Career

She began her film career in 1977 with a small part in Exorcist II: The Heretic. From there she began to find larger roles. In 1991, she appeared in "Top of the Heap", the 100th episode of Married... with Children, and subsequently starred in its short-lived spinoff. In 1993, Adams landed her first major film role as Simone in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. The same year, she appeared in the Saturday Night Live spinoff film Coneheads as one of Connie Conehead's friends.

Two years later, Adams appeared in Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith. The two started dating during the film's post-production, and their relationship provided the inspiration for Smith's next film, Chasing Amy. The relationship did not last long but ended on friendly terms. Meanwhile, in 1996, while Smith was finalizing the script for Chasing Amy, Adams was cast in the slapstick comedy Bio-Dome, which was directed by Jason Bloom. Adams played the role of Monique, Bud Macintosh's (Pauly Shore) girlfriend.

In 1997's Chasing Amy, Adams played the lead role of Alyssa Jones, a lesbian who falls in love with a man, played by Ben Affleck. Later, Smith would describe Chasing Amy as a "sort of penance/valentine" and a "thank-you homage" to Adams. In addition to her acting work on the film, Adams wrote and performed the song "Alive" for the film's soundtrack.

Adams' performance in Chasing Amy earned her both the 1997 Chicago Film Critics Award and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising Actress, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. From there, Adams was originally slated to play the female lead in Smith's next film, 1999's Dogma, but Linda Fiorentino ultimately was assigned the role. However, she would later make brief appearances in two other Smith projects: the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and the 2004 animated short Clerks: The Lost Scene, featured on the Clerks X DVD. In both of these appearances, Adams reprises the Alyssa Jones role.

Her post-Smith projects included playing a spunky veterinarian's assistant who falls in love with a single father (Vince Vaughn) in 1998's A Cool, Dry Place. The following year, Adams appeared in her first big-budget Hollywood release, playing Adam Sandler's love interest in the successful comedy Big Daddy. She then went on to appear in many smaller films, including Beautiful and In the Shadows. In 2005, she had a guest role in an episode of the TV series Veronica Mars.

Also in 2006, Adams released her directorial debut film, Come Early Morning, starring Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson and Laura Prepon. The film, shot on location in Little Rock, Arkansas, was selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Awards

In 2006, she, along with Lian Lunson and Nicole Holofcener, was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award. On November 24, 2009, Interscope Records released Adams' directorial debut for a music video entitled "Belle of the Boulevard" by Dashboard Confessional.

Adams returned to TV in March 2010, on the Showtime series The United States of Tara. She appeared in six episodes as Pammy, a barmaid who falls for Buck, one of the title character's alternate personalities.

Regarding her unique voice she has commented: "It's not a normal voice. It doesn't fit into people's preconceptions about what a woman's voice should sound like. My mom doesn't think I have an unusual voice, though. I'm sure it's helped me get some roles. But Chasing Amy I almost didn't get. There was concern the voice would grate on some people, which some critics said it did." One film critic referred to her voice as a "sex-kitten-on-helium". Another said that whether viewers loved it or hated it, her voice had "the potential to hypnotize."

Personal life

Adams was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the youngest of three children. Her father was a lumber yard owner. Adams grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood in Sherwood, Arkansas, and graduated from North Little Rock Northeast High School in 1986. She announced her intention to pursue acting after an exchange-student year in Australia. She currently resides in Beverly Hills, California.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Coneheads	Christina
1993	Dazed and Confused	Simone Kerr
1993	Program, TheThe Program	Louanne Winters
1993	Pros & Cons of Breathing, TheThe Pros & Cons of Breathing	Shirley
1994	Sleep with Me	Lauren
1994	S.F.W.	Monica Dice
1995	Mallrats	Gwen
1996	Bio-Dome	Monique
1996	Drawing Flies	Hippy Chick
1996	Michael	Anita
1997	Chasing Amy	Alyssa Jones
1999	Cool, Dry Place, AA Cool, Dry Place	Beth Ward
1999	Big Daddy	Layla Maloney
2000	Bruno	Donna Marie
2000	Beautiful	Ruby
2001	Harvard Man	Chesney Cort
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Squirrel (voice)
2001	Reaching Normal	Sarah
2001	In the Shadows	Clarissa Huston
2001	Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back	Alyssa Jones
2002	Grand Champion	Hallie
2002	Beeper	Inspector Julia Hyde
2003	Big Empty, TheThe Big Empty	Grace
2004	Gunman, TheThe Gunman	Daphne
2005	Conflict	Ricci Storm	Short film
2006	Break-Up, TheThe Break-Up	Addie
2007	Bunny Whipped	Ann
2008	Trucker	Jenny Bell
2009	ExTerminators	Kim
2010	Endure	Sirena Lane
2011	Big Swim	The Egg
2011	Apart	Dr. Jane Sheppard
2012	Birthday Present, TheThe Birthday Present	Mom	Short film
2012	Mulberry Stains	Savannah
2012	Art Machine	Prudence
2013	Blue Caprice	Jamie
2013	Country Christmas, AA Country Christmas	Renae Logan
2013	She Loves Me Not	Beth
2014	Making the Rules	Becca
2014	Sequoia	Bev
2014	Valley Inn	Althea
2014	Animal	Vicky
2014	All the Birds Have Flown South	Tonya	Post-production
2016	Mallrats II	Gwen Turner	Pre-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Top of the Heap	Mona Mullins	Main role (7 episodes)
1991	Married... with Children	Mona Mullins / Cousin Effie	Episodes: "Top of the Heap", "Buck Has a Belly Ache"
1992	Vinnie & Bobby	Mona Mullins	Main role (5 episodes)
1992	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Dianne	Episode: "Words Up!"
1993	Married... with Children	Janie	Episode: "Wedding Show"
1995	Love & War	Vicky	Episode: "Atlantic City"
1995	Out of Order	Whitney	Episode: "Strange Habit"
1995	Double Rush	Dee Dee	Episode: "Slamming Into a Car Isn't Good"
1996	Second Noah	Darby	Episode: "Pilot"
1999	Hercules	Electra (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the Complex Electra"
2003	As Told by Ginger	Thea Mipson	Episode: "Far from Home"
2003-2004	Stripperella	Catt (voice)	Episodes: "Everybody Loves Pushy", "Evil Things Come in Small Packages"
2005	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Rachel (voice)	Episode: "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"
2005	Veronica Mars	Geena Stafford	Episode: "Weapons of Class Destruction"
2009-2010	Party Down	Diandra Stiltskin	Episodes: "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen", "Precious Lights Pre-School Auction"
2010	Tough Trade	Shawnelle	TV film
2010	United States of Tara	Pammy	Recurring role (6 episodes)
2010	Frenemies	Joy Hardwick	TV series
2012	Supermoms	Kelly	TV series
2013-2014	Switched at Birth	Jeniece Papagus	Episodes: "What Goes Up Must Come Down", "The Merrymakers", "Departure of Summer", "Have You Really the Courage?", "The Scream"
2015	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Tracy McConnell	Episode(s) "Sledgehammer" with Guest Star status as of September 24th 2015
2016	Still the King	Debbie Lynn Cooke

[ Source: Wikipedia ]