worked as a waitress and nanny. Later in 2003, she made guest appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Judging Amy.
Kebbel made her film debut as Heather Hunkee in the comedy film Soul Plane (2004), and portrayed Taya in five episodes of Fox's sitcom Grounded for Life. Kebbel played Layla in the pilot episode of HBO's series Entourage. She landed her first magazine cover for Vegas magazine in October 2004. She has since appeared in features and covers for other prominent lifestyle and fashion publications, including Men's Health, Nylon, Maxim, H and Lucky. In 2005, she appeared in five films: American Pie Presents: Band Camp, The Kid & I, Dirty Deeds, Reeker and Be Cool.
2006–2016: Breakthrough and wider recognition
In 2006, Kebbel appeared in several successful films. She had a role as high school student Carrie Schaeffer in 20th Century Fox's romantic comedy film John Tucker Must Die (2006). The film revolves around three girls who seek revenge on their mutual ex-boyfriend for cheating. The film was a box office success, grossing $68.8 million worldwide against an $18 million budget.
Kebbel played the main villain Cecilia Banks in the fantasy comedy film Aquamarine (2006). The film grossed $23 million at the worldwide box office and has since become a cult film. Her third successful film of 2006 was the horror film The Grudge 2. She played one of the main roles as Allison Fleming, an exchange student from Chicago who attended Tokyo International School. For her role, Kebbel was nominated for Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Scream. The film received negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success and grossed $70.7 million worldwide.
She landed a main role as Katherine in the British horror film Freakdog (2008). The film received a limited cinema release and reviews of the film were generally poor. In late 2008, she began filming the psychological horror film The Unvited (2009) in Vancouver, British Columbia. She portrayed Alex, a grieving teenager trying to prove her late mother's nurse can't be trusted. In 2009, she made her first appearance as Alexia Branson in The CW's supernatural teen drama series The Vampire Diaries, a role that lasted for 9 episodes.
In 2010, she appeared in the vampire parody film Vampires Suck, which mainly parodies The Twilight Saga franchise. The film opened at number one in the United States on August 18, and grossed $81.4 million worldwide. The same year, she had a main role on the second season of The CW's drama series Life Unexpected and guest starred as Charlene on True Blood. When Kebbel began portraying Vanessa on The CW's 90210, TVLine described her as the network's "poster child", noting that she had appeared in numerous shows on the network.
She also had roles in arthouse and independent films, including I Melt with You (2011) and The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best (2011). She had a small role as Gina in the romantic comedy film Think Like a Man (2012) and guest starred on Hawaii Five-0, in the episode "Popilikia".
In 2013, Kebbel starred in The Vampire Diaries: Rehash and Perfect Score as the host of both shows. She had recurring roles on Unreal, The League and Ballers in 2015. Kebbel was added to the main cast for Ballers' second season. She portrayed sportscaster Tracy Leggete, who is involved with the show's main character Spencer Strasmore, played by Dwayne Johnson.
2017–present: Action roles and television prominence