Early life and family

Kristen Anne Bell was born on Friday, July 18, 1980 and was raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Her mother, Lorelei (née Frygier), is a registered nurse, and her father, Tom Bell, works as the television news director for CBS Television in Sacramento. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and she has two half-sisters, Sara and Jody, from her father's second marriage. Bell is of Polish and Scottish descent. Bell has strabismus, 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 aggravates the ailment. She calls her right eye "Wonky."

Bell stated that she did not like her first name at the age of four. Bell's mother convinced her to go by her middle name of Anne instead; she used the name Annie until high school. Bell once broke both her wrists at the same time playing street hockey with friends.

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 won 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.

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

Career

1992-2003: Early work

In 1992, Bell went to her first audition and won a dual role as a banana and a tree in a suburban Detroit theater's production of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Her mother had established her with an agent before Bell was 13, which allowed her to appear in newspaper advertisements for several Detroit retailers and television commercials. She also began private acting lessons. In 1998, she appeared with an uncredited role in the locally filmed film Polish Wedding.

In 2001, Bell left New York University to play a role as Becky Thatcher in the short-lived Broadway musical of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. That same year, she made her credited film debut in Pootie Tang. Her one line in the film was cut and her appearance exists only as a scene shown during the credit sequence. Additionally, she auditioned for the television series Smallville for the role of Chloe Sullivan, a part eventually won by Allison Mack. In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway revival of The Crucible with Liam Neeson, Angela Bettis and Laura Linney. Bell then moved to Los Angeles, California in 2002 because of her friendship with writers Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, and appeared in a handful of television shows as a special guest, finding trouble gaining a recurring role in a television series. Bell had "tested like eight times and booked nothing and every show tested for got picked up," including auditions for Skin and a Norm Macdonald series.

2004-06: Veronica Mars and other roles

In 2004, Bell appeared in the Lifetime television film Gracie's Choice, which received one of the network's highest ratings. She made her debut in a theatrically released film, with David Mamet's Spartan, as Laura Newton, the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. President, acting alongside Val Kilmer. Bell also guest-starred on the HBO drama Deadwood in a two-episode story arc ("Bullock Returns to the Camp" and "Suffer the Little Children").

At 24, she won the role of the title character in UPN's drama Veronica Mars, which was launched in the fall of 2004. Created by Rob Thomas, the series starred Bell as the seventeen-year-old anti-establishment high school student/detective. Bell drew on the parallels between the character of Veronica and her own life, since Bell's parents had divorced and her best friend had also died. The series earned acclaim from television critics, as did Bell's performance. Some critics asserted that her performance was overlooked, and deserved consideration for an Emmy Award.

Aside from working on Veronica Mars, Bell starred in Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, reprising the role she played in the short-lived 2001 off-broadway musical. The musical was a spoof of the 1936 exploitation film of the same name. Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical debuted on the Showtime network on April 16, 2005. Also in April, Bell starred as Gracie in Fifty Pills, an entry for the Tribeca Film Festival. She appeared in a short independent film called The Receipt and the horror film Roman, which was directed by her The Crucible co-star Angela Bettis. Released on August 11, 2006, Pulse starred Bell as the lead Mattie. A remake of the Japanese horror film Kairo, the film grossed US$27.9 million worldwide,; however it garnered negative response from critics. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter commented, "despite the starring presence of Kristen Bell, young actress has far less interesting material to work with here than she does as "Veronica Mars.""

2007-2011: Breakout and mainstream success

Veronica Mars continued on UPN for a second season; for the third season, the show was renewed and appeared on the newly created The CW. On January 19, 2007, CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff announced that while she was pleased with the gradual improvement of Veronica Mars's ratings, the series would be put on hiatus after February sweeps to air a new reality series, Pussycat Dolls Present. On May 17, 2007 Ostroff announced the cancellation of the series. A two-hour series finale aired in the United States on May 22, 2007, and on June 11, 2007 Thomas officially announced in an email to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello that Veronica Mars had been canceled by the CW. A Veronica Mars feature film and comic book series continuation had been discussed, and for a short time there was talk of another collaboration between Bell and creator Thomas that would be unrelated to the Veronica Mars series.

