Kim Basinger is the blonde bombshell has certainly proved her bonafides as an actress, quickly going from sex symbol to respected Oscar winner. Let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1953 in Athens, Georgia, Basinger got her start as a model before turning to acting, catching the attentions of movie audiences as a Bond girl in the Sean Connery-starring “Never Say Never Again” (1983). She earned her first Golden Globe nomination soon thereafter for a supporting performance as Robert Redford‘s love interest in “The Natural” (1984).
She courted controversy with her sexually explicit turn in Adrien Lyne‘s “9 1/2 Weeks” (1986) and became a box office draw with Tim Burton‘s superhero smash “Batman” (1989). She even proved she could poke fun at herself with a cameo appearance in “Wayne’s World 2” (1992) as the aptly-named Honey Horneé.
It was with Curtis Hanson‘s neo-noir masterpiece “L.A. Confidential” (1997) that she achieved her greatest critical success. As Lynn Bracken, a Veronica Lake look-alike working as a prostitute in 1950s Los Angeles, Basinger hit the Oscar jackpot with a Best Supporting Actress victory. The role brought her additional prizes at the Golden Globes and SAG (tied with Gloria Stuart for “Titanic”), plus a bid at BAFTA. She also competed at SAG as part of the film’s ensemble.
Tour our photo gallery of Basinger’s 10 greatest films, including some of the titles listed above, as well as “8 Mile” (2002), “The Door in the Floor” (2004), “The Nice Guys” (2016) and more.
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10. READY TO WEAR (PRET-A-PORTER) (1994)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Robert Altman. Written by Robert Altman and Barbara Shulgasser. Starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Kim Basinger, Stephen Rea, Anouk Aimee, Lauren Bacall, Lili Taylor, Sally Kellerman, Tracey Ullman, Linda Hunt, Rupert Everett, Forest Whitaker, Richard E. Grant, Danny Aiello, Teri Garr, Lyle Lovett, Jean Rochefort, Michel Blanc.
Robert Altman’s satire of the fashion industry misses the mark in several respects, but not when it comes to Basinger’s hilarious performance as a vapid cable news reporter covering Paris’s annual “Ready to Wear” show. Think of her as a kind of dim-bulbed version of Geraldine Chaplin’s journalist in “Nashville,” as she provides the connecting tissue between the various models, designers and photographers descending upon the City of Lights. Despite being a rare critical miss for Altman, the film earned Golden Globe nominations in Best Comedy/Musical Film and Best Supporting Actress for Sophia Loren.
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9. THE NICE GUYS (2016)
Image Credit: Misty Mountains/Bloom/Silver/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Shane Black. Written by Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi. Starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, Kim Basinger.
Basinger has a small but memorable role in Shane Black’s throwback action comedy. Set in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, “The Nice Guys” finds a mismatched pair of private detectives (Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling) tracking down a missing teenage girl (Margaret Qualley) who’s mysteriously tied to a murdered porn star. Basinger costars as the missing girl’s mother, a top official in the US Department of Justice who claims her daughter mistakenly thinks she wants her dead (perhaps not too mistakenly, it turns out). It’s a delicious supporting turn that proves the actress is still capable of top-notch work.
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8. FOOL FOR LOVE (1985)
Image Credit: Cannon/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Robert Altman. Screenplay by Sam Shepard, based on his play. Starring Sam Shepard, Kim Basinger, Randy Quaid, Harry Dean Stanton.
You don’t hear many people talk about Robert Altman’s “Fool for Love,” and that’s not surprising considering it came out during his decade-long exile from Hollywood. Yet as far as the director’s ‘80s output goes, it’s one of the more interesting entries, thanks in large part to Basinger’s smoldering performance. Sam Shepard adapts his own play and stars as Eddie, who confronts his old flame May (Basinger) as she’s holed up in a Southwest hotel waiting for her new lover (Randy Quaid) to arrive. There’s a dark secret lurking underneath Eddie and May’s relationship, one we wouldn’t dare spoil here.
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7. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Irvin Kershner. Screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr., story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham and Ian Fleming, based on the novel ‘Thunderball’ by Fleming. Starring Sean Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, Barbara Carrera, Kim Basinger, Bernie Casey, Alec McCowen, Edward Fox.
Basinger first came to the attention of movie audiences playing a Bond girl in “Never Say Never Again,” which found Sean Connery returning to the role of 007 after a 12 year absence. Adapted from Ian Fleming’s ninth Bond novel, “Thunderball” (which had previously been filmed with Connery in 1965), it finds the super suave secret agent trying to track down a pair of stolen nuclear warheads before they can be detonated. Basinger costars as Domino Petachi, beautiful mistress to the evil billionaire Maximillian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer). One look at her and it’s little wonder she turned into a bombshell superstar.
