Lake Bell

Lake Siegel Bell[1][2] (born March 24, 1979)[3] is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She has starred in various television series, including Boston Legal (2004–2006), Surface (2005–2006), How to Make It in America (2010–2011), Childrens Hospital (2008–2016), and Bless This Mess (2019-2020) and in films including Over Her Dead Body (2008), What Happens in Vegas (2008), It's Complicated (2009), No Strings Attached (2011), Million Dollar Arm (2014), No Escape (2015), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), and Home Again (2017).

Lake Bell
Bell at the 2013 Montclair Film Festival
Born
Lake Siegel Bell

(1979-03-24) March 24, 1979
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress, director, screenwriter
Years active1997–present
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 2013)
Children2

She wrote and directed the short film Worst Enemy, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, followed by her 2013 feature film directing debut In a World..., in which she also starred. In 2017 she directed, wrote, co-produced and starred in I Do... Until I Don't. Bell is currently starring as the voice of Poison Ivy in the DC Universe series Harley Quinn (2019–present).

Early life

Bell was born in New York City. Her mother, Robin Bell, owns the design firm Robin Bell Design in New York.[4][5][6][7][8] Her father is real estate developer Harvey Siegel,[9] who bought the then-closed Virginia International Raceway and converted it to a racetrack country club, and who owned New Jersey Motorsports Park.[10]

Bell's father is Jewish and her mother is Protestant. Bell has stated that she was raised in a "comically dysfunctional" family.[11][12]

Bell attended The Chapin School in New York and Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut. As a high school junior, Bell attended School Year Abroad (SYA) at its school located in Rennes, France. For part of her teenage years she lived in Vero Beach, Florida and attended Saint Edwards School.[13] She attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, before transferring to Rose Bruford College in London.[14][15] There she acted in theatrical productions including The Seagull, The Children's Hour, Six Degrees of Separation, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and The Pentecost.[16]

Career

Actress

Bell began her career in 2002 with roles in the film Speakeasy, a film about two men who become unlikely friends after a minor traffic accident, and in 2 episodes of the medical TV drama 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 debut as Sally Heep in the final four episodes of The Practice. Her character was carried over into the spinoff Boston Legal, where she was a regular cast member until she left the series in 2005. She also appeared in an Audi commercial alongside Dustin Hoffman that spoofed The Graduate.

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,[17] starred alongside Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria in the romantic comedy Over Her Dead Body, played Cameron Diaz's character'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 was also cast as the lead female role, Dr. Cat Black, in Rob Corddry's satirical comedy Childrens Hospital.[18] The fourth season began airing in August 2012 and featured two episodes that were directed by Bell—the season premiere, "The Boy with the Pancakes Tattoo", a parody of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the ninth episode, "A Kid Walks in to a Hospital".[19]

Bell in June 2009

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 HBO series How to Make It in America,[17] which aired for two seasons from February 2010 to November 2011. 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.[20]

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, a performance that won her critical praise and was called "scene-stealing,"[21] starred in the ensemble comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and guest starred in an episode of the first season of New Girl. Bell had a lead role alongside Kate Bosworth in the 2012 thriller Black Rock.[22][23]

Writer and director

“The film is about a milk-drinking, lactose-intolerant misanthrope on a quest for real human connection. Being an ordinary, unoriginal and unloved woman, she instead becomes so wrapped up in her own quiet neurosis that she finds herself physically stuck in a full body girdle. I wrote and directed Worst Enemy in 2010 as an experiment to see if I could take on being a filmmaker.”[24]

In 2010, Bell[25] made her writing and directing début with the short film Worst Enemy,[26][27] which starred Michaela Watkins,[28][29] Matt Walsh and Lindsay Sloane. Her film débuted at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival[30][31][32][33] 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.[34]

