Kristen Bell
5ms
Kristen Anne Bell, born July 18, 1980, is an American actress whose impressive body of work spans both film and television. Her talent has been recognized with an Emmy Award and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. In 2025, Time magazine acknowledged her influence by including her in their list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Bell's journey into acting began on the stage while she was a student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in the musical comedy "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" in 2001, followed by an appearance in a Broadway revival of "The Crucible" in 2002. Her early film work included the action film "Spartan" and the television drama "Gracie's Choice," where her performance garnered significant praise in 2004.
Her breakout role came as the title character in the television series "Veronica Mars" from 2004 to 2007, a character she would later revisit in a 2014 film and a 2019 revival. Bell also captivated audiences as Elle Bishop in the superhero drama "Heroes" (2007–2008), lent her voice to the iconic narrator in the teen drama "Gossip Girl" (2007–2012) and its 2021 sequel, and starred in the Showtime comedy "House of Lies" (2012–2016). Her leading roles in the NBC comedy "The Good Place" (2016–2020) and the Netflix romantic comedy "Nobody Wants This" (2024) earned her Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. The latter also secured her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
During her time on "Veronica Mars," Bell also starred in the television musical "Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical" in 2005 and the horror film "Pulse" in 2006. Her comedic film roles include the widely popular "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008), "Couples Retreat" (2009), "You Again" (2010), "The Boss" (2016), "Bad Moms" (2016), and "A Bad Moms Christmas" (2017). Furthermore, she gained widespread recognition for her beloved portrayal of Princess Anna in Disney's animated blockbusters "Frozen" (2013) and "Frozen 2" (2019).
Kristen Anne Bell was born on July 18, 1980, in Huntington Woods, a suburb of Detroit. Her mother, Lorelei Jo, was a registered nurse, and her father, Thomas Michael "Tom" Bell, was a television news director. Bell has described her mother as "very religious," which sometimes strained their relationship. Her mother has Polish heritage, while her father's ancestry includes German, Scottish, and Irish roots. Her parents divorced when she was just six months old, and both remarried, leading to Bell having six siblings: two half-sisters from her father's second marriage and four step-siblings from her mother's.
At the tender age of four, Kristen Bell expressed a dislike for her first name, prompting her mother to encourage her to use her middle name, Anne, a practice she continued until high school. Just before starting high school, Bell's parents decided to move her from public school to Shrine Catholic High School in Royal Oak, where she actively participated in the drama and music clubs. Prior to Shrine, she attended Burton Elementary School. It was at Shrine that she landed the starring role of Dorothy Gale in the 1997 production of "The Wizard of Oz," after appearing in productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" (1995), "Lady, Be Good" (1996), and "Li'l Abner" (1998). In 1998, the year of her graduation, she was voted "Best Looking Lil' Lady" by her senior class.
Shortly after graduating from high school, Bell moved to Manhattan, New York, to pursue musical theater at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She left the program with just six credits remaining to take on a Broadway musical role, explaining in an interview, "You get to the point where you don't need a degree to be an actor."
Bell's acting career began in 1992 with her first audition, securing a dual role as a banana and a tree in a local production of "Raggedy Ann and Andy." Her mother had secured her an agent before she turned 13, leading to appearances in local newspaper ads and television commercials. She also began taking private acting lessons. In 1998, she had an uncredited role in the film "Polish Wedding." In 2001, Bell left NYU to portray Becky Thatcher in the short-lived Broadway musical "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." That same year, she made her credited film debut in "Pootie Tang," though her single line was ultimately cut, and she only appeared in the end credits.
In 2002, she participated in the Broadway revival of "The Crucible," sharing the stage with Liam Neeson, Angela Bettis, and Laura Linney. Bell relocated to Los Angeles in 2002, drawn by her friendship with writers Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney. While she made guest appearances on several television shows, she struggled to land a recurring role, recalling, "I tested like eight times and booked nothing and every show I tested for got picked up," including auditions for "Skin" and what she described as "that Norm Macdonald show." In 2003, Bell appeared in season 2, episode 1 of FX's "The Shield," which aired on January 7, 2003. She also featured 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 seeking to reconnect with her estranged father in Arizona.