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6. 8 MILE (2002)
Image Credit: Eli Reed/Imagine/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Curtis Hanson. Written by Scott Silver. Starring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Mackie, Michael Shannon, Eugene Byrd.
Though the lion’s share of critical plaudits for “8 Mile” went to Eminem’s big screen debut as a young rapper modeled largely after himself, Basinger deserves similar praise for her de-glamed performance as his trailer trash mother. Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks in Detroit, Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith (Eminem) tries to escape a life of poverty with his lyrical talents. His mother and her abusive boyfriend (Michael Shannon) make that increasingly difficult, although his best friend (Mekhi Phifer) and loyal girlfriend (Brittany Murphy) are on his side. The film won an Oscar for its hit original song, “Lose Yourself,” penned by the star.
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5. THE NATURAL (1984)
Image Credit: Tri-Star/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Barry Levinson. Screenplay by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry, based on the novel by Bernard Malamud. Starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky, Richard Farnsworth.
Following her breakout as a Bond girl, Basinger established herself as a major actress with her role in Barry Levinson’s beloved baseball drama. She plays Memo Paris, the sometimes love interest to an ordinary man (Robert Redford) who has been blessed with a “natural” talent on the diamond. Though Basinger earned a Golden Globe bid as Best Supporting Actress, it was Glenn Close who snagged the Oscar nomination in that category as Redford’s childhood sweetheart. No matter, because “The Natural” helped launch Basinger’s career as a serious performer, leading to her eventual Oscar victory for “L.A. Confidential.”
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4. BATMAN (1989)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Tim Burton. Screenplay by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren, story by Hamm, based on characters created by Bob Kane. Starring Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, Jack Palance.
With “Batman,” Tim Burton took the superhero movie into darker and more mature territory by returning the caped crusader to the noirish roots of Bob Kane’s comics. Michael Keaton stars as Bruce Wayne, a billionaire vigilante who dons a black mask to protect Gotham City from a clown-faced madman known as the Joker (Jack Nicholson). Basinger costars as Vicki Vale, an intrepid photojournalist who becomes the love interest for Wayne and his alter ego. The real star is Anton Furst’s Oscar-winning production design, which creates an ominous, atmospheric metropolis of mysterious shadows and towering skyscrapers.
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3. THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR (2004)
Image Credit: Focus Features/Good Machine/Kobal/Shutterstock Written and directed by Tod Williams, based on the novel by John Irving. Starring Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Jon Foster, Bijou Phillips, Elle Fanning.
In adapting the first third of John Irving’s bestselling novel “A Widow for One Year,” writer-director Tod Williams creates an acting showcase for Basinger and Jeff Bridges, both of whom give some of their career-best performances. “The Door in the Floor” centers on a children’s book writer (Bridges) and his wife (Basinger), whose marriage has been marked by tragedy. While staying at their beach home in Long Island, a young writers assistant (Jon Foster) comes in the middle of the two, forcing them to move past their heartbreak. It’s a dramatic tour-de-force that should’ve returned its two leads to the Oscar race.
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2. 9 1/2 WEEKS (1986)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Adrian Lyne. Screenplay by Sarah Kernochan, Zalman King and Patricia Louisianna Knop, based on the book by Ingeborg Day. Starring Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Margaret Whitton, David Margulies, Christina Baranski.
Reactions to “9 1/2 Weeks” were sharply divided when it finally made its way to theaters in 1986, two years after filming wrapped in 1984. It quickly gained infamy for its sexually explicit material, heavily edited to appease the puritanical MPAA ratings board. And indeed, it’s still shocking to watch decades later. Basinger stars as Elizabeth, an art gallery employee who enters into an impersonal relationship with a Wall Street broker (Mickey Rourke), engaging in some of the steamiest sex scenes ever seen in a non-pornographic movie. Despite earning a Razzie nomination, this remains one of Basinger’s bravest performances.
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1. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Curtis Hanson. Screenplay by Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson, based on the novel by James Ellroy. Starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito.
Basinger hit the Oscar jackpot as the femme fatale at the heart of Curtis Hanson’s neo-noir masterpiece. Adapted from James Ellroy’s massive crime novel, “L.A. Confidential” centers on three police officers (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce) who uncover massive corruption in 1950s Los Angeles. Basinger took home the Best Supporting Actress prize for playing Lynn Bracken, a prostitute made to look like Veronica Lake who starts an affair with one officer (Crowe) and then another (Pearce), causing further chaos within the group. The role brought her additional prizes at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.