Bell made her writing and directing feature film debut at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival with In a World....[2][1][35] which she wrote and directed and in which she starred[21] She describes the film as "a comedy about a female voice-over artist and family dysfunction and relationships. I’m obsessed with the voice-over world, so it makes sense for me."[21][36][37] The film was picked up by Roadside Attractions and Sony.[38]

... and then after, I directed this short (El Tonto[39]) for The Director’s Bureau, this thing that Roman Coppola was curating.[40]

In February 2014 she said her next project would be What's the Point? (And Other Fair Questions About Marriage), a film she would write and direct, which was eventually renamed I Do... Until I Don't.[41][42]

Modeling
Bell in July 2011

Bell was listed as number 45 on Femme Fatales' list of the 50 Sexiest Women of 2003; 6th on British Vogue's list of the 10 Best Dressed Women of 2007, 32nd on Maxim's Hot 100 of 2008, 44th on Maxim's Hot 100 of 2012 and 89th on AskMen's 99 Most Desirable Women of 2012. In 2007, Bell appeared in a photo shoot for GQ;[11] in 2008 she appeared in a photo shoot for Marie Claire;[43] in 2009 she modeled for Scott Caan, for his first book, Scott Caan Photographs, Vol. 1;[44] and in 2011 she appeared in photo shoots for Elle,[45] Los Angeles,[46] Maxim[47] and Esquire,[48] the latter in conjunction with the website Me In My Place.[49] In September 2011, Bell modeled at Pirelli's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy.[50][51] For New York Fashion Week 2013, Bell modeled nude with strategic body painting (done by her husband) on the cover of New York shot by Mark Seliger.[52] In April 2014, Bell appeared in Esquire for the second time.[53]

Other activities

Bell has an automotive column in The Hollywood Reporter called Test Drive and is the magazine's automotive contributing editor.[54]

Personal life

Bell and Colin Farrell, her co-star in Pride and Glory, dated in the late 2000s.[11]

In 2011, Bell began dating Scott Campbell, an artist and tattoo artist. The two met when he played himself in an episode of the second season of How to Make It in America. The couple became engaged on Bell's birthday in March 2012[55] and were married on June 1, 2013, at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans, Louisiana.[56] In late October 2014, her representative confirmed that Bell had given birth to their daughter, Nova.[57] In May 2017, Bell gave birth to their second child, a son named Ozzi, which is short for Ozgood.[58][59]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Speakeasy Sara Marnikov
2003 War Stories Nora Stone
I Love Your Work Felicia
2004 Fresh out of Tears Leila Short film
Slammed Gina Micelli
2006 Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders Jillian Dunne
2008 Under Still Waters Charlie Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting
Over Her Dead Body Ashley
What Happens in Vegas Tipper
Pride and Glory Megan Egan
Prop 8: The Musical Scary Catholic School Girls From Hell Short for Funny or Die
2009 It's Complicated Agness Adler National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble
2010 Shrek Forever After Patrol Witch / Wagon Witch #2 (voice)
Burning Palms Mary Jane
The Doctors of Children's Hospital Answer Your Medical Questions Dr. Cat Black Short for Funny or Die
10 Minutes Herself Short for Funny or Die
Worst Enemy Writer and director
Short film
Tony Cox Award for Screenwriting in a Short Film, Nantucket Film Festival
Shorts Jury Special Mention, Dallas International Film Festival
2011 Little Murder Corey Little Distributed in US in 2017 as Ghost of New Orleans
No Strings Attached Lucy
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy Alison Cohen
Home for Actresses Lake Short for Funny or Die
2012 Black Rock Lou
El Tonto[39] Writer and director
Short film
2013 In a World... Carol Solomon Also writer, director, and producer
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, Sundance Film Festival 2013
2014 Mr. Peabody & Sherman Mona Lisa (voice)
Million Dollar Arm Brenda Paauwe Bernstein
2015 Man Up Nancy Patterson
No Escape[60] Annie Dwyer
2016 The Secret Life of Pets Chloe (voice)
2017 Shot Caller Kate Harlon
Home Again Zoey Bell
I Do... Until I Don't Alice Brewing Also writer, director, and producer
2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Vanessa Fisk (voice)
2019 The Secret Life of Pets 2 Chloe (voice)

