Kristen Bell

Interview By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com

It's easy to say that celebrities have it all, but in the case of Kristen Bell, it really seems like she does. She's intelligent, beautiful, and talented. She's empowering to girls, beloved by fanboys, and can even sing and dance on Broadway.

Not surprisingly, the versatility has suddenly made Bell, 27, very busy. She arrived on the scene with the teen detective drama Veronica Mars in 2004, a low-rated show that still managed to last three full seasons thanks to a rabid fan base and plenty of critics' support. The industry took notice, and when it was finally canceled last year, Bell found herself with plenty of offers. Not used to being suddenly in-demand, she said yes to pretty much everything, which is why you can now see her in Heroes, hear her as the narrator of Gossip Girl, and catch her in theaters in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in theaters now.

"I have, absolutely, after every job, 'never going to work again' syndrome," Bell explained to us at a recent Sarah Marshall press junket. "That's sort of how Gossip Girl came to fruition. A week and a half after [CW President] Dawn Ostroff unfortunately had to make the decision to cancel Veronica Mars, I was just about to leave for Hawaii to film Sarah Marshall, and I had heard about Gossip Girl. I probably couldn't play sixteen anymore, but I had heard there was a narrator, so I called her up and I said, 'Remember last week when you canceled Veronica Mars' I happen to be out of work this fall, so, can I have that narrating job''" Bell laughs at the memory. "I mean, I'm not an idiot, I've got a mortgage to pay."

The movie at hand stars Bell as a vain TV actress who dumps her longtime boyfriend (Jason Segel) in favor of a British rock star (Russell Brand). To get over the breakup, Segel's character takes a vacation in Hawaii...only to find Bell with her new boyfriend at the same resort. Segel also co-wrote the film, which is produced by Judd Apatow of Knocked Up and Superbad.

"I think the one thing, other than making a really good comedy, this Judd Apatow brand of comedies has done is, they show a lot more reality and accuracy in relationships," bell says. "The Leslie Mann/Paul Rudd relationship in Knocked Up was one of the best I've seen. Because they are happy, and they are miserable. And you can never really side with her, and you can never really side with him, because they're both right. And they're both wrong. It's like that Dave Mamet play Oleanna. No matter who you believe, you're wrong. And no matter who you believe, you're right. I think that that is one of the reasons I loved Jason's script so much, is that it didn't demonize Sarah even though she instigated the break-up. Because there's always two sides to that. Always."

Of course, like Bell said, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a comedy first. And one of the things that entailed was a scene in which Bell and Brand get to show off some hilariously convoluted sexual positions. "We were actually thrown into a room six days after we met and were told, go into a room and find, like, ten different awkward sexual positions," she says. "And we were like, 'Okay, well, it's part of the job, so...'"

She shrugs. "Even though my role doesn't have any nudity, and everybody keeps talking about the full frontal [of Jason Segel's character], I was never asked to take my shirt off or anything. It wasn't one of those things where they were like, 'Oh, you're already in a sex scene, so just do it so we can have more boobs in an R-rated movie.' It's so not like that, and no one ever approached me with something like that."

Still, the scene presented some challenges. "I still thought that well, I'm faking an orgasm on camera, and my father will inevitably see this piece of film. And that's something to digest. But he's very very internet savvy, he actually bought my sister and I computers in 1989 ' I was like, 'What do I do with this hunk of junk, play Asteroids'' ' so he has me on Google Alert and he's very aware that it's a sexually explicit comedy."

In addition to all the work Bell is doing now, she's also wrapped two other movies, Fanboys and Serious Moonlight, and just booked another one, When in Rome. First up ' probably ' is Fanboys, a comedy about a group of Star Wars geeks who try to steal a print of The Phantom Menace circa 1999. It's set to come out this year, although some editing issues have kept pushing the release date back.

"I've heard the same things," she says. "I know there's no release date yet, because we always find out when we have to do our press tours...But I hope it will be well-received. The majority of people involved were actually fanboys, which I think gives it a little more street cred than just a bunch of people trying to make a fanboy movie."

Serious Moonlight, meanwhile, is an indie movie directed by Cheryl Hines. It's from a previously-unproduced screenplay by the late Adrienne Shelly. "It was virtually the whole team from Waitress; Adrienne's husband produced it and Cheryl directed it," she says. "It is unbelievable to me that Cheryl can be as perfect as she is, because she's hysterical. She's gorgeous. She just steps up to the plate and says, yeah, you know, sure, I guess I'll become a successful female comedy director. I guess today, that's what I'll do."

Finally, When in Rome is a romantic comedy from Disney. "It's a very sweet script, some of the comedy's broad, some of it's more quirky and under the radar...It's about a girl who's the youngest curator at the Guggenheim Museum, and she's not interested in love because she's interested in work and doesn't really believe in it. She goes to her sister's wedding in Rome, and while there, she takes seven coins out of this huge fountain in Rome and puts them in her pocket. And throughout the course of the movie, the seven people that have thrown them in there wishing for love or passion start to stalk her. They're obsessed with her for the entire movie. And she doesn't understand what's going on. It's really sweet, I like it a lot. It's not as squeaky-clean as every other Disney movie, but it still is a good, fun, clean time."

And what of her original love, theater' "It's the top. The tippity-top. Priority #0, even before #1. Theater's the love of my life, and so close to my heart." Oh, okay. Point taken. Still, she has nothing lined up on stage right now. "It's just a matter of making smart decisions as an actress but also as a businesswoman, of taking my window of opportunity while I have it. You know, there are a thousand girls that have great acting chops, and are pretty, and personable, and I could easily fall out of good standing and somebody else could take my place. I want to ride this wave while I have it, but I definitely want to go back and do theater."

The money might have something to do with it ' recalling a play she did before Veronica Mars, she remarks, "We got seven dollars a show. Four times a week, guys. I was living large."

The ability for Bell to be a theater freak on the one hand and the object of lust and admiration for millions of sci-fi and fantasy geeks on the other is nothing short of remarkable, but Bell seems to love both side. When a reporter asks her if she's ever been to Comic-Con, she laughs. "Have I done Comic-Con. This is not to be cocky, but, I go over real well at Comic-Con. I've done quite a few Comic-Cons, and I enjoy the hell out of them. They are so much fun, and so bizarre. I've done the FX Show in Florida, Wizard-World in Chicago, Comic-Con in San Diego, Wonder-Con in San Francisco, the Comic-Con in New York, and I've done them numerous times."

While it might seem strange that Bell feels such a kinship with acne-ridden geeks, perhaps she sees a little of herself in them after all. "It's people who like what they like because they like it. Sure it's bizarre, sure you dress up in the costumes and play with action figures, but whatever, you're having fun. Who cares'"