Following the cancellation of Veronica Mars, Bell voiced interest in appearing on Heroes because she was a fan. On July 29, 2007, during a train ride back to Los Angeles from the San Diego Comic-Con with Heroes actors Zachary Quinto and Masi Oka, and writers from the series, the writers had mentioned that if she "ever want to come on Heroes, give us a call," to which Bell said she would "love to." Meanwhile, there were discussions about a role on Lost, but Bell turned down the role of Charlotte Staples Lewis. Bell portrayed Elle Bishop on Heroes, a "mysterious young lady" with an "awesome power". She did not have to audition for the role of Elle, who made her first appearance in an October 2007 episode, and appeared in at least thirteen episodes during the run of the series. The casting of Bell, Heroes creator Tim Kring explained, "was not easy to pull off", but because of the large ensemble cast of the series and multiple story arcs, "we found a way to jump into a small window in schedule.". Bell lent her voice to the CW series Gossip Girl: she voiced the title character in every episode of the series, appearing in person only for a surprise cameo in the final episode, portraying herself.

Shortly after the cancellation of Veronica Mars in early 2007, Bell filmed on location in Hawaii for a starring role as the title character in the Judd Apatow comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She regarded the improvisational comedy in the film as "a lovely experience". The film, written by and also starring Jason Segel, was released theatrically on April 18, 2008, and is considered to be Bell's star-making role. Bell lent her voice and likeness to the video game Assassin's Creed which was released on November 13, 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and April 8, 2008 for the PC. Bell reprised her role of Lucy in Assassin's Creed II released on November 17, 2009, and again in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, released on November 16, 2010. In the spring of 2006, she finished filming the Star Wars-themed comedy Fanboys, which had its release date pushed to January 14, 2008. This was due to additional funding given to director Kyle Newman to shoot new scenes, however, the busy schedules of the actors only allowed for filming in September 2007, thus moving the release date to accommodate that. Bell also starred in the 2009 comedies Serious Moonlight, alongside Meg Ryan, and Couples Retreat, which chronicles four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort. Jason Bateman played her husband. She also provided the voice for Cora in Astro Boy. On March 31, 2008, Bell began shooting the Mark Steven Johnson-written Disney film When in Rome in locations in Rome and New York; the film was released in 2010. Bell reprised her role as Sarah Marshall for a cameo appearance in the film Get Him to the Greek, a spin-off sequel from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, released June 4, 2010.

She co-starred with singers Christina Aguilera and Cher in the film musical Burlesque which was released on Thanksgiving in 2010. Bell had a cameo in the slasher horror film, Scream 4, which was released on April 15, 2011.

2012-present: Continued success and future projects

In 2012, Bell starred in the family drama film Big Miracle. She has also appeared in the music video for "Madder Red" by Brooklyn experimental rock band Yeasayer. Bell portrayed "Mary Magdalene" in The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio New Testament Bible, a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, dramatized audio New Testament which uses the RSV-CE translation.

Bell stars as Jeannie van der Hooven, the female lead on the Showtime series House of Lies, which premiered on January 8, 2012. Bell starred in The Lifeguard, written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, which began filming in July 2012, and was released in August 2013. She also voiced Anna in Frozen, which was released on November 22, 2013. In 2013, for multiple episodes, Bell played Ingrid de Forest, an Eagleton City Councilwoman, on Parks and Recreation.

On March 13, 2013, it was confirmed that a Veronica Mars film would finally be coming to fruition. Bell and series creator Rob Thomas, launched a fundraising campaign to produce the film through Kickstarter and attained the $2 million goal in less than ten hours. The main cast members of the series all reprised their roles in the feature film. Production of the film took place during summer 2013, and it was released theatrically and on video-on-demand on March 14, 2014.

In September 2014, Bell starred with her husband, Dax Shephard, in a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. It was so popular (with over 20 million YouTube views) that they did another for the holiday season. The ad agency McKinney was behind both. In 2016, Bell voiced the sloth Priscilla in the animated comedy film Zootopia and starred as Claire in the comedy film The Boss. She will appear in the 2016 comedy film Bad Moms, and the 2017 action comedy CHiPs. Bell will also star as the main character, Eleanor, in the NBC comedy series The Good Place, which is set to premiere in the fall of 2016.

In the media

In 2006 and again in 2013, Bell was selected "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" on PETA's yearly poll. She was placed No. 68 on Maxim's 2005 "Hot 100" list, No. 11 in Maxim's 2006 "Hot 100" list, and No. 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 No. 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.

Bell stated she never thought of herself as womanly because "I always play and look and act 10 years younger than I am," however, she said, "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." Bell has said that many of her characters are tomboys because she was "not homely enough to play the nerdy girl and not nearly pretty enough to play the pretty girl".

Bell has been associated with the idea that "nerdy is the new cool", and she explained, "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." She has also said, "I love nerds. Comic-Con junkies are the tastemakers of tomorrow. Isn't that funny? The tables have turned." Vanessa Juarez of Entertainment Weekly commented that Bell's roles on Veronica Mars, Heroes and as a Star Wars fanatic in Fanboys have "solidif 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 when it comes to fighting bad guys." Bell is sometimes confused with Lauren Conrad from the show The Hills. "Yeah, sometimes fans yell, 'Hey, Lauren' to me, but usually from a distance," said Kristen.

