Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress and singer. Her work includes both film and television, and her accolades include an Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2025, Time included her in their selection of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Bell began her acting career starring in stage productions, while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She made her Broadway stage debut as Becky Thatcher in the comedy musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and appeared in a Broadway revival of The Crucible. She then appeared in the action film Spartan and received praise for her performance in the television drama film Gracie's Choice.
Bell had her breakout performance as the title character in the television series Veronica Mars, a role she reprised in the 2014 spin-off film and the 2019 revival. She also starred as Elle Bishop in the superhero drama series Heroes, voiced the titular narrator in the teen drama series Gossip Girl and its 2021 standalone sequel, and starred in the Showtime comedy series House of Lies. She received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her leading roles in the NBC comedy series The Good Place and the Netflix romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This ; the latter also earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series.
During her time on Veronica Mars, Bell starred in the television musical film Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical and the horror film Pulse. She has since appeared in a number of comedy films, including Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Couples Retreat, You Again, The Boss, Bad Moms, and A Bad Moms Christmas. She received further recognition for voicing Princess Anna in the Disney animated films Frozen and Frozen 2.
Background
Kristen Anne Bell was born on July 18, 1980, in Huntington Woods, a northern suburb of Detroit. Her mother, Lorelei Jo, was a registered nurse and her father, Thomas Michael "Tom" Bell, was a television news director. Kristen described her mother as "very religious" which put a strain on their relationship. Her mother is of Polish descent, and her father has German, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. Her parents divorced when she was six months old; both have remarried and Bell has six siblings: two half-sisters from her father's second marriage and four step-siblings from her mother's second marriage.At the age of four, Bell said that she did not like her first name, so her mother encouraged her to use her middle name, Anne, which she used until she attended high school. Just before her first year of high school, Bell's parents decided to remove her from the public school system. She attended Shrine Catholic High School in nearby Royal Oak, where she was in the drama and music clubs. Before going to Shrine Catholic, she was a student at Burton Elementary School in Huntington Woods. At Shrine, she won the starring role in the school's 1997 production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale, and appeared in productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Lady, Be Good, and Li'l Abner. In 1998, the year she graduated, she was named the yearbook's "Best Looking Lil' Lady" via a senior class vote.
Shortly after her high school graduation, Bell moved to Manhattan to attend New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, studying musical theater. She left about six credits shy of graduating to play in a Broadway musical saying in an interview with IVillage, "You get to the point where you don't need a degree to be an actor."
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 began private acting lessons. In 1998, she had an uncredited role in the film Polish Wedding. In 2001, Bell left New York University to play Becky Thatcher in the short-lived Broadway musical of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. That year, she made her credited film debut in Pootie Tang. Her single line of dialogue was cut, and she appears only during the credits.In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway revival of The Crucible with Liam Neeson, Angela Bettis and Laura Linney. Bell moved to Los Angeles 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 said she "tested like eight times and booked nothing and every show tested for got picked up", including auditions for Skin and what she called "that Norm Macdonald show". In 2003, Bell appeared in FX's The Shield, season 2, episode 1, which aired on January 7, 2003. She appeared in Everwood, season 2 episode 2 as a cheerleader. She co-starred in the film The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay as Alison, a 17-year-old girl who travels to Arizona to reconnect with the father who abandoned her family.
2004–2006: ''Veronica Mars'' and other roles
In 2004, Bell earned acclaim for her starring role 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 action thriller Spartan, as Laura Newton, the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. president, acting alongside Val Kilmer. Bell guest-starred on the HBO period drama series Deadwood, in a two-episode story arc.At 24, she won the role of the title character in the UPN noir drama series 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 and private 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 critics. Bell's performance earned her the Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television and a nomination for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama, among numerous others. Some critics asserted that her performance was overlooked, and deserved consideration for a Primetime 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 Reefer Madness, the 1936 exploitation film. 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 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 but 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: Film breakthrough and ''Gossip Girl''
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 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 cancelation 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 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 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 twelve 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 titular character in every episode of the series, appearing in person only for a surprise cameo in the final episode, portraying herself.
Shortly after the cancelation 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 greatly increased Bell's profile. Bell lent her voice and likeness to the video game Assassin's Creed, which was released in November 2007 for consoles and April 2008 for the PC. Bell reprised her role of Lucy in Assassin's Creed II, released in November 2009, and again in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, released in November 2010. In the spring of 2006, she finished filming the Star Wars-themed comedy Fanboys. Director Kyle Newman received additional funding to shoot new scenes, but the busy schedules of the actors only allowed for filming in September 2007. As a result, the release was delayed until January 14, 2008. Bell 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 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 on location 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.
Bell co-starred alongside singers Christina Aguilera and Cher in the backstage musical film Burlesque, which was released in November 2010. She had a cameo appearance alongside Anna Paquin in the slasher horror film Scream 4, which was released on April 15, 2011.