In 2004, Bell garnered acclaim for her starring role in the Lifetime television film "Gracie's Choice," which achieved one of the network's highest ratings. She made her theatrical film debut in David Mamet's action thriller "Spartan," playing Laura Newton, the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. president, alongside Val Kilmer. Bell also had a guest appearance on the HBO period drama "Deadwood" in a two-episode arc.
At the age of 24, she secured the titular role in the UPN noir drama "Veronica Mars," which premiered in the fall of 2004. Created by Rob Thomas, the series cast Bell as a seventeen-year-old high school student and private detective who defies convention. Bell found parallels between Veronica and her own life, drawing from her parents' divorce and the death of her best friend. The series was critically acclaimed, and Bell's performance earned her a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television and a nomination for a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama, among other accolades. Some critics felt her performance was overlooked and deserved Emmy consideration.
While working on "Veronica Mars," Bell also starred in "Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical," reprising a role she had previously played in a short-lived Off-Broadway musical. The musical was a satirical take on the 1936 exploitation film "Reefer Madness." "Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical" premiered on Showtime on April 16, 2005. In April of the same year, Bell starred as Gracie in "Fifty Pills," an entry for the Tribeca Film Festival. She also appeared in the short independent film "The Receipt" and the horror film "Roman," directed by her "Crucible" co-star Angela Bettis. Released on August 11, 2006, "Pulse" featured Bell in the lead role of Mattie. A remake of the Japanese horror film "Kairo," it grossed $27.9 million worldwide but received negative reviews. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter noted, "despite the starring presence of Kristen Bell, [the] young actress has far less interesting material to work with here than she does as [the character] 'Veronica Mars.'"
"Veronica Mars" continued for a second season on UPN, and for its third season, it moved to the newly established The CW. On January 19, 2007, CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff announced that while pleased with the gradual improvement in ratings, the series would be placed on hiatus after February sweeps to air a new reality show, "Pussycat Dolls Present." On May 17, 2007, Ostroff announced the series' cancellation. A two-hour series finale aired in the United States on May 22, 2007, and on June 11, 2007, Rob Thomas officially confirmed the cancellation of "Veronica Mars" by The CW in an email to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello. Discussions for a "Veronica Mars" feature film and comic book series continuation had taken place, and for a brief period, there was talk of another project between Bell and Thomas unrelated to "Veronica Mars."
Following the cancellation of "Veronica Mars," Bell expressed her interest in appearing on "Heroes," as 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 invited her to call if she was ever interested in joining the show. Bell readily accepted. Meanwhile, there were discussions about a role on "Lost," but Bell declined the part of Charlotte Staples Lewis. Bell portrayed Elle Bishop on "Heroes," a "mysterious young lady" with "awesome power." She did not have to audition for the role of Elle, who first appeared in an October 2007 episode and featured in twelve episodes throughout the series' run. "Heroes" creator Tim Kring explained that casting Bell "was not easy to pull off," but due to the show's large ensemble cast and multiple storylines, "we found a way to jump into a small window in [Bell's] schedule." Bell also lent her voice to The CW series "Gossip Girl," narrating as the titular character in every episode and making a surprise in-person cameo as herself in the final episode.
Shortly after "Veronica Mars" was canceled 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 described 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, significantly boosting Bell's profile. Bell also lent her voice and likeness to the video game "Assassin's Creed," released in November 2007 for consoles and April 2008 for PC. She reprised her role as Lucy in "Assassin's Creed II" (November 2009) and "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" (November 2010). In the spring of 2006, she completed filming the Star Wars-themed comedy "Fanboys." Director Kyle Newman secured additional funding to shoot new scenes, but the actors' busy schedules only allowed for filming in September 2007, delaying the release until January 14, 2008. Bell starred in the 2009 comedies "Serious Moonlight," alongside Meg Ryan, and "Couples Retreat," which follows four couples undergoing therapy at a tropical resort. Jason Bateman played her husband. She provided the voice for Cora in "Astro Boy." On March 31, 2008, Bell began shooting the Disney film "When in Rome," written by Mark Steven Johnson, 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 "Get Him to the Greek," a spin-off sequel to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," released on June 4, 2010. Bell co-starred with Christina Aguilera and Cher in the backstage musical film "Burlesque," 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.
