Phoebe Cates was a huge star of the 1980s and ’90s, and many of her movies and TV shows became classics that are still beloved by many today. Cates began her career as a teen model appearing on the cover of magazines like Seventeen (via People). However, Cates became dissatisfied with modeling and eventually decided to transition to acting, and she secured her first role in the 1982 film Paradise as Sarah. Since then, Phoebe Cates has had starring roles in all sorts of projects ranging from high-school teen comedies to character-driven miniseries to thrilling horror comedies.
However, despite having a successful career as an actress, Cates would eventually retire from Hollywood altogether as she instead wanted to focus on raising her two children that she has with her husband, the critically acclaimed actor Kevin Kline (via Country Living). Considering that Cates’ last major role was a Lego version of Kate Beringer, the character she played in the Gremlins films, in the 2015 video game Lego Dimensions, it appears that she is completely done with acting and has no apparent desire to return. But before she retired, Phoebe Cates achieved an impressive catalog of roles in various movies and shows that showcased her acting talents.
10 Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%
Based on the Jay McInerney novel of the same name, Bright Lights, Big City tells the story of a young New York writer named Jamie Conway (Michael J. Fox) whose life takes a downward spiral as everything goes wrong: his mother dies from cancer, his wife Amanda (Phoebe Cates) leaves him, and he loses his job at an esteemed magazine company. With nothing left in his life, Jamie heavily relies on drugs and alcohol to cope with his depression. While Cates plays a more supporting role, she still gives an excellent performance and can hold her own against big stars like Michael J. Fox and Kiefer Sutherland.
Bright Lights, Big City is unavailable to stream.
9 Shag (1989)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65%
Directed by Zelda Barron, Shag follows a young girl named Carson McBride (Phoebe Cates) who, along with her three close friends, travels to Myrtle Beach for one last getaway vacation before she must return home and marry her boring fiancé, Harley Ralston (Tyrone Power Jr.). At Myrtle Beach, the four teenage girls have fun doing all sorts of activities like drinking, flirting with boys, and participating in a Carolina shag dance competition. What makes Shag one of Phoebe Cates’ best films is that while, at heart, it’s a fun, entertaining movie about shag dancing and partying, it also manages to be a compelling coming-of-age story about finding oneself.
Shag is unavailable to stream.
8 Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 53%
Featuring an all-star cast that includes Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Eric Stoltz, and frequent Quentin Tarantino collaborator Tim Roth, Bodies, Rest & Motion follows Nick (Roth), a man who leaves his girlfriend Beth (Fonda) as he wants to travel the country. Devastated by his abandonment, Carol (Cates), Beth’s best friend, convinces Beth to sleep with a house painter named Sid (Stoltz), which she does, but trouble arises when Nick returns from his trip. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, one of its standout features is the strong performances, as actors like Cates helped carry the movie.
Where To Watch Bodies, Rest & Motion
7 The Anniversary Party (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%
The directorial debut of The Hateful Eight and Hunters star Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Anniversary Party follows an actress named Sally Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and a writer-director named Joe Therrian (Alan Cumming) who are about to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. However, tension brews between them when Sally discovers that Joe will not be casting her in the lead role of his next project even though the character is based on her. While Sally and Joe try their best to hide this conflict as they host their wedding anniversary party, their negative feelings immediately start gushing out.
What makes The Anniversary Party one of Phoebe Cates’ best films is that not only was this her last major role before her retirement, but it also showcases her talents, as she is one of the biggest highlights in the incredibly stacked cast. Aside from the lead performers, the film also features actors like Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey, and Gwyneth Paltrow, and yet Cates gives one of the best performances.
