The talented Kristen Bell is the focus of today’s Hollywood Spotlight. The versatile actress first burst onto the Hollywood radar on 2004. Though her roots are on the stage, Kristen Bell has firmly established herself as a Hollywood movie and television star with a beautiful singing voice and a fantastic knack for comedic timing. (Image Credit: TV Guide)
Broadway to Hollywood
After high school graduation, Kristen Bell enrolled in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She pursued a degree in musical theater. However, the talented soprano dropped out in her senior year to make her Broadway debut in a musical adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The following year, in 2002, she set her sights on Hollywood. Just two years later, she got her big break as the lead in television series Veronica Mars.
The teen mystery drama premiered in 2004 on UPN. Critics loved the film noir vibe reinvented with a female protagonist. The show also developed a cult following with audiences. Though many shows did not survive the transition to The CW, Veronica Mars pulled off the switch. However, the network cancelled it after its third season.
A Comedy Natural
Following the end of Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell began to hone her comedy chops in a variety of movies. Her first big role was opposite Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Kristen Bell played Sarah Marshall, a Hollywood actress who dumps her boyfriend to date a famous rock star, portrayed by Russell Brand. The movie was a great success and Kristen Bell even reprised her role in the spin-off movie, Get Him to the Greek (2010). Today, many outlets and fans consider Forgetting Sarah Marshall to be Kristen Bell’s funniest movie to date.
Juggling Movies and Television
Throughout her Hollywood career, Kristen Bell has maintained a presence in movies and on television. Of course her first big break was on TV; however, since Veronica Mars, she has starred in a number of other programs. The versatile celebrity played Elle Bishop in NBC’s Heroes from 2007 to 2008. Also, Kristen Bell was the narrator for the series Gossip Girl (2007-2012). The busy star joined the cast of Showtime’s House of Lies in 2012. The show ran for four seasons. Kristen Bell has been active in Hollywood since 2004. And each and every year, she has had a show on television. Amazing, since she has also had a busy movie career as well!
A Disney Blockbuster
In 2013, Disney dazzled the world with Frozen. The animated movie was universally lauded as a mega-hit. The wise-cracking Olaf made audiences laugh. Children loved a movie with two Disney princesses: Elsa, voiced by Broadway’s Idina Menzel and Anna, voiced by Hollywood’s Kristen Bell. But most of all, people loved the songs. The actors also performed by the catchy tunes. Despite her background in musical theater, for many, this was the first opportunity mainstream audiences had to hear Kristen Bell sing. And her beautiful, light soprano dazzled her unsuspecting fans.
Frozen went on to become Walt Disney Animation Studios first billion dollar movie. In addition, it garnered the studio’s first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The movie also solidified Kristen Bell’s status as a Hollywood mainstay.
Some of Kristen Bell’s other Hollywood movies include Fanboys (2009), Serious Moonlight (2009), Couples Retreat (2009), You Again (2010), Burlesque (2010), Scream 4 (2011), Big Miracle (2012), Stuck In Love (2012), The Lifeguard (2013), The Boss (2016), Bad Moms (2016), Zootopia (2016), and Like Father (2018).
Devoted Wife and Mother
Kristen Bell married fellow Hollywood celebrity, Dax Shepard in 2013. The pair started dating in 2007 and since, have starred in a few films together. In When In Rome (2010), Shepard was a male model pursuing the uninterested Kristen Bell. They play a mismatched couple in Hit and Run (2012), an action comedy written and directed by Shepard. Recently, they starred as husband and wife in the buddy cop movie, CHIPS (2017), also written by Shepard.
The Hollywood power couple has two daughters, Lincoln and Delta. The proud parents are fiercely protective of their girls. After the birth of their first daughter, the celebrities were astounded by the inappropriate paparazzi attention she received. As a response, they pioneered the No Kid Policy movement. Along with many of their Hollywood peers, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard pleaded with media outlets to stop buying photographs of celebrities’ children that paparazzi took without permission. Similarly, they asked consumers to boycott the outlets that continued to publish the images. While Kristen Bell would like to see more progress, the movement was overall successful. Now, any images we see of Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s daughters are purposefully published with the celebrity pair’s consent.
Philosophy Meets Hollywood’s Prime Time
Kristen Bell is currently starring in The Good Place on NBC with Ted Danson. The witty comedy received praise from critics for its unique premise and ingenious use of ethics and philosophical concepts. Audiences love the show as well. Kristen Bell is hilarious as a ne’er-do-well who dies and finds herself in a seeming utopia. Notably, since its premiere in 2016, the show and its stars have been nominated for and won a number of awards.
Upcoming Works
The talented star has a couple of projects in the pipeline that will delight her fans. Frozen 2 is set to hit theaters on November 27, 2019, the day before Thanksgiving. Notably, the movie will only be the second theater sequel in Walt Disney Animation Studios history.
Also, Veronica Mars is coming back. After an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign spearheaded by the star brought a Veronica Mars movie to fruition in 2014, Hulu decided to bring the private investigator back to the small screen. However, while filming should begin in 2019, no release date for the series is known.
Need to enjoy some Kristen Bell sooner than 2019? Check out Like Father which premiered on Netflix earlier this summer. Or tune in to the special one hour premiere of The Good Place on September 27. We are sure you’ll love it!