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2002 ER Jody Holmes Episodes: "One Can Only Hope", "Tell Me Where It Hurts"
2003 Miss Match Victoria Carlson Main role; 18 episodes
2004 The Practice Sally Heep 4 episodes
2004–2006 Boston Legal Sally Heep Main role (season 1); guest star (season 3); 14 episodes
2005–2006 Surface Laura Daughtery Main role; 15 episodes
2008–2016 Childrens Hospital Dr. Cat Black Main role; 57 episodes
2009 Wainy Days Blaire Episode: "Dance Club"
2010 The League Brooke Episode: "The White Knuckler"
2010–2011 How to Make It in America Rachel Chapman Main role; 16 episodes
2011 New Girl Amanda Episode: "Naked"
2012 Top Gear Herself Episode: "Rut's Show"
2012 Tron: Uprising Lux (voice) Episode: "Identity"
2012 Robot Chicken Black Widow / Ariel (voice) Episode: "Collateral Damage in Gang Turf War"
2013 Newsreaders Dixie Peters Episode: "Hair Razing"
2015 Axe Cop Axe Girl (voice) Episode: "Ultimate Mate"
2015–2018 BoJack Horseman Katrina Peanutbutter (voice) 9 episodes
2015 Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp Donna Main role; 7 episodes
2016 Cassius & Clay Shopcarter Clay (voice) Unsold television pilot
2017 Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later Donna Recurring role; 5 episodes
2017 SuperMansion Millicent (voice) Episode: "SuperMansion: Drag Me to Halloween"
2019–present Harley Quinn Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy, Barbara, Cheryl, Girl 1, Student Activist, Singing Fish (voice) Main role
2019–2020 Bless This Mess Rio Levine-Young Executive producer, creator and starring role[61][62]
2020–present Medical Police Cat Black Episode: "Deuces to Nines, Double Draw" (S1E5)

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2009 Prototype Dana Mercer
gollark: Maybe the standard library.
gollark: None of those should be builtin, but in librarriieieieieies.
gollark: > Enterprise™ is a non-deterministic-unnecessarily-statically-typed™ Turing-complete-ish™, Quantum-out-of-the-box™ programming language.
gollark: https://github.com/joaomilho/Enterprise
gollark: Oh, Enterprise™ has it.

