Trivia

Close friends with Quentin Tarantino. He often stayed at her home while struggling as a director before making Pulp Fiction (1994).

While at Yale University, she was classmates with David Duchovny, who suggested her for a role on The X-Files (1993) (which went to Gillian Anderson).

She put her career on hold to attend Yale University.

Is trained in Kung Fu San-Soo & Kickboxing.

Was offered the role of Apollonia for Purple Rain (1984). She turned down the role because she wanted to concentrate on college.

She is a triathlete.

She was the original choice for the lead role in Pretty in Pink (1986), but the role went to Molly Ringwald.

In Flashdance (1983), the birth date that she fills out on the application form is her actual birth date in real life.

Very good friends with Steve Buscemi.

In the film The Anniversary Party (2001), Beals plays a character who takes photographs of performers which she then gives away, usually to the subjects of the photos. Beals actually does this.

Loves salsa dancing, ballet and belly dancing.

She and her character on The L Word (2004), Bette Porter, are both Yale graduates with an African-American father and a Caucasian mother.

Good friends with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Introduced ex-husband Alexandre Rockwell to Sam Rockwell whom he cast in four films.

Is a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and wanted the cast to guest star on The L Word (2004).

On February 1, 2010, in cooperation with Eastman Kodak and Color Centric, she released her photographic journal. A book containing over 250 photographs. Additionally, the book also contained call sheets, production notes and intimate interviews with the cast. Jennifer wanted to share the behind the scenes photos she had taken over her six years on the show portraying the dynamic and alpha Bette Porter with both the cast and fans (that supported the show around the world).

Close friends with Jon Stewart and Marlee Matlin.

Was offered the role of Trinity in The Matrix (1999) but turned it down.

In Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), she played a woman passing for white, who is actually the daughter of an interracial couple. Beals herself is the daughter of a white mother, Jeanne Anderson, and an African-American father, Alfred Leroy Beals.

Was considered for the role of Catwoman/Selina Kyle in Batman Returns (1992).

Tried to convince Ilene Chaiken to have Sarah Michelle Gellar on The L Word (2004).

18 October 2005: Gave birth to her first child, a girl. Father is Beals' husband of seven years, Canadian entrepreneur Ken Dixon.

Worked at Baskin-Robbins as a teenager.

She was considered for the role of Sofia Al-Azwar in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) but Halle Berry was cast.

Friends with Alexandra Hedison and Jodie Foster.

Has two brothers and at least four half-siblings from her father's other relationships.

Good friends with Elizabeth Berkley. They each appeared in a Joe Eszterhas-written film (Berkley: Showgirls (1995); Beals: Flashdance (1983)), and they appeared together in Roger Dodger (2002). and the last season of The L Word (2004).

Turned down the opportunity to play herself in It's Like, You Know... (1999).

Has played the Bride of Frankenstein and a Vampiress.

Thieves took nearly $1,000 from her hotel room while she was on location in Manila, Philippines, shooting the movie Tinikling or 'The Madonna and the Dragon' (1990) (aka "Madonna and the Dragon"), in 1989.

Stepmother to her husband, Ken Dixon's, two children.

While still a teenager, before she went into show business, she worked as a babysitter for one of her neighbors - Steve Edwards.