Lake Bell
| Lake Bell | |
|---|---|
 Bell at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of A Good Old Fashioned Orgy |
|
| Born | March 24, 1979 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2001–present |
Lake Bell (born March 24, 1979) is an American actress, writer and director. She has starred in the television series Miss Match (2003); The Practice (2004) and its spinoff Boston Legal (2004–2006) as Sally Heep; Surface (2005–2006); How to Make It in America (2010–2011) and Childrens Hospital (2008–present) and in the films Over Her Dead Body, What Happens in Vegas and Pride and Glory (all 2008); It's Complicated (2009); Burning Palms (2010) and Little Murder, No Strings Attached and A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (all 2011). She has also written and directed her own award-winning short film, Worst Enemy, which débuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
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[edit] Early life
Bell was born in New York City, the daughter of Robin Bell, owner of the design firm Robin Bell Design, Inc. in New York,[1] and Harvey Siegel. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Protestant and Bell has stated that she was raised in a "comically dysfunctional family".[2][3]
Bell attended The Chapin School in New York and Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut. For part of her teenage years she lived in Vero Beach, Florida[4] and attended St. Edward's School. She attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York before transferring to Rose Bruford College in London where she acted in several theatrical productions including The Seagull, The Children's Hour, Six Degrees of Separation, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and Pentecost.[5]
[edit] Career
Bell began her career in 2002 with roles in the film Speakeasy and in 2 episodes of ER. Her first significant roles came in 2003 - after appearing in the psychological thriller I Love Your Work, she was cast alongside Jeff Goldblum as the female lead in the NBC television film War Stories and played Alicia Silverstone's wisecracking best friend, Victoria Carlson, in NBC's comedy-drama series Miss Match. In 2004, Bell appeared in the wrestling film Slammed and made her début as Sally Heep in the final four episodes of The Practice. Her character was carried over into the spinoff Boston Legal, where she was made a regular cast member until she left the series in 2005.
Bell then played the lead role in the science fiction series Surface, which aired between September 2005 and May 2006. 2006 also saw her star in the film Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders about the Hillside Strangler of the late 1970s and return to Boston Legal for two episodes, reprising her role as Sally Heep, opposing counsel to Alan Shore (portrayed by James Spader). In 2008, she played the female lead in the thriller Under Still Waters, for which she won the Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting,[6] starred alongside Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria in the romantic comedy Over Her Dead Body, played Cameron Diaz's best friend in the romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas and played the wife of Colin Farrell's character in crime drama Pride and Glory. She and Farrell dated for a time.[2] She was also cast in the lead female role in Rob Corddry's satirical comedy Childrens Hospital. The fourth season is set to air in June 2012.[7]
In 2009, Bell voiced the role of Dana Mercer in the video game Prototype, played Alec Baldwin's wife in the romantic comedy It's Complicated and guest starred in an episode of the fourth season of the series Wainy Days. 2010 saw Bell voice a supporting role in Shrek Forever After, star in the satirical film Burning Palms, guest star in an episode of the second season of the sitcom The League and cast as a lead character in the new HBO television series How to Make It in America, which aired for 2 seasons from February 2010 to November 2011.[8] Bell was to play Deputy Judy Hicks in Scream 4, but dropped out four days before filming due to scheduling conflicts, with the role going to Marley Shelton.[9]
2010 also saw Bell make her writing and directing début with the short film Worst Enemy, which starred Michaela Watkins, Matt Walsh and Lindsay Sloane. Her film débuted at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival[10] and has also played at the Nantucket Film Festival, the Dallas International Film Festival, the Gen Art Film Festival and Aspen Shortsfest, winning the Tony Cox Award for Screenwriting in a Short Film from Nantucket and receiving a Shorts Jury Special Mention from Dallas. Her film led to her being named one of the "2012 Inspiring Filmmakers" by LUNAFEST.[11]
In 2011, Bell starred alongside Josh Lucas and Terrence Howard in the supernatural thriller Little Murder, played Ashton Kutcher's boss in the romantic comedy No Strings Attached, starred in the ensemble comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and guest starred in an episode of the first season of Zooey Deschanel's sitcom New Girl. Bell has a lead role alongside Kate Bosworth in the upcoming thriller Black Rock.[12]