Where To Watch The Anniversary Party
6 Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
Gremlins 2: The New Batch takes place years after the first Gremlins in which Gizmo has been sent to a top research facility where he is experimented on by a group of scientists led by Daniel Clamp (John Glover). Eventually, water accidentally spills on his head, and Gizmo begins to multiply. Once the other mogwai are created, they lock up Gizmo and eat after midnight in the food court, which causes them to transform into gremlins and take over the building. This causes Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) to enter the research facility to not only attempt to free Gizmo but also put an end to the gremlins’ plans.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is one of Phoebe Cates’ best roles because despite the film receiving mixed reviews from critics, and overall, not being as well-received as the first Gremlins, it still received a massive cult following. Unlike the first Gremlins, which was a much more straightforward horror film, Gremlins 2 takes a different approach and prioritizes its cartoonishness with lots of slapstick comedy and gore. The cult audience resonated with the sequel’s camp and goofy tone and hopefully is an element that returns in a hypothetical Gremlins 3.
Where To Watch Gremlins 2
5 Drop Dead Fred (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 11%
Drop Dead Fred is about a court reporter named Elizabeth Cronin (Phoebe Cates) who is incredibly unhappy. Her husband is asking for a divorce after being involved in an affair, her purse and car are stolen, and she’s fired from her job. The only good thing in her life is the interactions she has with her imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall) who always manages to make her laugh. Despite the film being panned by critics at the time of its release, it has since developed a cult following that praises Drop Dread Fred for being an insightful and powerful showcase of mental health, breakdowns, and emotional abuse.
Where To Watch Drop Dead Fred
4 Lace (1984)
IMDb Score: 7/10
Lace is a two-episode miniseries in which a young Hollywood movie star named Lili (Phoebe Cates) attempts to discover who her biological mother is as she was given up for adoption when she was a baby. Lili confronts three women whom she believes could be her mother: Pagan Trelawney (Brooke Adams), Judy Hale (Bess Armstrong), and Maxine Pascal (Arielle Dombasle), and all three women’s backstories are explored through flashbacks. Lace is one of Cates’ best roles as she not only gives a strong performance, but her iconic line, “Incidentally, which one of you b*tches is my mother?” was voted as the best line in history by TV Guide in 1993.
Lace is unavailable to stream.
3 Princess Caraboo (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65%
Directed by Michael Austin, Princess Caraboo tells the true story of a mysterious woman (Phoebe Cates) who, out of nowhere, arrives at an English village and speaks in a strange language that no one can understand. Believing that she may be a princess from a faraway country, the wealthy British elite take her in and treat her like royalty, referring to her as Princess Caraboo. This is one of Cates’ best roles as not only is it one of the few projects in which she plays the lead role, but it’s an overall crowd-pleasing historical comedy that anyone can enjoy.
Where To Watch Princess Caraboo
2 Gremlins (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
Directed by legendary cult filmmaker Joe Dante, Gremlins follows Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), a young man who is gifted a mogwai named Gizmo from his father as an early Christmas present. However, what began as a wonderful gift soon becomes a terrifying presence as Gizmo spawns several clones that turn into evil creatures called gremlins who take over and ravage Billy’s hometown on Christmas Eve. This is one of Phoebe Cates’ best movies as she not only excellently plays the iconic character Kate Beringer, but the film is a horror classic that manages to balance its cute Christmas setting with the violent and scary antics of the gremlins.
Where To Watch Gremlins
1 Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
Written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Amy Heckerling, Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a coming-of-age comedy that follows a group of teenagers who attempt to live their high school lives to the fullest by engaging in all sorts of romances and sexual encounters. Fast Times at Ridgemont High features a high-profile cast of actors who would later go on to become huge stars like Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicolas Cage, and of course Phoebe Cates.
Not only is Fast Times at Ridgemont High an iconic ’80s teen comedy, but Cates has one of the most memorable scenes in which her character, Linda Barrett, climbs out of a swimming pool and removes her red bikini top in slow motion. The scene is hugely problematic by today’s standards, especially because it is the male gaze-y fantasy of Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold). However, Cates herself has stated that the Fast Times scene was “easy” and that “it’s not that big a deal“. Either way, Linda Barrett from Fast Times at Ridgemont High is Cates’ best and most iconic role.
Where To Watch Fast Times At Ridgemont High