Despite "new celebrity" status, Bell claimed that she was not concerned because "no one ever recognizes me anyway". As Bell explained, "I hang out with Hayden 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." Bell was a recurring guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, appearing in interviews as well as sketches. On The Late Late Show, she shows a humorous hostility towards Craig's robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson, claiming that she had wanted to be Craig's sidekick on his show and taking it upon herself to cut Geoff down every chance she gets. Both Bell and Geoff Peterson appeared with Ferguson during the five Late Late Shows filmed in France.

In January 2011, it was announced that Bell would be the new face of Neutrogena.

Personal life

Relationships and family

In 2007, Bell ended a five-year relationship with former fiancé Kevin Mann. She later 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... I've always been a serial monogamist."

Bell began dating actor Dax Shepard in late 2007. The couple announced their engagement in January 2010. They decided to delay marriage until the state of California passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. They co-starred in the 2010 film When In Rome and in the 2012 film Hit and Run. After section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act fell on June 26, 2013, Bell asked Shepard to marry her through Twitter, which he accepted. They were married at the Beverly Hills County Clerk's Office on October 17, 2013. They have two daughters: Lincoln Bell Shepard (born March 28, 2013) and Delta Bell Shepard (born December 19, 2014).

Beliefs, interests, and charity work

At age 11, 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!" By 2012 Bell became vegan with her husband after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. During her time 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 American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting animals. She has 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.

Bell has also become a strong advocate of vaccination. Though initially skeptical she has since stated "I think it's really important to acknowledge that we have something called the herd immunity, where there are people that cannot get immunizations because of autoimmune diseases or cancer treatments," and that "If we don’t get the vaccinations to keep them safe, then they're screwed." Citing scientific research, she shares her belief that it is her duty to not only protect her children, but other children, too - especially those who may suffer from autoimmune diseases or cancer.

She and many of those who worked on Veronica Mars, including personal 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 Northern Ugandans who are caught in the midst of a civil war between the government and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. Bell has also done a public service announcement for Do Something's Healthy Living Campaign. In 2014, Bell launched a Prizeo campaign offering fans a chance to win a date with her in return for donating to Invisible Children.

Bell supported and campaigned for Barack Obama during the 2008 United States presidential election. Along with Rashida Jones, she visited college campuses in Missouri to discuss the candidates and encourage voter registration. Bell showed 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."

She is also an avid fan of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.