Bell has an automotive column in The Hollywood Reporter called Test Drive and is the magazine's automotive contributing editor.[13] Bell came 45th on Femme Fatales' list of the 50 Sexiest Women of 2003; she came 6th on British Vogue's list of the 10 Best Dressed Women of 2007 and she was 32nd on Maxim's Hot 100 of 2008. In 2007, Bell appeared in a photoshoot for GQ,[2] in 2008 she appeared in a photoshoot for Marie Claire,[14] in 2009 she modelled for Scott Caan for his first book, Scott Caan Photographs, Vol. 1[15] and in 2011 she appeared in photoshoots for Elle,[16] Los Angeles,[17] Maxim[18] and Esquire,[19] the latter in conjunction with the website Me In My Place.[20] In September 2011, Bell modelled at Pirelli's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy.[21][22]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | ER | Jody Holmes | Episode: One Can Only Hope Episode: Tell Me Where It Hurts |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Victoria Carlson | Series regular |
| 2004 | The Practice | Sally Heep | Episode: The Firm Episode: Comings And Goings Episode: New Hoods on the Block Episode: Adjourned (a.k.a. Cheers) |
| 2004–2006 | Boston Legal | Sally Heep | Series regular; guest star |
| 2005–2006 | Surface | Laura Daughtery | Series regular |
| 2008–present | Childrens Hospital | Dr. Cat Black | Series regular |
| 2009 | Wainy Days | Blaire | Episode: Dance Club |
| Prototype | Dana Mercer (Voice role) | Video game | |
| 2010 | The League | Brooke | Episode: The White Knuckler |
| 2010–2011 | How to Make It in America | Rachel Chapman | Series regular |
| 2011 | New Girl | Amanda | Episode: Naked |
[edit] References
- ^ "Star quality: Robin Bell designs a camera-ready apartment for her actress daughter in record time". House Beautiful. February 1, 2004. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20453909_ITM.
- ^ a b c You Can Ring My Bell: GQ Features on men.style.com
- ^ Amy Hotz, "'Old Fashioned' actress Lake Bell ditches sea monsters for sex parties in return to Port City", Star-News, June 29, 2008. "I wanted her to be far more Jewish and have the last name of Cohen or Rosenberg because I'm not Jewish and I wanted the opportunity to play Jewish, make the father's side of my family proud."
- ^ Askmen.com profile
- ^ "Lake Bell". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/person/lake-bell.
- ^ HBO. "Lake Bell Bio". http://www.hbo.com/how-to-make-it-in-america/cast-and-crew/rachel-chapman/bio/lake-bell.html. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
- ^ "2011–2012 Premiere Schedule" on BumpWorthy.com
- ^ HBO. "Lake Bell in How to Make It in America". http://www.hbo.com/how-to-make-it-in-america/cast-and-crew/rachel-chapman/bio/lake-bell.html. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (June 25, 2010). "Craven's 'Scream 4' loses cast member". Digital Spy (Hachette Filipacchi UK). Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a233183/cravens-scream-4-loses-cast-member.html. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
- ^ Los Angeles Times. "Sundance: Lake Bell explores body work in 'Worst Enemy'". http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/01/lake-bell-worst-enemy-sundance.html. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
- ^ HBO. "Lake Bell". http://www.lunafest.org/submit-a-film/filmmaker/lake-bell. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Cinemablend.com (28 January 2012). "Sundance Video Interview: Black Rock's Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell And Katie Aselton". http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sundance-Video-Interview-Black-Rock-Kate-Bosworth-Lake-Bell-Katie-Aselton-29097.html. Retrieved February 2 2012.
- ^ The Hollywood Reporter. "Actress Lake Bell Joins The Hollywood Reporter as Automotive Critic". http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/actress-lake-bell-joins-hollywood-240020. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Marie Claire. "BELL du Jour". http://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/trends/lake-bell-swimsuit. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Caan, Scott. "Scott Caan Photography". http://www.scaanphoto.com. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
- ^ Elle. "American Pastoral". http://www.elle.com/Fashion/Fashion-Spotlight/Ralph-Lauren-Lake-Bell. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Los Angeles. "The Lady in the Lake". http://www.lamag.com/play/slideshows/story.aspx?ID=1516068. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Maxim. "Lake Bell's "Year of Nudity"". http://www.maxim.com/amg/GIRLS/Girls+of+Maxim/Lake+Bell. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Esquire. "Esquire Presents Me in My Place with Lake Bell". http://www.esquire.com/women/me-in-my-place/lake-bell-photos-1211#fbIndex1. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Me In My Place. "Lake Bell". http://meinmyplace.com/tagged/lake+bell. Retrieved January 21 2012.
- ^ Pretty Pretties at Pirelli's Milan Fashion Week Party
- ^ Rendez-vous chez Pirelli
[edit] External links
- Lake Bell at the Internet Movie Database
- Lake Bell at AllRovi
