Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 9, 1968 North Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actress and director |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968)[1][2] is an American actress and director who has appeared in more than thirty films. She appeared Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, particularly Mallrats and Chasing Amy, with the latter earning her a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.
Career
She began her film career in 1977 with a small part in Exorcist II: The Heretic. In 1991, she appeared in the 100th episode of Married... with Children entitled "Top of the Heap" and subsequently starred in its short lived spinoff. In 1993, Adams landed her first major film role as Simone in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. The same year, she appeared in the Saturday Night Live spinoff film Coneheads as one of Connie Conehead's friends.
Two years later, Adams appeared in Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith. The two started dating during the film's post-production, and their relationship provided the inspiration for Smith's next film, Chasing Amy. Meanwhile, in 1996, while Smith was finalizing the script for Chasing Amy, Adams was cast in the slapstick comedy Bio-Dome, which was directed by Jason Bloom. Adams played the role of Monique, Bud Macintosh's (Pauly Shore) girlfriend.[3]
In 1997's Chasing Amy, Adams played the lead role of Alyssa Jones, a lesbian who falls in love with a man, played by Ben Affleck. Later, Smith would describe Chasing Amy as a "sort of penance/valentine" and a "thank-you homage" to Adams.[4] In addition to her acting work on the film, Adams wrote and performed the song "Alive" for the film's soundtrack.[3]
Adams' performance in Chasing Amy earned her both the 1997 Chicago Film Critics Award and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising Actress, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. From there, Adams was originally slated to play the female lead in Smith's next film, 1999's Dogma, but Linda Fiorentino ultimately got the part.[5] However, she would later make brief appearances in two other Smith projects: the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and the 2004 animated short Clerks: The Lost Scene, featured on the Clerks X DVD. In both of these appearances, Adams reprised the role of Alyssa Jones.[3]
Her post-Smith projects included playing a spunky veterinarian's assistant who falls in love with a single father (Vince Vaughn) in 1998's A Cool, Dry Place. The following year, Adams appeared in her first big-budget Hollywood release, playing Adam Sandler's love interest in the successful comedy Big Daddy. She then went on to appear in many smaller films, including Beautiful and In the Shadows.[3] In 2005, she had a guest role in an episode of the TV show Veronica Mars. Also in 2006, Adams released her directorial debut film, Come Early Morning, starring Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson and Laura Prepon. The film, shot on location in Little Rock, Arkansas, was selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.[3]
Awards
In 2006, she, along with Lian Lunson and Nicole Holofcener, was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.[6] On November 24, 2009, Interscope Records released Adams' directorial debut for a music video entitled "Belle of the Boulevard" by Dashboard Confessional.
Adams returned to TV in March 2010, on the Showtime series The United States of Tara. She appeared in six episodes as Pammy, a barmaid who falls for Buck, one of the title character's alternate personalities.
Some speculation has been made that her high-pitched speaking voice has hampered her chances of Hollywood stardom, to which she has commented: "It's not a normal voice. It doesn't fit into people's preconceptions about what a woman's voice should sound like. My mom doesn't think I have an unusual voice, though. I'm sure it's helped me get some roles. But Chasing Amy I almost didn't get. There was concern the voice would grate on some people, which some critics said it did."[7] One film critic referred to her voice as a "sex-kitten-on-helium".[8] Another said that whether viewers loved it or hated it, her voice had "the potential to hypnotize."[9]
Personal life
Adams was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the youngest of three children. Her father was a lumber yard owner.[1] Adams grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood in Sherwood, Arkansas, and graduated from North Little Rock Northeast High School in 1986. She announced her intention to pursue acting after an exchange-student year in Australia.[9] She moved to Hollywood in 1988, but currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Coneheads | Christina | |
