Kristen Bell

Kristen Anne Bell was born in Detroit, Michigan, on July 18, 1980. Like Veronica, Kristen knows what it's like to come from a broken home: her parents split when she was just 2 years old. It didn't take long for Kristen to demonstrate the strong will that would help her succeed as a young adult. When she was 4, she decided she didn't like her first name anymore. At the time, she was a big fan of the Smurfs cartoon, so she decided that she wanted to be referred to as "Smurfette." Fortunately, her mother talked her into using her middle name, and Kristen became "Annie." The outgoing Annie went to her first audition at age 11. She won a dual role as a banana and a tree in a suburban Detroit theater's production of Raggedy Ann and Andy. It didn't take long for her gigs to improve. Her mother started checking out modeling agencies after several people said her daughter would look great in pictures. Before her 13th birthday, Annie had an agent and began to appear in newspaper advertisements for several Detroit retailers, including Kmart. In little time, these snowballed into TV commercials and private acting lessons. She graduated from a Catholic high school near Motor City, where she sang as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. After graduation, Kristen headed to the Big Apple to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Just three years later, in 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In 2002, she appeared on Broadway in The Crucible, opposite Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. Kristen took her act to Los Angeles and scored a few guest-starring roles, appearing on Everwood, American Dreams and The Shield in 2003. In 2004, she was in the cable film Gracie's Choice, playing a girl forced to help raise her sickly siblings while her mother tries to overcome a drug addiction. That same year, Kristen played the president's kidnapped daughter in director David Mamet's thriller, Spartan. Then along came Veronica Mars, the role that thrust Kristen into stardom. Veronica is a 17-year-old high school student who's gone from "in crowd" to outcast almost overnight. Her best friend was murdered. Veronica's dad, the local sheriff, accused the victim's father, the wealthy owner of a software corporation. After another man confessed to the crime, Veronica's dad lost his job in a special recall election. The family lost its home. Mom disappeared. Veronica was shunned by the people she had called friends. But her spirit isn't broken as she continues to pursue the real killer. In 2005, we'll be seeing more and more of Kristen. She was cast as Mary in the Showtime version of Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, a role she had already played onstage, and will be appearing on the big screen in Deepwater and Fifty Pills. Kristen is dating Kevin Mann, an independent film producer and high school swimming coach. They live together in Los Angeles when she is not in San Diego working on Veronica Mars. Mann served as a producer for Fifty Pills. Shortly after the cancellation of Veronica Mars in early 2007, Bell filmed on location in Hawaii for her starring role as the title character in the Judd Apatow comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She noted that the improvisational comedy in the film was "a lovely experience". The film, written by and also starring Jason Segel was released theatrically on April 18, 2008.



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. In the spring of 2006, she finished filming the Star Wars-themed comedy Fanboys, which recently 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 will voice the character of Marybelle in the animated feature Sheepish, which also has a 2008 release date. She will also star in the comedy Serious Moonlight, alongside Meg Ryan. The film is in post-production and has an estimated 2009 release date. On March 31, 2008 Bell began shooting for the Mark Steven Johnson-written Disney film When in Rome in locations in Rome and New York. On October 15, 2008, TV Guide reported that Bell has signed on to co-star in Couples Retreat, a comedy chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort. Jason Bateman will play her husband. Bell has also said that when she is free from film and television roles, she would like to perform on stage again.