Success can take many forms. Take Lisa Ann Russell for example. She is a former model and actress who has been married twice, both times to famous men. Her first marriage to Saved By The Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar lasted twenty years and ended in divorce in 2011. Soon thereafter, she married Survivor host Jeff Probst, to whom she is still married. Needless to say, Russell is pretty much set.
This is most certainly in spite of the popularity of her acting career. Russell has had exactly five acting gigs over the course of her career, and the reaction to the resulting final product has in almost all cases been mixed or negative. Given this, Russell's success is certainly more of a tribute to how far making the right connections can get you in life.
That said, Russell certainly worked hard to get to where she is now, and that effort ought to be appreciated. After all, it was her short-lived acting career that won her success. So in the interest of granting her that recognition, here are all five of Lisa Ann Russell's roles, ranked according to their rating on IMDb.
Sinbad: The Battle Of The Dark Knights (2.2)
Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights falls into that category of film that leaves the audience wondering why it even exists. The film is a convoluted mess about a grandfather telling his grandson a story about the legendary sailor Sinbad who is trying to stop the henchmen of an evil sorcerer named Bophisto from finding a key that can heal him from an illness that is killing him. One of these henchmen happens to be the man who murdered Sinbad's parents and also takes an interest in Sinbad's love interest, Princess Shalazar (who is played by Russell).
According to the IMDb users who have had the misfortune of seeing Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, this is one of the worst movies ever made. One review on the site reports that the majority of one audience left the theater before the movie was even over because it is such a bad movie. Others seem to find the film entertaining in the sense that it is so bad it's good, while still others warn their readers that a blank TV screen is more entertaining (yes, there are actually more than one review on the site that present that exact sentiment). Given this reaction, this movie is by far the worst on Russell's filmography.
Kounterfeit (4.5)
Kounterfeit is a crime thriller that follows a strip club owner named Frankie who gets roped into helping his friend with an exchange of counterfeit money for real money. Of course, this plan goes sideways, people end up dead, and Frankie finds himself trying to figure out what to do with three suitcases of money while evading the police who have been sent after him by the sister of an undercover cop who was killed in the botched job. Russell plays a very small part in this film and her character is simply credited in the end credits as "Lisa."
The reviews on IMDb for Kounterfeit are less brutal than the ones for Sinbad, but they still paint an overall negative picture of the film. The main criticism for the film is the writing, which falls heavily into clichés. This results in a movie that is not nearly as interesting as it ought to be. That said, the acting in this film if fine, with Hilary Swank getting praise for her performance as the sister character. Still, this is another unimpressive entry in Russell's filmography.
A.P.E.X. (4.5)
A.P.E.X. is a sci-fi flick about a scientist named Nicholas Sinclair who goes back in time to stop an accident from happening. When he returns to the present, however, he finds himself in a world that has been ravaged by a virus as humanity fights a war with killer robots. Realizing he did something in the past that created this future, Sinclair seeks for a way to restore the timeline to the way it was before. This film features Russell in her biggest role as she plays the part of Sinclair's wife, Natasha, who is personally affected by the changes to the timeline.
A.P.E.X. gets its IMDb rating because it is one of those movies that audiences either like a lot, or really hate. The more negative reviews cite the fact that the film is basically a Terminator 2 ripoff as a key problem to the film, while also criticizing some of the more technical aspects of the film. However, the more positive reviews find A.P.E.X. to be a rather entertaining watch with good action scenes and acting. Despite the fact that the film overall is ranked in the middle of Russell's filmography, this is probably her best work by default since it is the only major role she took that allowed her to showcase her acting abilities.
Twisted Love (5.3)
Twisted Love is a thriller about a high schooler named Janna who has a crush on a star football player named Bo. Unfortunately for her, she is not a very popular girl at school and seems to have no shot at getting to be with Bo. That all changes when an accident gives her a chance. She kidnaps Bo and puts him under her care. Russell plays a background character in this flick, playing the part of "Girl #1."
The consensus among IMDb's reviews for this film is that it is a poor ripoff of Misery. Twisted Love leaves a lot to be desired, relying on tired tropes to tell its story. Still, some people seem to really enjoy this film, since the user ratings on this film are divided nearly 50-50. Overall, not a horrible entry in Russell's acting career, but also not good enough for anyone to feel the need to defend it on IMDb.
Saved By The Bell: The College Years (7.5)
The top spot on this list goes to the third episode of Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Entitled "Rush Week," this episode follows the guys' attempt to get into a fraternity, with shenanigans inevitably ensuing. Russell appears briefly in this episode as "Girl."
There are no reviews on IMDb for this episode, but the user rating averages out to a 7.5, making this the best received Lisa Ann Russell-starring piece of media. Doing this episode also eventually led to her first marriage, so overall this was a win for Russell.