The Real Housewives are a dramatic bunch. These women understand their assignments, and they play their characters well. So well in fact that, sometimes, their storylines have felt staged, or perhaps, embellished. From knowing how to hold audiences captive, to stirring the pot just enough to keep their jobs secured, these ladies are pros.
Not shockingly, many of these women hold a background in theater and/or film. We’ve just sorted through all of their varied roles played, when not yelling about owning it or demanding that we talk about the husbands on Bravo. From these, here are the best performances from Real Housewives actresses.
Kyle Richards – The Halloween Trilogy
Kyle Richards spent her childhood running from Michael Myers, and her adulthood running from the drama on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. In 1978, Kyle was cast in the first Halloween film, starring as Lindsey Wallace. Her young character survived Michael’s attacks, making Kyle able to reprise her role in 2021 for Halloween Kills. In 2022, Kyle wrapped up this series with her best performance yet, avoiding Michael’s wrath once again in Halloween Ends.
Kim Richards – The Witch Mountain Franchise
Like her sister, Kim Richards began her career at an early age. In 1975, Kim scored the role of a psychic alien named Tia on Escape to Witch Mountain. A few years later, Kim reprised her role as Tia in Return from Witch Mountain.
When Disney completely remade this film with Race to Witch Mountain in 2009, Kim made a brief cameo, but in a totally different role. This franchise saw Kim’s best performance, as it launched her to stardom, which she mentioned a few times on RHOBH.
Garcelle Beauvais – Black Girl Missing
Long before Garcelle Beauvais went against the Fox Force Five on RHOBH, she spent her time acquiring an impressive portfolio of acting gigs. While many know her for her time spent on the Coming to America films and The Jaime Foxx Show, Garcelle’s most recent work best reflects her current direction.
Helping to bring awareness to the lack of media coverage and resources for when Black women and girls go missing, Garcelle starred as Cheryl, the mother of a missing daughter, in the film Black Girl Missing. With genuine emotions behind her role, this was one of Garcelle’s best performances yet.
Lisa Rinna – Days of Our Lives
Lisa Rinna was one of the biggest drama starters on RHOBH, so it’s not shocking that she excelled on the popular soap opera, Days of Our Lives. The original player of Billie Reed, Lisa and her lips lived in the fictitious town of Salem from 1992 – 1995.
When not battling for Bo’s heart with Hope, she was standing trial for the murder of her father. Lisa was all over the map in this role that we best remember her for, which is fitting, given Lisa’s outrageous storylines on Real Housewives.
Eileen Davidson – Days of Our Lives
Former RHOBH star Eileen Davidson already knew Lisa prior to her time on Bravo, as she also starred on Days of Our Lives. Her double role as Kristen Dimera and Susan Banks was equal parts hysterical and weird. However, Eileen gave these twin-like roles her best performances, even when wearing a horrible mouthpiece with large teeth.
Denise Richards – Wild Things
Denise Richards has always been an icon, and she will stay an icon, with or without the support of her newly rejoined RHOBH costars. Often playing the hot girl roles, Denise has raked up a long list of credits. However, Denise’s role in Wild Things is the one that we cannot get over. Nailing her role as the seductive antagonist, Kelly Van Ryan, Denise’s performance, and on-air death, was one for the books.
Kenya Moore – The Confidant
Kenya Moore is known for her witty shade on Real Housewives of Atlanta, but watching her star as Eden Patterson in the film The Confidant proved that our girl is worth so much more than just her bite.
Back in 2010, Kenya’s role as a protective and seductive wife was equal parts messy and entertaining. Mrs. Twirl was also a producer for this film, further making The Confidant one of her best performances yet.
NeNe Leakes – Glee
Former RHOA star NeNe Leakes gave the series some of its best one-liners ever. In a non-shocking twist, NeNe’s other roles have also included her signature sassy ways. As for our favorite, that’d hands-down be NeNe’s role as Coach Roz Washington on Glee. This character was one of NeNe’s best, as she nailed the wit and sass required for the job.
Kim Fields – The Facts of Life
I miss my childhood, and I miss Kim Fields character of Tootie over on The Facts of Life. Sadly, Kim failed to last long on RHOA. However, she will forever have a spot in our hearts, as she played young Tootie with such a high level of humor and skill, making this role her greatest performance in her long list of credits to date.
Kandi Burruss – The Chi
Everything Kandi Burruss touches turns to gold, minus the latest season of RHOA. Like the others, Kandi has an impressive collection of film, television, and music credits. Most recently, Kandi’s appeared on 13 episodes of The Chi, a dramatic series on Showtime.
Portraying Roselyn Perry, Kandi’s character has had several highs and lows, and for this range, we think it’s easily one of Kandi’s best performances.
Heather Dubrow – Jenny
Don’t make fun of Heather Dubrow‘s extensive IMBD page, as doing so failed to end well for her Real Housewives of Orange County co-stars. All throughout Season 17, our little Mrs. Fancy Pants defended herself extraordinarily well in petty situations, which made us heavily root for Heather this season.
As for her best performance outside of the Real Housewives franchise, we loved watching Heather play Karen Kilgariff on Jenny, opposite her real-life friend, Jenny McCarthy. In our opinion, Heather shines the brightest during lighthearted moments. So, now our main question is, how do we get Jenny on RHOC alongside Heather for Season 18?
TELL US – HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THESE FILMS AND/OR SERIES? IF YES, THOUGHTS? ARE THERE OTHER REAL HOUSEWIVES ACTRESSES WHO HAVE SURPRISED YOU?
