Kristen Bell loves life and shines with charm and charisma, telling us why she’s happy just being… well, happy!
by bonnie siegler • Photography by Elisabeth Caren
assisting by Shane O’Donnell and Anna Marie Vanderherten
Styling by Shiffy Kagan of Aim Artists • Make Up by Simone Siegl of Urban Siren Agency
Hair by Craig Gangi of Tracy Mattingly
special thanks to Stacy Codikow and Lisa Thrasher for the generous use of their home
Kristen Bell doesn’t just walk into a room — she breezes in and immediately fills it up. Not because she’s a big physical presence — after all, she stands only five-foot-one — and not because she’s gregarious — the actress speaks softly and succinctly — but the Michigan native who has undoubtedly become Hollywood’s new “it” girl, strides into the photo shoot high up in the Hollywood Hills, like she owns the place. Wearing Joe’s jeans, Coach embossed print sandals and a pink blazer over a grey loose tee, Bell is definitely savoring her time in the spotlight, looking every inch a Hollywood star, but minus the internal trappings of ego and attitude. In her short time since arriving in Los Angeles, via a New York University Fine Arts degree, Bell landed her breakout role in 2004 as a crime-solving school detective in Veronica Mars, segueing into electric-charging Elle on Heroes, the title character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the faceless narrator on Gossip Girl. Usually cast as a younger character rather than her true 29 years, Bell is relishing her new roles in the upcoming movies Couple’s Retreat (with Vince Vaughn) and When In Rome opposite Josh Duhamel and real-life boyfriend Dax Shepherd. “Vince is a comedy powerhouse,” she exclaims of the man who kept her laughing on- and off-camera. “I think laughter is vital, it’s number one in my overall well-being. I even think fart jokes are funny. Laughter provides so much to your emotional and mental health. And you have to be able to laugh at yourself — that’s the key.”
And Bell has a lot to offer in real-life comedy situations, beginning with her request to be called Smurfette. “I had a fascination with the Smurfs growing up and when I was four, I told my parents to change my name to Smurfette. They said that wasn’t going to fly,” she recalls.
Undaunted, Bell’s second name change was that to Matthew. Again, her mother gave an unequivocal “no” and questioned her daughter’s sanity until both mom and daughter decided upon Annie. “My name is Kristen Anne so I was called Annie until I was 16.” Annie didn’t wear a dress until age six, preferring a blue and red striped velour jumpsuit, and then there was the blue and gray schoolgirl uniform. “I hiked up the skirt and got detention for it in school. We would get pop can tests where you would get on your knees and if the skirt didn’t hit the pop can, you got a detention. I was a very late bloomer so I was trying to be like the other girls. I didn’t have my first kiss until I was 15 and didn’t need to wear a bra until junior year of high school.” Yet she was named “Best Looking Girl” by her senior class. Ultimately, rebellious Bell says she had a very good and respectful relationship with her parents and didn’t rebel in other ways.
Try as she might, the effervescent actress just can’t resist revealing parts of herself most artists would keep under cover until a revealing autobiography was penned later in their careers. “I think I’m in a green mood today,” she off-handedly states referring to her preferred colour of the day. “But my favourite colour changes on a weekly basis. Last week was orange because I felt vibrant. Green makes me feel happy. I’m extremely stimulated by colour.” And so goes the long, luxurious, hot afternoon with the actress full of energy (thanks to last night’s eight hours of sleep), honesty and a real down-to-earth approach to life and its eccentricities.
Credit for her grounded and balanced persona goes to her close circle of family and friends. In fact, Bell shares her 5,500-square-foot home with four friends who serve as her surrogate family. “Friends mean everything in the world to me,” she says. “They are my stability. They are, a lot of time, my inspiration and help me balance out my physical and emotional sides.” Shunning the Hollywood nightlife, most nights you can find the actress playing Scrabble for fun and relaxation. “I can honestly say this is one of the best moments in my life,” she squeals. “I had a seven-letter word and got 50 extra points on a triple word score.” The word? “Boobies! I’m not kidding you. I was so excited. It’s a real word that is the plural for two breasts. And I won the game!”
