Kristen Bell (born 18.07.1980) is an American actress.
Childhood: Kristen Bell was born in Huntington Woods, Michigan. Her parents are Lorelei, a nurse, and Tom Bell, a news director but they divorced when Kristen was two. She has a squint in her right eye which she inherited from her mother. As a child, she didn't like her first name and went by her middle name Anne until she went to high school. She took private acting lessons and appeared in several newspaper advertisements as a child. She attended Shrine Catholic High School where she enjoyed drama and music. She appeared in productions of 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Fiddler on the Roof' among others. When she graduated, she was named 'Best Looking Girl' in her yearbook. She attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where she studied musical theatre.
Career: Kristen Bell landed her debut Broadway role in 2001 in 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. She also made her film debut in 'Pootie Tang' though her dialogue was cut. The following year, she was in Broadway's 'The Crucible' opposite Liam Neeson, Angela Bettis and Laura Linney. She moved to Los Angeles and appeared in a handful of TV shows before appearing in the TV movie 'The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay' in 2003. In 2004, she was in David Mamet's 'Spartan' alongside Val Kilmer and William H. Macy and had a guest role in the TV show 'Deadwood'. That year she also landed the lead role in detective drama 'Veronica Mars' which ran from 2004 to 2007 with Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring and Ryan Hansen. In 2005, Bell starred in 'Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical' with Neve Campbell and Alan Cumming which spoofed the 1930s movie, while 2006 saw her in 'Fifty Pills' with Lou Taylor Pucci, Lucky McKee's horror movie 'Roman' and 'Pulse' alongside Ian Somerhalder and Christina Milian. In 2007, she landed a role in an episode of 'Heroes' which was offered to her by the writers because she admitted to being a fan. She also started on the drama series 'Gossip Girl' which ran until 2012 and starred Blake Lively, Leighton Meester and Penn Badgley. In 2008, she starred in Judd Apatow's comedy 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' alongside Russell Brand, Jason Segel and Mila Kunis. She was also in the comedy 'Fanboys' with Jay Baruchel and Dan Fogler. 2009 saw her in the comedies 'Serious Moonlight' with Meg Ryan, and 'Couples Retreat' opposite Jason Bateman. The following year she appeared in the Disney film 'When in Rome' alongside Josh Duhamel and Will Arnett and joined singers Cher and Christina Aguilera in Steven Antin's 'Burlesque'. In 2012, she was in the family drama 'Big Miracle' with Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski and premiered a major role in the TV series 'House of Lies' opposite Don Cheadle.
Personal Life: Kristen Bell broke up with her partner of 5 years Kevin Mann in 2007, before beginning a relationship with Dax Shepard that same year. They became engaged when the US dropped the Defense of Marriage act which allowed more equality among same-sex couples and they have a daughter called Lincoln Bell Shepard. She has been a vegetarian since she was 11 and used to foster animals from the Michigan Humane Society. She also supports the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego and gets involved with the animal charity ASPCA. She owns three dogs called Lola, Shakey and Sadie, the third of whom she adopted after she was rescued from Hurricane Katrina. She loves sloths and cried when Dax Shepard hired one for her birthday. She is a supporter of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
