Kristen Bell Biography

Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American television and film actress as well as former stage actress. She has received a Satellite Award and Saturn Award, and has been nominated for a Television Critics Association Award and Teen Choice Award.

Though her first film role came with an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After re-locating to Los Angeles, Bell landed various television guest appearances and small film parts, before she gained notability for starring as the title role on the critically acclaimed television show Veronica Mars from September 2004 to May 2007. During her time on Veronica Mars, Bell reprised her role as Mary Lane in the film version of Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, a stage production she had taken part in. She also portrayed the lead role in Pulse, a remake of a J-Horror film. In 2007, she joined the cast of Heroes playing the sultry vixen Elle Bishop, and Gossip Girl as the titular narrator

Early life and family

Bell was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. She is the daughter of Tom Bell, a television news director, and Lorelei "Lori" Bell, a registered nurse. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and she has 2 half sisters from her father's remarriage: Sara and Jody. Bell has a Amblyopia (a lazy eye) which affects her right eye. She inherited it from her mother, who had it corrected as a child. Bell claims that if she does not get enough sleep, it furthers the ailment. She nicknames her right eye "Wonky".

At the age of 4, Bell claimed she did not like her first name and opted to change it to "Smurfette" after the character in the The Smurfs; however, her mother convinced Bell to go by her middle name of Anne instead; she used the name Annie until high school. She attended Burton Elementary school in Huntington Woods where she studied singing and tap dancing.

Just before her freshman year of high school, Bell's parents decided to pull her from the public school system.She then attended Shrine Catholic High School in nearby Royal Oak, where she took part in the drama and music club. During her time at the school, she gained the starring role in the school's 1997 production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale and also appeared in productions of Fiddler on the Roof (1995), Lady Be Good (1996), and Li'l Abner (1998). In 1998, the year she graduated, Bell was named the yearbook's "Best Looking Girl" by senior class vote.

When Bell was 17, her best friend Jenny DeRita, whom she met at age 11 during a Detroit community theater production, was killed in an automobile accident. Bell said that it was "both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me. Once you learn not to take people for granted, you live a lot happier life."

Shortly after her high school graduation, Bell moved to New York and attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, majoring in musical theater. In 2001, during her senior year at New York University, Bell left a few credits shy of graduating to take a role in the Broadway musical of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

In the media

In 2005, Bell was named by Jane magazine as "one of the 11 people you'd most like to see naked",appearing in a simulated nude pictorial, and in 2006, Bell was selected "World's Sexiest Vegetarians" on PETA's yearly poll. She was placed #68 on Maxim's 2005 "Hot 100" list, #11 in Maxim's 2006 "Hot 100" list, and #46 in Maxim's 2007 "Hot 100" list in which she was stated to have "single-handedly saved the CW from becoming the worst network ever". In 2006, Maxim also placed Bell at the top of the "Fall TV's Criminally Sexy Investigators" List In 2008, she was featured at #59 on Ask Men's Top 99 Women of 2008 List.Reflecting on her admitted popularity with "geeks", Bell was voted the fourth sexiest woman on TV by the staff at Wizard magazine.41

She claims to have never thought of herself as womanly because she "always played roles and look and act 10 years younger than she is", however as she explains, "Something magical happened when I turned 25 — I looked in the mirror and was like, You might not get carded for an R-rated movie anymore. Like I didn’t have a little stick figure anymore."42 Bell has said that many of the characters she has played are tomboys because she was "not homely enough to play the nerdy girl and not nearly pretty enough to play the pretty girl".42

Bell has been associated with the idea that "nerdy is the new cool", and she explains, "what was previously perceived as nerdy is now viewed as original. What I like about nerdiness, geekiness, is it doesn’t really matter what you’re into—it just means you’re not a follower."42 She has also said, "I love nerds. Comic-Con junkies are the tastemakers of tomorrow. Isn't that funny? The tables have turned."14 Vanessa Juarez of Entertainment Weekly commented that Bell's role on Veronica Mars, Heroes and as a Star Wars fanatic in the upcoming Fanboys has "solidified her placement at the center of the geek universe", while Rodney Rothman stated, "I guess she's cornered the market on losers."Bell's work is often compared to Sarah Michelle Gellar's portrayal of the titular character on the cult television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter stated that Bell was "arguably the television successor to Gellar's portrayal of Buffy when it comes to fighting bad guys."

Despite "new celebrity" status, Bell claims that she is not concerned because "no one ever recognizes her anyway". As Bell explains, "I hang out with Hayden Panettiere quite a bit—they never take pictures of me. I just step to the side, and I push myself in front of her when she wants to get out of it, or put her in the car."

Personal life

At age eleven, Bell became a vegetarian.In an interview with PETA, Bell stated, "I have always been an animal lover. I had a hard time disassociating the animals I cuddled with—dogs and cats, for example—from the animals on my plate, and I never really cared for the taste of meat. I always loved my Brussels sprouts!" During the time she lived in Michigan, Bell fostered animals from Michigan Humane Society and she now supports the San Diego based Helen Woodward Animal Center. Bell often attends fund raisers for the ASPCA and other non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting animals. She owns a Welsh Corgi-Chow Chow mix named Lola, a Welsh Corgi-Chihuahua mix named Shakey, and a black Labrador Retriever named Sadie, who was 11 years old when she was rescued from Hurricane Katrina and adopted by Bell in 2005. She and many of those who worked on Veronica Mars, including friend Ryan Hansen, are involved with the charity organization Invisible Children Inc.. The goal of the organization is to create awareness regarding the plight of the people of Northern Uganda who are caught in the midst of a civil war between the government and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. Bell has shown her support for the Writers Guild of America in the writer's strike, appearing in the picket lines in December 2007 stating, "the writers are just looking for some fairness."

In 2007, Bell ended a five year relationship with former fiancé Kevin Mann, and is now dating actor Dax Shepard. She told Complex magazine that dating "makes me want to vomit. And not out of grossness — OK, a little bit out of grossness, but just nerves." Bell explains, "I’ve always been a serial monogamist."

Being from Michigan, she is also an avid fan of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.

 Filmography
Year     Title     Role     Notes
1998     Polish Wedding     Teenage Girl (uncredited)     
2001     Pootie Tang     Record Executive's Daughter     
2002     The Cat Returns     Hiromi     voice
2003     The Shield     Jessica Hintel     1 episode
American Dreams     Amy Fielding     1 episode
The O'Keefes     Virginia's Owner     2 episodes
Everwood     Stacey Wilson     1 episode
The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay     Alison Dodge     TV movie
2004     Gracie's Choice     Gracie Thompson     TV movie
Spartan     Laura Newton     
Deadwood     Flora Anderson     2 episodes
Veronica Mars     Veronica Mars     2004-2007
2005     Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical     Mary Lane     TV movie
Deepwater     Nurse Laurie     
The Receipt     Pretty Girl     
2006     Fifty Pills     Gracie     
Pulse     Mattie Webber     
Roman     The Girl     
2007     Gossip Girl     Gossip Girl (uncredited)     2007-present, narrator
Heroes     Elle Bishop     2007-present
Assassin's Creed     Lucy Stillman     voice and likeness
Flatland: The Movie     Hex     voice
2008     Forgetting Sarah Marshall     Sarah Marshall     
Fanboys     Zoe     awaiting release
2009     Serious Moonlight     Sara     post-production
When in Rome     Beth     post-production
Sheepish     Marybelle     voice

Kristen Bell Pictures ( 19 Pictures)