Kim Kardashian epitomizes the American Dream. If your hotshot lawyer dad played by David Schwimmer in a Ryan Murphy series was on O.J. Simpson’s defense team, you can do anything; from working as Paris Hilton’s assistant to starring in a reality show to founding SKKY Partners LLC to starring in a Ryan Murphy series. Television is the natural — and most American — place to start when pursuing the American Dream (read: unprecedented fame). Ever since launching her career as a socialite/reality star/global influencer/or whatever her job title was back in 2007-ish, Kardashian has dipped a toe into Hollywood with cameos and roles big and small on the big and small screens.
Today, Kardashian has reached an unpredictable level of fame with Vogue covers, a seemingly permanent invite to the Met Gala, and a dolce vita lifestyle so enviable it has caused a rift in her own family. With Kim Kardashian’s role in American Horror Story: Delicate, she’s officially launched herself as an A-lister across several industries. Given what she’s become, it’s somewhat hard to believe what she did to get here. From CSI to AHS to PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, here are all of Kim Kardashian’s acting roles, ranked.
Note: Cameos that only involved a couple lines (2 Broke Girls, Last Man Standing) did not count in this ranking. What is accounted for, however, is any cameo that required Kim to memorize lines she really had to think about in advance.
11.
Lisa, Disaster Movie (2008)
Kimoji scale: Trash bags
In Kim’s first feature, she played Lisa, a woman who is killed by a meteor. Truthfully, Kim had more charisma in her “nobody wants to work anymore moment” than she did in this ghastly performance, which might have been more the movie’s fault anyway.
10.
Dolores, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023)
Kimoji scale: Two jugs of milk
Kim Kardashian as a sassy poodle from the Valley? This was very 2009 of her, and so is the performance.
9.
Elle, Beyond the Break (2009)
Kimoji scale: Red Solo cup
Paris Hilton’s assistant had to start from the bottom before she stepped into the Balenciaga gimp suit and co-founded Skims. In 2009 (which was to Kim Kardashian as 2011 was to Jessica Chastain as 2023 is to Ayo Edebiri) Kim had a multi-episode arc as mean girl Elle on Nickelodeon’s surfing drama. She got slimed (it was Nickelodeon after all) but other than that, it was forgettable. If asked about the role, any KarJenner would likely pretend this never happened.
8.
Summa Eve, Deep in the Valley (2009)
Kimoji scale: Panty drop
Before researching this project I would not have believed that Kim Kardashian and Chris Pratt were less than six degrees from each other. But in 2009 (when else?), Kardashian made an appearance in the Pratt-starring comedy that put his porn-addict character in an alternate-reality porn world. Kim plays Summa Eve, a bouncer at a party. Kim’s performance only communicates one thing: confusion. Initially the performance might come across as bad acting, but what is anyone, let alone Kim Kardashian circa 2009, supposed to do in this unique situation?
7.
Ava, Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013)
Kimoji scale: Ugly crying Kim
In the year of Miley Cyrus twerking at the VMAs, Kim played the bone-dry role of Ava in Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor. Ava works for the titular marriage counselor. She has a side part, lips glossier than a magazine, and wears bodycon dresses with shoulder cutouts but criticizes others’ taste. In the end, Miss Kim has played herself more effectively on her reality shows than in this moving picture.
6.
Debbie Fallon, CSI: NY (2009)
Kimoji scale: Jesus
If Kim K hadn’t accepted every opportunity that came her way in 2009, she wouldn’t be living the dolce vita lifestyle she’s living today. In an episode of CSI: New York, Kim got her Barbara Stanwyck moment. Kim played Debbie Fallon, a scammer and killer of unhoused drug addicts. First she helped the unhoused get back on their feet, then she murdered them for their life insurance. The performance is fine, but leaves much to be desired. The things we do to eventually get a guaranteed invite to the Met Gala …
5.
Kim Kardashian, Beverly Hills 90210 (2010)
Kimoji scale: Kredit Kard
Remember when the Kardashians worked retail? Remember when Vladimir Putin’s mother AnnaLynne McCord was an actress? Kim cameoed alongside sister Khloe in a season-three premiere of the Beverly Hills 90210 reboot. The sisters help to pick out a dress. Kim doesn’t have much to work with, but she makes the most of it.
4.
Nikki Lepree, Drop Dead Diva (2012)
Kimoji scale: Kim’s butt
Kim had a multi-episode arc on the Lifetime legal comedy Drop Dead Diva, and she was actually given a juicy enough role to require real acting. Kim’s character, Nikki LePree, is a conwoman who convinces another character to invest their life savings into a dessert business. Then Nikki steals her identity and ends up in prison. The performance is giving child actor who practiced lines in their trailer with mom so many times that no matter what they do it will come across as robotic, which is probably exactly what happened. But in doing so, it borders on camp (in a good, accidental way).
3.
Kim Kardashian, How I Met Your Mother (2009)
Kimoji scale: Butt mirror selfie
2009 was such a big year for Kim K because she would take any opportunity her mother/manager got for her. In an episode of How I Met Your Mother, Kim briefly but effectively plays herself on the cover of a magazine in one layer of a multilayered masturbation joke. She gets to quote Shakespeare! “Virtue is bold and goodness, never fearful.” Credit where credit is due: She put the dolce vita lifestyle she had not yet lived into it.
2.
Siobhan Walsh, American Horror Story: Delicate (2023)
Kimoji scale: Kim with devil horns
In the newest season of American Horror Story, Kim has the audacity to play a New York City woman named Siobhan. Suddenly, she thinks she’s Sarah fucking Snook? Kim doesn’t necessarily need to act much here, since the character is basically just Kim Kardashian but with a different job (agent) and a much fouler mouth: One of the first lines she says is “suck my clit.” She didn’t deliver the line with Brian Cox as Logan Roy levels of cunt, but she served nonetheless. While it’s clear Kim has taken some acting classes, there’s still some artificiality to her acting, but now decades into fame with a plethora of cameos and thankless roles behind her, she knows how to use that artificiality to her advantage.
1.
Kim Kardashian, Uber One Australia commercial (2019)
Kimoji scale: Fish taco
In 2019, Kim Kardashian played herself in an Australian Uber One ad opposite Magda Szubanski of Kath & Kim, a television series our Kim has probably never seen (or heard of). Kim K has starred in many commercials which did not count for this ranking, but this particular commercial required real acting: timing, memorizing lines, an accent, working with a professional comedian at the highest level. Her work, which shows off her sense of humor, is excellent here, which suggests that somewhere in the late 2010s, Kim Kardashian went to acting school. Or was Keeping Up With the Kardashians an acting school this whole time?