Bell also has a strong liking of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 cult film The Room. She hosts parties at her house for The Room, attended cinema screenings of it, and has said that "there is a magic about that film that is indescribable."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Polish Wedding	Teenage girl	Uncredited
2001	Pootie Tang	Record executive's daughter
2002	People Are Dead	Angela's friend #1
2002	Cat Returns, TheThe Cat Returns	Hiromi (voice)	English dub
2004	Spartan	Laura Newton
2004	Gracie's Choice	Gracie Thompson
2005	Reefer Madness	Mary Lane
2005	Deepwater	Nurse Laurie
2005	Last Days of America	Friend in New York #1
2005	The Receipt	Pretty Girl	Short film
2006	Fifty Pills	Gracie
2006	Pulse	Mattie
2006	Roman	The Girl / Isis
2007	Flatland: The Movie	Hex (voice)	Short film
2008	Fanboys	Zoe
2008	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Sarah Marshall
2009	Serious Moonlight	Sara
2009	Astro Boy	Cora (voice)
2009	Couples Retreat	Cynthia
2010	Astro Boy vs. The Junkyard Pirates	Cora (voice)	Short film
2010	Lost Masterpieces of Pornography	June Crenshaw	Short film
2010	When in Rome	Beth
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Sarah Marshall
2010	You Again	Marni Olsen
2010	Burlesque	Nikki
2011	Scream 4	Chloe
2012	Safety Not Guaranteed	Belinda St. Sing
2012	Big Miracle	Jill Jerard
2012	Flatland 2: Sphereland	Hex (voice)
2012	Hit and Run	Annie	Also co-producer
2012	Stuck in Love	Tricia
2013	Movie 43	Supergirl	Segment: "Super Hero Speed Dating"
2013	Some Girl(s)	Bobbi
2013	The Lifeguard	Leigh
2013	Frozen	Princess Anna (voice)
2014	Veronica Mars	Veronica Mars	Also producer
2014	Unity	Narrator	Documentary
2015	Frozen Fever	Princess Anna (voice)	Short film
2016	Zootopia	Priscilla (voice)
2016	The Boss	Claire Rawlins
2016	Bad Moms	Kiki	Post-production
2017	CHiPs		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Shield, TheThe Shield	Jessica Hintel	Episode: "The Quick Fix"
2003	American Dreams	Amy Fielding	Episode: "Act of Contrition"
2003	O'Keefes, TheThe O'Keefes	Virginia's Owner	2 episodes
2003	The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay	Alison Dodge	Movie
2003	Everwood	Stacey Wilson	Episode: "Extra Ordinary"
2004	Gracie's Choice	Gracie Thompson	Movie
2004	Deadwood	Flora Anderson	2 episodes
2004-07	Veronica Mars	Veronica Mars	Lead role (64 episodes)
2007-08	Heroes	Elle Bishop	12 episodes
2007-12	Gossip Girl	Gossip Girl (voice)	120 episodes (uncredited) Special Guest Star (Season 6; Episode 10)
2009	Cleveland Show, TheThe Cleveland Show	Mandy (voice)	Episode: "Da Doggone Daddy-Daughter Dinner Dance"
2009-10	Party Down	Uda Bengt	2 episodes
2011	Glenn Martin, DDS	Hayley (voice)	Episode: "Videogame Wizard"
2011	Robot Chicken	Hermione Granger / Sara Lee (voice)	Episode: "Some Like It Hitman"
2012-present	House of Lies	Jeannie van der Hooven	Lead role
2012	Unsupervised	Megan (voice)	13 episodes
2012	Lovin' Lakin	Herself	Episode: "Lakin runs into Kristen Bell"
2013-14	Parks and Recreation	Ingrid de Forest	3 episodes
2013	Hollywood Game Night	Herself	Episode: "The One with the Friends"
2013	Lady Gaga and the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular	Herself	Special
2015	Repeat After Me	Herself	1 episode
2015	The Simpsons	Harper Jambowski (voice)	Episode: "Friend with Benefit"
2015	Liv and Maddie	Herself	Episode: "Ask Her More-a-Rooney"
2015	It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown	Herself	Host
2016	iZombie	Herself (voice)	Episode: "Fifty Shades of Grey Matter"
2016	The Good Place	Eleanor	Lead role

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Assassin's Creed	Lucy Stillman
2009	Astro Boy: The Video Game	Cora
2009	Assassin's Creed II	Lucy Stillman
2010	Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
2013	Disney Infinity	Anna
2014	Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Burning Love	Mandy	4 episodes
2014	Play It Again, Dick	Herself	Based on Veronica Mars characters

Theater

Year	Title	Role
2001	Adventures of Tom Sawyer, TheThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Becky Thatcher
2001	Reefer Madness	Mary Lane
2002	Crucible, TheThe Crucible	Susanna Walcott
2003	Sneaux	Sneaux Devareaux
2004	Little Night Music, AA Little Night Music	Fredrika Armfeld
2014	Hair	Sheila

Discography

• Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2013)

Singles

Track title	Performer(s)	Peak position						Certifications
		US	CAN	AUS	IRE	KOR	UK
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"	Bell, Agatha Lee Monn, Katie Lopez	51	61	45	35	5	26	RIAA: Platinum ARIA: Gold BPI: Silver
"For the First Time in Forever"	Bell and Idina Menzel	57	70	62	54	4	38	RIAA: Gold ARIA: Gold BPI: Silver
"Love Is an Open Door"	Bell and Santino Fontana	49	—	91	—	21	52	BPI: Silver
"Text Me Merry Christmas"	Bell and Straight No Chaser	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2005	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television	Veronica Mars	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Series, Drama		Nominated
		Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Performance - Female	Veronica Mars	Nominated
2006	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television		Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Series, Drama		Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Actress: Drama/Action Adventure		Nominated
2007	Saturn Awards	Best Actress in a Television Program		Nominated
2008	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Comedy	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Nominated
		Choice Movie Breakout Female		Nominated
2009	Saturn Awards	Best Guest Starring Role in a Television Series	Heroes	Nominated
	MTV Movie Awards	Best WTF Moment	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Action/Adventure	Heroes	Nominated
		Choice Movie Actress: Comedy	Couples Retreat	Nominated
2010		Choice Movie Actress: Romantic Comedy	When in Rome	Nominated
2013	Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Animated Female	Frozen	Won
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Drama	Veronica Mars	Nominated

Charities

Kristen Bell supports the following charitable causes: Cancer, Breast Cancer, Alzheimer's.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]