In 2012, Bell starred in the family drama film "Big Miracle." She also appeared in the music video for "Madder Red" by the experimental rock band Yeasayer. Bell portrayed Mary Magdalene in "The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio New Testament Bible," a 22-hour celebrity-voiced dramatized audio adaptation of the New Testament using the RSV-CE translation.
Bell starred as Jeannie van der Hooven, the female lead in the Showtime comedy series "House of Lies," which premiered on January 8, 2012, and concluded on June 12, 2016. Bell had a supporting role in the science-fiction comedy "Safety Not Guaranteed" (2012). She starred in the drama film "The Lifeguard," written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, which began filming in July 2012 and was released in August 2013. She voiced Anna in "Frozen," released on November 27, 2013. In 2013, Bell also played Ingrid de Forest, an Eagleton City Councilwoman, in multiple episodes of "Parks and Recreation."
On March 13, 2013, it was confirmed that a "Veronica Mars" film was in development. Bell and series creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign, successfully reaching their $2 million goal in under ten hours. The main cast members of the series reprised their roles in the feature film, which was produced during the summer of 2013 and released theatrically and on video-on-demand on March 14, 2014.
In September 2014, Bell starred with her husband, Dax Shepard, in a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. The commercial proved so popular, with over 20 million YouTube views, that they filmed another for the holiday season, both produced by the ad agency McKinney. In 2016, Bell voiced the sloth Priscilla in the animated comedy "Zootopia" and starred as Claire in the comedy film "The Boss." Bell played Kiki in the 2016 comedy "Bad Moms," a role she reprised in the 2017 sequel, "A Bad Moms Christmas." In 2016, Bell began starring as Eleanor Shellstrop in the NBC comedy series "The Good Place." Her performance earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy, and a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
Also in 2017, she appeared in the biographical comedy-drama "The Disaster Artist," the action comedy "CHiPs," and the comedy "How to Be a Latin Lover." In November 2017, she played a housewife preparing for a Christmas party in Sia's music video for "Santa's Coming for Us," with Dax Shepard as her husband.
In 2018, she began hosting the web series "Momsplaining with Kristen Bell" on Ellen DeGeneres' video platform, Ellentube. In the series, Bell offers tips on motherhood to new and expecting mothers, with the title being a play on the term "mansplaining." Bell later took on the leading role in the Netflix comedy-drama film "Like Father." She voiced Jade Wilson in the animated comedy "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" and reprised her voice role as Princess Anna in the animated comedy sequel "Ralph Breaks the Internet."
On September 20, 2018, Hulu confirmed that Bell would reprise her role as Veronica Mars in an eight-episode fourth season of the drama series, which premiered in July 2019. In 2019, she again voiced Princess Anna in the video game "Kingdom Hearts III" and the sequel "Frozen 2," released on November 22, 2019. Bell served as host and executive producer for the Disney+ docuseries "Encore!," which premiered in November 2019. She made her directorial debut with the eighth episode of the fourth season of "The Good Place," which concluded its run in January 2020. At the 25th Critics' Choice Awards, Bell received the #SeeHer Award, recognizing women who "push boundaries on changing stereotypes and acknowledge the importance of authentic portrayals of women across the entertainment landscape."
In 2020, Bell published the children's book "The World Needs More Purple People," co-written with Benjamin Hart. Also in 2020, Bell voiced Molly Tillerman in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series "Central Park," reuniting her with "Frozen" co-star Josh Gad and "Bad Moms" co-star Kathryn Hahn. "Central Park" received a two-season order from Apple and premiered on May 29, 2020. In June 2020, it was announced that Bell, who is white, would no longer voice the biracial character of Molly. The role was to be re-cast with a Black or mixed-race actress, with Bell voicing a new character.
In 2021, Bell produced and voiced a lead character in the Amazon Prime Video animated musical pre-school series "Do, Re, & Mi." She returned to narrate as the titular character of the HBO Max teen drama series "Gossip Girl," a soft reboot and sequel to the original series. Bell starred alongside Kirby Howell-Baptiste as a pair of housewives who orchestrated a multi-million dollar coupon scam in the comedy film "Queenpins," released on Paramount+ on September 10, 2021.
Her miniseries "The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window" was released on Netflix in January 2022. In November 2022, Bell starred in the Amazon Prime movie "The People We Hate at the Wedding." Bell made an appearance in three episodes of "The Tiny Chef Show" and serves as the show's executive producer.