The powerhouse has also succeeded in her nutritional goals and positively glows when talking about her vegetarianism. Bell, who has not consumed meat since the age of 11, admits her own bull-headedness introduced her to this way of eating. “I was a vegan for four years in the mix of my vegetarianism,” says Bell on her eating saga. “I had a lot of quirks as a child and would only eat my food next to the dog and never liked the look, taste or smell of meat. My mom tried to disguise it but I just was not having any of it. When I discovered what vegetarianism was, I claimed to be one and my mom was very supportive. Because she’s a nurse, she helped me do research into what my body needed to replace.” Bell learned that eating in this fashion not only meant the need for protein substitutions but also minerals. “A lot of vegetarians just eat bread and pasta and don’t realize that iron, zinc and magnesium need to be replaced. I take supplements but I also find that I have a very well- balanced diet.” Nuts, lentils, tofu, broccoli, kale and other “power vegetables” round out her daily meals. “I’m constantly monitoring the colour of my food. My mom taught me that trick when I was a young girl: if you have a colourful plate, you’re probably doing a good job.” And after every meal, Bell rewards herself with a dessert. “Yes, even after breakfast! I make chocolate-covered strawberries a lot because it’s a good halfway point. You’re getting fruit, which is great, but you’re also smothering them in chocolate.” But her one guilty pleasure is Sour Patch Kids. “If it’s sugar, I’m there, but I have to be real careful around Sour Patch Kids and Hot Tamales.”
Good eating measures also carry over into one of Kristen’s favourite hobbies: culinary exploration. “One of my favourite things to do is spend about 30 minutes looking up different recipes. I pick a food like kale, then go to the farmers market on the weekend and buy some fresh kale. I look up four different recipes, make all of them and decide which one is the best. Looking up recipes and cooking is very soothing for me. I think I feel very empowered when I’m ‘domesticated’ and it just makes me feel in control, gives me a calmness and makes me feel like I’m a provider. Anyway, it makes me feel all good things.” Number one favourite meal? “Oh wow,” she pauses. “If I’m eating out, it’s a Cowboy Wrap that’s made with lettuce, Greek sauce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots and avocado all smashed into a wrap topped with teriyaki sauce. If I’m home, it’s ‘Garbage Disposal Salad.’ It’s my most made meal that my mom taught me to do when I was in high school.” As the name states, there’s everything in there from greens, cucumbers and spinach to blueberries, grapes, black beans and cashews: “anything that gives it, for lack of a better word, a ‘meaty’ texture. So you don’t feel like you’re eating a salad.”
Bell’s fierce commitment to vegetarianism complements her beliefs against animal cruelty. Sharing her Hollywood digs are three rescue dogs, since the actress has a strict philosophy “that we should be as agriculturally responsible as we possibly can so I think we should be humane in our practices and not wasteful. I don’t love wearing leather but I’ve come to terms with it on the basis that it’s unrealistic to not ever use leather or get the whole world to be vegetarian. That’s not a goal of mine.” As a little girl who would converse with the trees and her dogs, Kristen felt in tune with nature and animals. “Part of me becoming a vegetarian was I couldn’t disassociate a burger from a glance at my own dog. I’m not saying everyone should do that, but I think Milan Kundera [author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being] said you could really judge a person’s personality based on how they treat things lesser than them, like animals. That’s a great way to live because a lot of things in the world are defenseless and we just have to be compassionate and aware.” Bell is also conscious of global warming and eco-friendly concerns in her everyday life. “I just try to be socially responsible. I don’t always succeed and I know I do things wrong or can do them better, but I’m trying to do certain things and that’s what is important.”
Life requires compromises, and Bell has learned this, especially in this business. She admits there have been many discussions amongst her girlfriends about how to change women’s perspectives on each other — on beauty, on happiness and on success. “There is such a narrow definition of beauty that it’s almost upsetting because there are so many different types of beauty. We, as girls and women, only seem to portray one and it’s really confusing because it sort of pits girls against other girls because if you’re not in the top two percent, you’re upset and if you are, you’re hated by everyone else. I think we need to remind women we’re all on the same team. There are so few really empowered women that we need to be able to lean on each other; we have to stop hating. I just read an article on Megan Fox and I thought her witty, funny and adorable. Where I might have wanted to hate her before because she’s such a strong, beautiful woman, I thought, ‘you know, I’d be friends with this girl.’ So don’t judge a book by its cover.” Ironically, Bell’s breakout role of Veronica Mars made the actress realize it’s important to portray a strong woman for all the young girls who watched the show. “I absolutely consider myself a strong and empowered woman right now,” she triumphantly states. “I’ve never felt more empowered in my entire life. I feel very at peace. I feel like I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the past couple of years and I’m learning more everyday. Perhaps it was her tomboy childhood years wearing OshKosh overalls or her rebellious nature that have contributed to Bell’s self-esteem and confidence which she puts on display today. “I don’t know,” she muses, munching on some mixed nuts as the sun begins to set, revealing a vibrant hue of colours in the sky. “It’s tough to say because it’s not like my confidence never wavers. It’s not like I don’t get pimples. It’s not like I don’t feel I look horrible sometimes. It’s just that I have a very clear perspective about how I want to live and I refuse to let negative thoughts absorb me. So today, in my green-coloured mood, I’m intuitive, adequately sensitive and happy, happy, happy.”
