Honestly, the transition from high-fashion runway to big-screen cinema is usually a disaster. We’ve seen it a thousand times. A supermodel gets cast because they have a "look," they mumble through some dialogue, and the critics sharpen their knives. But Cara Delevingne in movie roles has always been a bit different, hasn't it? She didn’t just show up; she kind of crashed into Hollywood with this weird, chaotic energy that most models-turned-actresses are too afraid to show.
From the moody, disappearing Margo in Paper Towns to the literal ancient soul-sucking witch in Suicide Squad, her filmography is a strange map of a woman trying to find where she fits when she’s not being photographed for Vogue. It’s 2026, and we’re still talking about her because she refuses to play the "pretty girl" roles that were supposed to be her bread and butter.
The Roles That Defined Her (For Better or Worse)
You’ve got to start with Paper Towns. That was the big one. Back in 2015, everyone was obsessed with John Green adaptations, and Delevingne was the perfect "manic pixie dream girl" for that era. Except, she wasn’t really playing it straight. If you watch it back, she’s almost making fun of the trope. She’s got this smoky, raspy voice—sorta like she’s been up for three days straight—and it gave Margo Roth Spiegelman a layer of grit that the book version almost lacked.
Then came Suicide Squad. Oh boy.
Look, we can admit the movie was a mess, right? But Cara as June Moone and the Enchantress was... a choice. She spent half the movie doing this bizarre, hip-shaking dance while covered in literal swamp mud. Critics hated it. Fans were confused. But you have to respect the commitment. Most people with her face wouldn't want to look that hideous on a giant IMAX screen. It showed she was willing to get weird, which is exactly what she did later in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
A Quick Reality Check on the "Model" Label
People love to say she's just a model acting. That's kinda lazy.
- She’s been in over 15 films now.
- She did a massive stint on Only Murders in the Building.
- Her West End debut as Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 2024 basically silenced the "she can't perform" crowd.
There's this weird thing where we don't let people evolve. We want them to stay in the box we found them in. But if you look at her more recent work, like the indie stuff or her guest spots, she’s leaned into being a character actress rather than a leading lady. That’s a smart move. It’s the Charlize Theron route, basically.
Why the 2025/2026 Shift is Different
Right now, the buzz is all about her upcoming project Club Kid, directed by Jordan Firstman. This isn't a blockbuster. It’s not a superhero flick. It’s a gritty, New York-set story about a washed-up party promoter. Casting Cara in a movie like this is almost meta. She lived that life. She knows the NYC underground better than almost anyone in Hollywood.
Then there’s The Climb. This one has been in the works for a while, and it’s basically a thriller about Greenpeace activists scaling The Shard. It’s based on a true story from 2013. For Cara, who is a massive climate activist in real life, this feels less like "acting" and more like a manifesto. Using virtual production technology—the same stuff they use for The Mandalorian—it's supposed to look terrifyingly real.
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She's not just taking whatever script comes her way anymore. She’s picking things that align with her actual personality, which is loud, slightly rebellious, and deeply obsessed with the planet.
The "Enchantress" Misconception
Most people think Suicide Squad was her peak because it was the biggest box office hit she was in. Honestly? It was probably her lowest point creatively. She’s spoken before about how difficult that era was for her mental health. If you want to see the "real" Cara Delevingne in movie form, you actually have to go back to the smaller stuff.
Take Her Smell (2018). She played Cassie, a member of a punk band. She wasn't the lead—Elisabeth Moss was—but Cara was magnetic. She was playing a musician, which makes sense because she’s actually a decent drummer and singer. That’s the version of Cara that actually works on screen: the one who’s a bit messy, a bit loud, and totally uninterested in being the "it girl."
Breaking Down the Acting Style
It’s all in the eyes. Seriously. She’s got those "power eyebrows" as the LA Times once called them, but it’s the way she looks at other characters that makes her interesting. She has this piercing, slightly suspicious gaze. It worked perfectly for Carnival Row on TV, and it’s why she’s so good at playing characters with secrets.
Is she Meryl Streep? No. But she doesn't have to be.
She’s more like a modern-day Juliette Lewis. Someone who brings a specific, jagged energy to the set. If a director tries to polish her too much, the performance fails. She needs to be a little unhinged to be good.
What’s Next: Beyond the Big Screen
It's 2026, and the line between "movie star" and "artist" is blurring for her. We just saw her name on the Primavera Sound lineup. She’s doing music. She’s doing theatre. But her film choices are getting darker and more interesting.
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If you're looking to actually understand her career, stop watching the big franchises. Go find the weird indies.
Next Steps for the Cara-Curious:
- Watch "Her Smell" – It’s her best "vibe" performance and shows she can hold her own against heavyweights like Elisabeth Moss.
- Skip the Suicide Squad Extended Cut – It doesn't make her performance better; it just adds more mud.
- Keep an eye out for "Club Kid" – This is going to be the role that finally decides if she’s a serious dramatic actress or just a very famous person who likes to act.
- Revisit "Paper Towns" – Not for the romance, but to see how she was already trying to deconstruct the "dream girl" image way back in 2015.
The reality is that Cara Delevingne didn't just walk onto a movie set because she was pretty. She did it because she was bored of being a mannequin. And that boredom is exactly what makes her worth watching.