Bell also played the main character, Joanne, an agnostic sex podcaster, in "Nobody Wants This" (2024). Her performance earned her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress and her first career nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series as a series executive producer.
In 2006 and again in 2013, Bell was named "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" in PETA's annual poll. She was featured on Maxim's "Hot 100" lists, ranking 68th in 2005, 11th in 2006, and 46th in 2007, with the magazine stating she had "single-handedly saved The CW from becoming the worst network ever." In 2006, Maxim also placed Bell at the top of their "Fall TV's Criminally Sexy Investigators" list. In 2008, she was ranked 59th on AskMen's Top 99 Women of 2008 List. Reflecting on her popularity with "geeks," Bell was voted the fourth-sexiest woman on TV by the staff at Wizard magazine.
Bell stated she never considered herself particularly womanly, noting, "I always play and look and act 10 years younger than I am." However, she added, "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 also mentioned 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 is associated with the idea that "nerdy is the new cool," explaining, "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 also commented, "I love nerds. Comic-Con junkies are the tastemakers of tomorrow. Isn't that funny? The tables have turned." Vanessa Juarez of Entertainment Weekly noted that Bell's roles in "Veronica Mars," "Heroes," and as a Star Wars fanatic in "Fanboys" have "solidified her placement at the center of the geek universe," while Rodney Rothman remarked, "I guess she's cornered the market on losers." Bell's work is often compared to Sarah Michelle Gellar's portrayal of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter stated that Bell was "arguably the television successor [to Gellar's portrayal of Buffy] when it comes to fighting bad guys." Bell is sometimes mistaken for Lauren Conrad from "The Hills," with fans occasionally yelling, "Hey, Lauren" at her, though usually from a distance.
Despite her "new celebrity" status, Bell claimed she wasn't concerned because "no one ever recognizes me anyway." She has said that her friend Hayden Panettiere is more famous and attracts more attention, explaining, "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 and sketches. During her appearances, she displayed a humorous hostility towards Craig Ferguson's robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson, expressing a desire to be Ferguson's sidekick and frequently criticizing Peterson. Both Bell and Peterson appeared with Ferguson during the five "Late Late Show" episodes filmed in France in 2011.
In January 2011, it was announced that Bell would be the new face of Neutrogena. In 2014, Bell posed nude for the May issue of Allure magazine, alongside Jenna Dewan, Minnie Driver, and Nia Long. In April 2019, Bell was featured on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine's April–May issue, where she discussed her snack bar company, This Bar Saves Lives, which donates its sales to help feed malnourished children globally. In November 2019, Bell and Idina Menzel, who play sisters in Disney's "Frozen" franchise, received neighboring stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Bell's was the 2681st and Menzel's was the 2682nd.
In 2007, Bell ended a five-year relationship with her 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."
In late 2007, Bell began dating actor Dax Shepard, also from the Detroit metropolitan area. They announced their engagement in January 2010. They decided to postpone marriage until California passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. They co-starred in the films "When in Rome" (2010), "Hit and Run" (2012), and "CHiPs" (2017). After section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on June 26, 2013, Bell proposed to Shepard via Twitter, which he accepted. They were married at the Beverly Hills County Clerk's Office on October 16, 2013. They have two daughters, born in March 2013 and December 2014.
In May 2016, Bell revealed that she had received treatment for depression and anxiety. She stated, "It's important for me to be candid about this so people in a similar situation can realize that they are not worthless and that they do have something to offer." In 2020, Bell also blogged about her lifelong struggle with anxiety since the age of 18, advising, "Don’t be fooled by this game of perfection that humans play. Because Instagram and magazines and TV shows, they strive for a certain aesthetic, and everything looks so beautiful, and people seem like they don’t have any problems, but everyone’s human. Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes."
In an August 2018 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Bell discussed her aversion to swimming with "prune fingers," explaining her fear of the sensation of touching things with water-immersed, wrinkled fingers. To overcome this, she wears scuba gloves while swimming, allowing her to swim with her children without the anxiety.
At age 11, Bell became a vegetarian. In an interview with PETA, Bell spoke about her pets and her commitment to animal welfare, stating, "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 and Shepard had adopted a vegan lifestyle after watching the documentary "Forks Over Knives." However, during her first pregnancy, she returned to consuming dairy products and eggs.