| 1993 | Dazed and Confused | Simone Kerr | |
| 1993 | The Program | Louanne | |
| 1993 | The Pros & Cons of Breathing | Shirley | |
| 1994 | Sleep with Me | Lauren | |
| 1994 | S.F.W. | Monica Dice | |
| 1995 | Mallrats | Gwen | |
| 1996 | Bio-Dome | Monique | |
| 1996 | Drawing Flies | Hippy Chick | |
| 1996 | Michael | Anita | |
| 1997 | Chasing Amy | Alyssa Jones | |
| 1999 | A Cool, Dry Place | Beth Ward | |
| 1999 | Big Daddy | Layla Maloney | |
| 2000 | Bruno | Donna Marie | |
| 2000 | Beautiful | Ruby | |
| 2001 | Harvard Man | Chesney Cort | |
| 2001 | Dr. Dolittle 2 | Squirrel (voice) | |
| 2001 | Reaching Normal | Sarah | |
| 2001 | In the Shadows | Clarissa Huston | |
| 2001 | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back | Alyssa Jones | |
| 2002 | Grand Champion | Hallie | |
| 2002 | Beeper | Inspector Julia Hyde | |
| 2003 | The Big Empty | Grace | |
| 2004 | The Gunman | Daphne | |
| 2005 | Conflict | Ricci Storm | Short film |
| 2006 | The Break-Up | Addie | |
| 2007 | Bunny Whipped | Ann | |
| 2008 | Trucker | Jenny Bell | |
| 2009 | ExTerminators | Kim | |
| 2010 | Endure | Sirena Lane | |
| 2011 | Big Swim | The Egg | |
| 2011 | Apart | Dr. Jane Sheppard | |
| 2012 | The Birthday Present | Mom | Short film |
| 2012 | Mulberry Stains | Savannah | |
| 2012 | Art Machine | Prudence | |
| 2013 | Blue Caprice | Jamie | |
| 2013 | A Country Christmas | Renae Logan | |
| 2013 | She Loves Me Not | Beth | |
| 2014 | Making the Rules | Becca | |
| 2014 | Sequoia | Bev | |
| 2014 | Valley Inn | Althea | |
| 2014 | Animal | Vicky | |
| 2014 | All the Birds Have Flown South | Tonya | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Top of the Heap | Mona Mullins | Main role (7 episodes) |
| 1991 | Married... with Children | Mona Mullins / Cousin Effie | Episodes: "Top of the Heap", "Buck Has a Belly Ache" |
| 1992 | Vinnie & Bobby | Mona Mullins | Main role (5 episodes) |
| 1992 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Dianne | Episode: "Words Up!" |
| 1993 | Married... with Children | Janie | Episode: "Wedding Show" |
| 1995 | Love & War | Vicky | Episode: "Atlantic City" |
| 1995 | Out of Order | Whitney | Episode: "Strange Habit" |
| 1995 | Double Rush | Dee Dee | Episode: "Slamming Into a Car Isn't Good" |
| 1996 | Second Noah | Darby | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1999 | Hercules | Electra (voice) | Episode: "Hercules and the Complex Electra" |
| 2003 | As Told by Ginger | Thea Mipson | Episode: "Far from Home" |
| 2003–2004 | Stripperella | Catt (voice) | Episodes: "Everybody Loves Pushy", "Evil Things Come in Small Packages" |
| 2005 | What's New, Scooby-Doo? | Rachel (voice) | Episode: "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" |
| 2005 | Veronica Mars | Geena Stafford | Episode: "Weapons of Class Destruction" |
| 2009–2010 | Party Down | Diandra Stiltskin | Episodes: "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen", "Precious Lights Pre-School Auction" |
| 2010 | Tough Trade | Shawnelle | TV film |
| 2010 | United States of Tara | Pammy | Recurring role (6 episodes) |
| 2010 | Frenemies | Joy Hardwick | TV series |
| 2012 | Supermoms | Kelly | TV series |
| 2013–2014 | Switched at Birth | Jeniece Papagus | Episodes: "What Goes Up Must Come Down", "The Merrymakers", "Departure of Summer", "Have You Really the Courage?", "The Scream" |
References
- ^ a b Slotek, Jim (August 17, 1999). "She Can Speak Hollywoodese Baby-Voiced Joey Lauren Adams Has Learned That Money Talks". The Toronto Sun.
"I thought after Chasing Amy, I would be able to do anything I want, which definitely wasn't the case," the 31-year-old actress says.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Thompson, Bob (July 28, 2000). "The Naughty Professor Adams Leaves Her 'Nice Girl' Image Behind With Harvard Man". The Toronto Sun.
That's what the 32-year-old Adams was doing this week while shooting James Toback's film, Harvard Man, at the Jarvis St. high school auditorium.
- ^ a b c d e Joey Lauren Adams at IMDb
- ^ Kevin Smith. "The Hows and Whys of Chasing Amy". Liner note essay for the Chasing Amy DVD. The Criterion Collection
- ^ Kevin Smith. "In The Beginning... The Story of Dogma". Liner note essay for the Dogma DVD. Columbia Tristar
- ^ http://wif.org/past-recipients
- ^ Slotek, Jim (1999-08-17). "She can speak Hollywoodese". Jam! Showbiz. Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
- ^ Flint Marx, Rebecca. "Joey Lauren Adams". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
- ^ a b Barnett Reed, Jennifer (2005-06-02). "A friend in low places". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2011-03-11.