Kristen Bell

**Kristen Anne Bell** (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress and singer who is best known for her role as Veronica Mars on the UPN/The CW television series of the same name from 2004 to 2007. She reprised the eponymous role in the 2014 film continuation of the series. She stared as Jeannie Van Der Hooven on the Showtime comedy series *House of Lies*, from 2012 to 2016. She also served as the voice of Cora in the 2009 action film *Astro Boy*.

She provided the voice of Anna in the 2013 Disney animated feature film *Frozen*, and has since reprised the role in most of the character's subsequent appearances. She also voiced Hiromi in the 2003 English dub version of Studio Ghibli's *The Cat Returns*, and also appeared in *Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular* in 2013. She also starred in the Touchstone Pictures films *When in Rome* as Elizabeth "Beth" Martin, and *You Again* as Marni Olivia Olsen in 2010. She also appeared as herself in the *Liv & Maddie* episode "Ask Her More-a-Rooney", and voiced Priscilla in the 2016 animated film *Zootopia*.

## Credits

### Television

* *Veronica Mars*
* *House of Lies*
* *Deadwood*

### Filmography

* *The Cat Returns* (2003)
* *Couple's Retreat* (2009)
* *You Again* (2010)
* *The Lifeguard* (2012)
* *Frozen* (2013)
* *Veronica Mars* (2014)

### Other credits

* *Assassin's Creed* (video game)
* *Assassin's Creed 2* (video game)
* *Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood* (video game)

## Biographical information

### Early life

Bell was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan. Her mother is a registered nurse, and her father works as a television news director in San Antonio. They divorced when she was two. She now has two half-sisters, Sara and Jody, from her father's second marriage. Bell has a disease called strabismus, which she inherited from her mother.

Just before she entered high school, Bell's parents decided to pull her out of the public school. They enrolled her in Shrine Catholic High School. During her time there, she participated in the school's drama and music club. In her school's rendition of *The Wizard of Oz*, she starred as Dorothy Gale. She also appeared in her school's productions of *Fiddler on the Roof*, *Lady Be Good*, and *Li'l Abner*. When she graduated in 1998, she was named the yearbook's "Best Looking Girl" by senior class vote.

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, her senior year, she left to take a role in a Broadway musical version of *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer*. She was only a few credits away from graduating.

### Career

Bell has had roles in several areas, including film, television, theatre, web series, audio books, and video games. However, most of her career is focused on film and television. Bell was first established with an agent when she was 13, allowing her to appear in several newspaper advertisements.

In her college senior year, Bell left New York University to play the role of Becky Thatcher in a Broadway musical of *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer*. She made her credited film debut in *Pootie Tang* the same year. A year later, she appeared in the Broadway revival of *The Crucible*.

In 2002, Bell moved to Los Angeles, California, appearing in several television shows as a special guest as she had trouble landing a recurring role. Finally, in 2003, Bell landed a role in the film *The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay*, however it wasn't until 2004 that she debuted in a theatrically-released film, *Spartan*.

Bell became well-known for her role of Veronica Mars in UPN's drama show of the same name. Launched in 2004, it starred Bell as the seventeen-year-old detective, Veronica. Both the series and Bell's performance received positive reviews. In 2007, *Veronica Mars* was cancelled in its third season. Shortly after the cancellation of the show, Bell filmed on location in Hawaii in the comedy *Forgetting Sarah Marshall*.

Bell made a cameo appearance in *Scream 4*, and in 2012, she starred in the film *Big Miracle*, and co-starred with Dax Shepard in the film, *Hit and Run*. She also appeared in a music video, and portrayed "Mary Magdalene" in a dramatized audio reading of the RSV-CE New Testament Bible.

Bell is also well known for her starting role as Jeannie van der Hooven, the female lead in the series *House of Lies*.

## Personal life

Bell has been a vegetarian since she was eleven. She 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!". She often raises funds for the ASPCA and other non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting animals.

Later that year, Bell began dating actor and former co-star Dax Shepard. They announced their engagement in 2010, but they decided to delay their marriage until same-sex marriage was legal in California. When California passed the section three of the Defense of Marriage, Bell asked Shepard to marry her through Twitter, and he accepted. They married in the Beverly Hills County Clerk's Office on October 17, 2013.

In March 2013, Bell and Shepard had a daughter, named Lincoln Bell Shepard. In June of that same year, they announced that they were expecting a second child, who was a daughter named Delta Bell Shepard and born on December 19, 2014.

## Awards

* Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television (won)
* Teen Choice Award for "Choice Breakout TV Show" (nominated)

## ​Trivia

* She was pregnant during the making of *Frozen*, resulting in her having to come back to re-record some of her lines due to her voice having deepened.