Bell identifies as non-religious and a humanist. She and her husband Dax Shepard are strong advocates for vaccination. Bell supported and campaigned for Barack Obama during the 2008 United States presidential election. Alongside Rashida Jones, she visited college campuses in Missouri to discuss the candidates and encourage voter registration. Bell also expressed support for the Writers Guild of America during the writers' strike, participating in picket lines in December 2007 and stating, "the writers are just looking for some fairness."
In 2023, Bell revealed that she had taken up Brazilian jiu-jitsu, training under Cesalina Gracie in mother-daughter classes alongside her daughter.
During her time in Michigan, Bell fostered animals from the Michigan Humane Society and continues to support the San Diego-based Helen Woodward Animal Center. Bell frequently attends fundraisers for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other non-profit organizations dedicated to animal protection. She has owned several dogs, including Lola, a Welsh Corgi-Chow Chow mix; Shakey, a Welsh Corgi-Chihuahua mix; and Sadie, a black Labrador Retriever who was 11 years old when she was rescued from Hurricane Katrina and adopted by Bell in 2005.
Bell and other "Veronica Mars" cast members, including Ryan Hansen, are involved with the charity Invisible Children, Inc. The organization aims to raise awareness about the plight of Northern Ugandans affected by the civil war between the government and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. In 2014, Bell launched a Prizeo campaign offering fans a chance to win a date with her in exchange for donations to Invisible Children, Inc. In 2018, Bell participated in a television advertisement promoting bone marrow donations for the Gift of Life Marrow Registry. Her efforts resulted in several documented matches on the Gift of Life website. Bell received a 2020 Webby Special Achievement Award.
In 2013, Kristen Bell, along with actors Ryan Devlin, Todd Grinnell, and Ravi Patel, founded the granola bar company This Bar Saves Lives, with the mission to combat malnutrition. The company donates food aid in the form of nutrition packets to children in Haiti, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. As of February 2019, the company had donated over 10 million packets.
In 2019, Bell and her husband founded Hello Bello, a company that markets plant-based baby care products, emphasizing affordability and environmental friendliness. As of 2021, Hello Bello's estimated annual revenue was $26.1 million, with 104 employees. In 2020, she partnered to launch Happy Dance, a line of vegan CBD products. In 2023, Hello Bello filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing declining sales and the financial startup crisis. The company is slated for acquisition by private equity firm Hildred Capital Management.
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Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Her work includes both film and television, and her accolades include an Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two 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 (2001) and appeared in a Broadway revival of The Crucible (2002). She then appeared in the action film Spartan and received praise for her performance in the television drama film Gracie's Choice (both 2004).
Bell had her breakout performance as the title character in the television series Veronica Mars (2004–2007), 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 (2007–2008), voiced the titular narrator in the teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and its 2021 standalone sequel, and starred in the Showtime comedy series House of Lies (2012–2016). She received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her leading roles in the NBC comedy series The Good Place (2016–2020) and the Netflix romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This (2024); the latter also earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
During her time on Veronica Mars, Bell starred in the television musical film Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005) and the horror film Pulse (2006). She has since appeared in a number of comedy films, including Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Couples Retreat (2009), You Again (2010), The Boss (2016), Bad Moms (2016), and A Bad Moms Christmas (2017). She received further recognition for voicing Princess Anna in the Disney animated films Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019).
== Background ==
Kristen Anne Bell was born on July 18, 1980, in Huntington Woods, a northern suburb of Detroit. Her mother, Lorelei Jo (née Frygier), 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 6 months old; both have remarried and Bell has 6 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, Kristen 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 (1995), Lady, Be Good (1996), and Li'l Abner (1998). 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, New York 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 [she] 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 ("Bullock Returns to the Camp" and "Suffer the Little Children").
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, [the] young actress has far less interesting material to work with here than she does as [the character] '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'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 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'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 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[ed] to come on Heroes, give us [writers] 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 [Bell's] 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.
=== 2012–2019: Frozen and The Good Place ===
In 2012, Bell starred in the family drama film Big Miracle. She 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 adaptation of the New Testament that uses the RSV-CE translation.
