Kristen Bell

In 1992, Bell went to her first audition and won a dual role as a banana and a tree[11] in a suburban Detroit theater's production of Raggedy Ann and Andy.[4] 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.[4] In 1998, she appeared with an uncredited role in the locally filmed movie 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.[12] Additionally, she auditioned for the television series Smallville for the role of Chloe Sullivan, which was eventually won by Allison Mack.[13]

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 in 2002 because of her friendship with writers Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney,[12] 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 a Norm Macdonald series.[11]

In 2004, Bell appeared in the Lifetime television film Gracie's Choice, which received one of the network's highest ratings.[10] 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").

Bell on the set of Veronica Mars in 2004

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.[10] 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.[14][15][16]

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 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[17] 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.'"[18]

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.[19] 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.[20] A Veronica Mars feature film and comic book series continuation had been discussed,[21] 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.[19]

Following the cancellation of Veronica Mars, Bell voiced interest in appearing on Heroes because she was a fan.[22] 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[ed] to come on Heroes, give us [writers] a call," to which Bell said she would "love to."[23] Meanwhile, there were discussions about a role on Lost, but Bell turned down the role[24][25] of Charlotte Staples Lewis.[26] Bell portrayed Elle Bishop on Heroes, a "mysterious young lady" with an "awesome power".[23] She did not have to audition for the role of Elle,[12] who made her first appearance in an October 2007 episode, and appeared in twelve episodes during the run of the series.[27] 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."[27] 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.

Bell at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival

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".[12] 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 on November 13, 2007, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and April 8, 2008, for the PC.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31] 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 on location in Rome and New York; the film was released in 2010.[32] 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 musical film 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.[33]

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 adaptation of the New Testament that uses the RSV-CE translation.

Bell at the premiere of Frozen in 2013 at the El Capitan Theatre

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.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36][37]

In September 2014, Bell starred with her husband, Dax Shepard, in a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S.[38] It was so popular (with over 20 million YouTube views) that they did another for the holiday season.[39] The ad agency McKinney was behind both.[40] 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.[41] In 2016, Bell began starring as Eleanor Shellstrop in the NBC comedy series The Good Place.[42]

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".[43]

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".[44][45][46] Bell later had the leading role in the Netflix comedy-drama film Like Father. She also 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.[47]

On September 20, 2018, Hulu confirmed that Bell would reprise her role of Veronica Mars in an 8-episode fourth season of the drama series Veronica Mars. The series debuted in July 2019.[48] In 2019, she again reprised her role of Princess Anna in the video game, Kingdom Hearts III[49] and the sequel, Frozen II[50] which was released on November 22, 2019.[51] Bell served as host and executive producer on the Disney+ docuseries Encore!, which premiered in November 2019.[52] She made her directorial debut with the eighth episode of the fourth season of The Good Place.[53] The series concluded after its fourth season, airing its final episode in January 2020.[54]

Bell is set to voice a main character in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series Central Park, which reunites her with Frozen co-star Josh Gad.[55] She will also voice a character in the animated musical series Do, Re, & Mi.[56] It was announced that Bell will star alongside Leslie Jones as pair of housewives who create a $40 million coupon scam in the comedy film Queenpins.[57]

In 2007, Bell ended a five-year relationship with former fiancé Kevin Mann.[73] 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."[65]

In late 2007, Bell began dating actor Dax Shepard, who is also from Metro Detroit. The couple announced their engagement in January 2010.[74] They decided to delay marriage until the state of California passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.[75] They co-starred in the 2010 film When in Rome, the 2012 film Hit and Run,[76] 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,[77] which he accepted.[78] They were married at the Beverly Hills County Clerk's Office on October 16, 2013.[79] They have two daughters, the first born in 2013[80] and the second born in 2014.[81]

Bell with the Dancing Merengue Dog at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music Festival

At age 11, Bell became a vegetarian.[59] 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!"[82] By 2012 Bell had become vegan with her husband after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives.[83][84] During her first pregnancy, she returned to eating dairy and eggs, however.[85] 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.[6][86]

Bell has stated she is non-religious and identifies as a humanist.[87] 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.[88] Bell has also done a public service announcement for Do Something's Healthy Living Campaign.[89] 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.[90]

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.[91][92][93] 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."[94]

Bell and her husband Dax Shepard are staunchly pro-vaccination.[95][96]

In May 2016, Bell stated that she has struggled with and received treatment for depression and anxiety.[97] 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."[98]

In 2019, Bell and her husband founded the company Hello Bello, a plant-based baby care product line. The product line focuses on creating environmentally friendly and affordable products. The company partnered exclusively with Walmart and the line is sold in all locations, as well as online.[99]