References
  1. "In 'A World,' All Voice-Overs Are Not Created Equal". All Things Considered, NPR. July 25, 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. Gross, Terry (August 8, 2013). "In 'A World,' All Voice-Overs Are Not Created Equal". All Things Considered, NPR. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  3. "Lake Bell". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  4. "Robin Bell Portfolio". Robin Bell Design. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  5. "Airbnb Presents Hello LA With Celebrity-Designed Pop-Ups - Lake Bell & Robin Bell". gettyimages.ca. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  6. Pittel, Christine (February 1, 2004). "Star Quality: Robin Bell Designs A Camera-Ready Apartment For Her Actress Daughter In Record Time". House Beautiful. 146 (2) – via Academic Search Premier, Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals.
  7. "Robin Bell Stock Photos and Pictures". gettyimages.com. Getty Images. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  8. "APT with LSD: Lake Bell". Vogue. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2014. I attribute my home's eclectic cohesiveness to my mother, Robin Bell. Requires click on "Read Caption"
  9. Schneller, Johanna (August 14, 2013). "How Lake Bell is single-handedly changing the way Hollywood listens to women". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  10. Ivry, Sara (November 29, 2002). "Driving; Where the Backyard Is Circular, And Loud". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  11. Kirby, Mark (December 2007). "You Can Ring My Bell". GQ. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  12. Hotz, Amy (June 29, 2008). "'Old Fashioned' actress Lake Bell ditches sea monsters for sex parties in return to Port City". Star News. Wilmington, North Carolina: Halifax Media Group. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  13. "Amazing! Star-studded movie is set in Vero – Vero News". veronews.com. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  14. "American Pastoral". Elle. February 4, 2011. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  15. "Lake Bell: A female filmmaker makes her mark in the male world of the Hollywood voiceover". The Independent. London, England: Independent Print Ltd. September 7, 2013. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  16. "Lake Bell". AskMen. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  17. "Lake Bell Bio". HBO. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  18. "2011–2012 Premiere Schedule" on BumpWorthy.com
  19. Slattery, Jill (August 15, 2012). "Exclusive Interview: Lake Bell Talks Fast Cars and Making Henry Winkler Fight a 13-Year-Old". Zimbio. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  20. Reynolds, Simon (June 25, 2010). "Craven's 'Scream 4' loses cast member". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
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  25. "Lake Bell on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  26. http://vimeo.com/17698877
  27. "Worst Enemy". 19 June 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
  28. ""Worst Enemy" Short Film - Dir. Lake Bell". Kickstarter. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
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  33. Barnes, Brooks (14 April 2018). "Lake Bell Reaches Higher at Sundance". nytimes.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
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  35. Silverstein, Melissa and Kerensa Cadenas (May 23, 2013). "Lake Bell On Women Directors: If You Happen to Have a Vagina, That's Okay". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  36. Leydon, Joe (August 20, 2013). "Watch: Triple Threat Lake Bell Talks Feminist Comedy 'In a World'" (video Q&A). Indiewire.com. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  37. Lacher, Irene (August 10, 2013). "Lake Bell speaks out on voice-over work". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  38. Silverstein, Melissa and Kerensa Cadenas (February 25, 2013). "Lake Bell's In A World Gets Post-Sundance Pick Up". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  39. "El Tonto". 27 November 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
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  41. Schmidlin, Charlie (July 26, 2013). "Exclusive: Lake Bell Reveals Her Next Directorial Effort, The "Unromantic" Romance 'What's The Point'". Indiewire. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  42. Jagernauth, Kevin (March 23, 2016). "Lake Bell To Write, Direct, Produce and Star in 'What's the Point?'". Indiewire. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
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  49. "Lake Bell". Me In My Place. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  50. Yoon, Joy. "Pretty Pretties at Pirelli's Milan Fashion Week Party". Paper. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  51. "Rendez-vous chez Pirelli". Pure Trend. September 23, 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  52. "'New York' Fashion Issue Cover Preview: Lake Bell Wears a Tattoo". New York. August 10, 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  53. Martin, Peter (May 2014). "Women We Love: The Many Talents of Lake Bell". Esquire. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  54. THR Staff (September 26, 2011). "Actress Lake Bell Joins The Hollywood Reporter as Automotive Critic". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  55. Chen, Joyce (April 1, 2012). "Lake Bell engaged to Scott Campbell: 'How to Make It in America' star is 'beaming'". Daily News. New York City. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  56. Rizzo, Monica (June 1, 2013). "Lake Bell Marries Scott Campbell". People. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  57. Webber, Stephanie (October 25, 2014). "Lake Bell Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby Girl With Husband Scott Campbell". Us Weekly. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  58. Juneau, Jen (June 14, 2017). "Lake Bell First Red Carpet Appearance After Welcoming Son". People. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  59. Kimble, Lindsay (August 17, 2017). "Lake Bell Reveals Her Son's Name". People.com. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  60. "Crazy Intense and Violent 'No Escape' Trailer Explodes Online". BloodyDisgusting.com. March 5, 2015. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  61. Andreeva, Nellie (March 7, 2018). "Dax Shepard To Star In Lake Bell/Liz Meriwether Fox Pilot 'Bless This Mess'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  62. Andreeva, Nellie (January 8, 2019). "'Bless This Mess' Gets Tuesday Slot, April Premiere Date On ABC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
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