Bell starred as Jeannie van der Hooven, the female lead on the Showtime comedy series House of Lies, which premiered on January 8, 2012. The series ended on June 12, 2016. Bell appeared in a supporting role in the science-fiction comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (2012). She starred in the drama film The Lifeguard, written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, which began filming in July 2012 and was released in August 2013. She voiced Anna in Frozen, which was released on November 27, 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 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 Shepard, 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. Bell starred as Kiki in the 2016 comedy film Bad Moms, a role she reprised in the 2017 sequel, A Bad Moms Christmas. In 2016, Bell began starring as Eleanor Shellstrop in the NBC comedy series The Good Place. For her performance, she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy, and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
Also in 2017, she appeared in the biographical comedy-drama The Disaster Artist, the action comedy CHiPs and the comedy How to Be a Latin Lover. In November 2017, she played a housewife (with Dax Shepard as her husband) preparing for a Christmas party in Sia's music video for "Santa's Coming for Us".
In 2018, she began hosting the web series Momsplaining with Kristen Bell, with episodes airing on the Ellen DeGeneres video platform Ellentube. In the series, Bell gives new and expecting mothers tips about motherhood. The title of the series is a pun on the commonly used term "mansplaining". Bell later had the leading role in the Netflix comedy-drama film Like Father. She voiced the character of Jade Wilson in the animated comedy film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies and reprised her voice role as Princess Anna in the animated comedy sequel film Ralph Breaks the Internet.
On September 20, 2018, Hulu confirmed that Bell would reprise her role of Veronica Mars in an eight-episode fourth season of the drama series Veronica Mars, which would premiere in July 2019. In 2019, she again reprised her role of Princess Anna in the video game Kingdom Hearts III and the sequel Frozen 2 which was released on November 22, 2019. Bell served as host and executive producer on the Disney+ docuseries Encore!, which premiered in November 2019. She made her directorial debut with the eighth episode of the fourth season of The Good Place. The series concluded after its fourth season, airing its final episode in January 2020. At the 25th Critics' Choice Awards, Bell received the #SeeHer Award, which recognizes women who "push boundaries on changing stereotypes and acknowledge the importance of authentic portrayals of women across the entertainment landscape".
=== 2020–present ===
In 2020, Bell published the children's book The World Needs More Purple People, which she co-wrote with Benjamin Hart. Also in 2020, Bell voiced Molly Tillerman in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series Central Park, which reunited her with Frozen co-star Josh Gad and Bad Moms co-star Kathryn Hahn. Central Park received a two-season order from Apple and the series premiered on May 29, 2020. In June 2020, it was announced that Bell, who is white, would no longer voice the biracial character of Molly. The role would be re-cast with a black or mixed race actress, with Bell voicing a new role.
In 2021, Bell produces and voices a lead character in the Amazon Prime Video animated musical pre-school series Do, Re, & Mi. She returned to narrate as the titular character of the HBO Max teen drama series Gossip Girl, a soft reboot and sequel to the 2007–2012 series Gossip Girl. Bell starred alongside Kirby Howell-Baptiste as a pair of housewives who created a multi-million dollar coupon scam in the comedy film Queenpins. The film was released to Paramount+ on September 10, 2021.
Her miniseries The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window was released on Netflix in January 2022. In November 2022, Bell starred in the Amazon Prime movie The People We Hate at the Wedding. Bell appeared in three episodes of The Tiny Chef Show and serves as the show's executive producer.
Bell also played the main character, an agnostic sex podcaster by the name of Joanne, in Nobody Wants This (2024). Her performance earned her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress as well her first nomination for Primetime Emmy Award in her career for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series as series executive producer.
== Public image ==
In 2006 and again in 2013, Bell was selected "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" on PETA's yearly poll. She was placed 68 on Maxim's 2005 "Hot 100" list, 11 in Maxim's 2006 "Hot 100" list, and 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 ranked 59 on AskMen'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[ied] 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 title character on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter stated that Bell was "arguably the television successor [to Gellar's portrayal of Buffy] when it comes to fighting bad guys." Bell is sometimes confused with Lauren Conrad from The Hills. "Yeah, sometimes fans yell, 'Hey, Lauren' to me, but usually from a distance," said Bell.
Despite "new celebrity" status, Bell claimed that she was not concerned because "no one ever recognizes me anyway". She has said that her friend Hayden Panettiere is more famous than she is and attracts more attention; 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 repeatedly showed a humorous hostility towards Craig Ferguson's robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson, claiming that she had wanted to be Ferguson's sidekick on his show and taking it upon herself to cut Peterson down every chance she got. Both Bell and Peterson appeared with Ferguson during the five Late Late Show episodes filmed in France in 2011.
In January 2011, it was announced that Bell would be the new face of Neutrogena. In 2014, Bell posed nude for the May issue of Allure magazine – alongside Jenna Dewan, Minnie Driver, and Nia Long. In April 2019, Bell was featured on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine's April–May issue. In the article, she discussed her snack bar company, This Bar Saves Lives, which donates its sales to help feed malnourished children around the globe. In November 2019, Bell and Idina Menzel, who play sisters in Disney's Frozen franchise, received neighboring stars—Bell's was the 2681st and Menzel's was the 2682nd—on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
== 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."
In late 2007, Bell began dating actor Dax Shepard, who is also from the Detroit metropolitan area. They 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, the 2012 film Hit and Run, and the 2017 film CHiPs. After section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court 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 16, 2013. They have two daughters, born in March 2013 and December 2014.
=== Mental health ===
In May 2016, Bell said that she has received treatment for depression and anxiety. She said, "It's important for me to be candid about this so people in a similar situation can realize that they are not worthless and that they do have something to offer." In 2020, Bell also blogged about her anxiety since age of 18, and said that, "Don’t be fooled by this game of perfection that humans play. Because Instagram and magazines and TV shows, they strive for a certain aesthetic, and everything looks so beautiful, and people seem like they don’t have any problems, but everyone’s human. Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes."
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel in August 2018, Bell discussed why she wears scuba gloves while swimming. She stated that she fears the sensation of touching things with water-immersed, wrinkled fingers, otherwise known as "prune fingers". The gloves have allowed her to swim with her children without fearing touching them.
=== Beliefs and interests ===
At age 11, Bell became a vegetarian. In an interview with PETA, Bell discussed her pets, "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 and Shepard had become vegan after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. However, during her first pregnancy she went back to eating dairy products and eggs.
Bell has said that she is non-religious and identifies as a humanist. She and her husband Dax Shepard are pro-vaccination. 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 writers' strike, appearing in the picket lines in December 2007, stating, "the writers are just looking for some fairness".
In 2023, Bell revealed that she had taken up Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She was training under Cesalina Gracie in mother-daughter classes alongside her daughter.
=== Charity work ===
During her time in Michigan, Bell fostered animals from the Michigan Humane Society, and she now supports the San Diego–based Helen Woodward Animal Center. Bell often attends fundraisers for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting animals. She has had several dogs, including 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 and other Veronica Mars cast members, including Ryan Hansen, are involved with the charity Invisible Children, Inc. The goal of the organization is to create awareness of 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. In 2014, Bell launched a Prizeo campaign offering fans a chance to win a date with her in return for donating to Invisible Children, Inc. In 2018, Bell participated in a television advertisement for bone marrow donations, specifically the Gift of Life Marrow Registry. Her actions resulted in several matches that are documented on the Gift of Life website. Bell won a 2020 Webby Special Achievement Award.
In 2013, Kristen Bell, along with actors Ryan Devlin, Todd Grinnell, and Ravi Patel, founded the granola bar company This Bar Saves Lives to help fight malnutrition. The business donates food aid in the form of nutrition packets to children in Haiti, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Since its launch, the company has donated more than 10 million packets as of February 2019.
=== Entrepreneurship ===
In 2019, Bell and her husband founded the company Hello Bello that markets plant-based baby care products said to be environmentally friendly and affordable. As of 2021, Hello Bello's estimated annual revenue was $26.1 million a year with 104 employees. In 2020, she partnered to start Happy Dance, a line of vegan CBD products such as eye cream and hand moisturizers. In 2023, Hello Bello filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming years of declining sales and the financial startup crisis. The company is set to be acquired by private equity firm Hildred Capital Management.
== Acting credits and accolades ==
== Discography ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Kristen Bell at IMDb
Kristen Bell at the Internet Broadway Database
Kristen Bell at the TCM Movie Database
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